We all hear stories about the scammers in the boating world but how about the ones that are the total opposite?
Maybe friendship isn’t the right word because it’s businesses
Over the years I think everyone at some point gets burned by someone in the boating world
trust me I have been ripped off big time
but what about the good guys
I met Devin Wozencraft in key West
super nice guy seemed to know his stuff
years later when I got scammed at work and lost everything he out of nowhere pulled out a deal and got me financed on my dream Cigarette
Then at Desert storm the next year it turns out one of my cmi headers was leaking
can’t get custom header that I need for months
AJ Barrett from Barrett comes through and modifies stuff for a stock header and we are off to loto for awesome trip ( first time I had ever taken boat to him by the way )
then unfortunately few trips later had couple of the crane rockers grenade ( that’s a different thread)
Mario at So cal marine in havasu steps up
( he has worked on my boats for years)
knows the situation that I am in and doesn’t even hesitate
bring it in and works with me to get both motors done and wow I can’t even imagine the work that his guys have done
Granted it might be business to them but to me it is friends that I can count on
it’s easy to have friends when things are going good
but all three of them were there when I’ve been down
so to me they are friends

And then I can only start to mention people I have met here or boating that are just truly amazing
Riverdave has a heart that is bigger than anyone
Bubba and Britney are in a league all of there own
Tank and Kelly well he did spin out my Ferrari
( love them anyway )


So looking forward to this year with new motors
they are going in this week
cmon by and say hi
always ready for new friends

Glad to see you’re up and going again! We’ll see you in a couple of weeks. I know it’s been a rough ride but it’ll all be worth it when you grab a hand full of throttles and hear that roar.

Great people still exist. And they rise and help when they can.

Always nice to hear some positives around here!

Man it's been a while since we've had a post as good as this on here. Hell you don't even have to grab the popcorn.

Not a story as good as yours, but there are good people still out there.

Bought a used engine last year to get back on the water with my performance engine not being done.

Seller said it was in good running condition. Rigged it all up and took the boat out. First run, it overheated and lost oil pressure.

Popped the thermostat housing while we were waiting for a tow and found a rusted to crap thermostat.

Sent the seller pics and he told me to take it to his guy to be rebuilt.

Rebuilder called and told me to come get it. No charge. The engine seller paid for the whole thing.

Obviously I was out some $$ from engine install and removal, but at least the seller was a man of his word and made it right.

Here's a story....I'm from Croatia (EU) have a cris craft with a cheavy 502 in it.The engine is a blowthrou carb with procharger bought it in parts.OMG how does it works,never seen one and nobody in the radius of several hundred miles have one...So posted a thread here asked for help...wife sead that nobody will help me.In a cuple of hours good peuple from OSO (SB,dr.feelgood,f-2speedy,green lihtning,alldodge,articmonkeys) and others started to teach me all i need to asemble the engine and get it running.They stood by me with all the problem that i hade.Time diffrence, bad writing,lack of basick knowlege about v8 engine.Long story short the engine is working i got a bunch of new friends and the wife was wrong...

Dan, you’ve had a rough road and have been kicked over and over while you’re down. It is good to know good people and know there are still truly good people in this industry still. I’m glad to say I know all the people you mentioned very well and would agree with your assessment. Be good to have your boat ready for the season and hopefully the other stuff starts to get better too….exponentially better! See you next week at desert storm brotha!

Years ago, I was interested in a Conquest Top Cat out in Havasu that was for sale for a good price but I'm in Illinois. The pics looked great and I was ready to put a deposit down but Tank offered to go look at it for me first. Turns out the boat was extremely rough and the pics purposely avoided the bad areas. He saved me the hassle of flying out and renting a truck to tow it back before I would of seen it in person. I can't thank him enough for helping me dodge that bullet.

DAMN, how long ago was that?! Many moons ago. Lol

Im always down to help a fellow boater. Small community with more good hearted awesome people than not. I’ve met lifelong friends from all over the world through performance boating and OSO. BEST friends. My pleasure to help out. What goes around comes around and I’ve been very blessed throughout my boating life.

Well to appease the family I ended up buying a Baja 292 Islander in December 2011 so it would've been months before I bought it. God I can't believe it's been that long. If you ever need help out this way, a dinner, etc just let me know 👍