03-09-2003, 03:40 AM
TubeDude,
Congratulations on the new addition to your family. The tricked out seat is something I would expect you to hone in on and refine. Sweeeeeeeeet! Turned up Bow! That's one thing about my stealthrider that I wish I had for floatin' the Big Salty. On the Stealthrider's side, it does have a fairly high back/bow area to ward off unwanted waves.
Noticed you have her on a nice soft, comfy blanket in your vehicle. I carried mine, strapped down, in the bed (sprayed coating) of my pickup the first time. Once was enough! You could see scuff marks in the cover where the tube moved against the rough coating. Now I just go ahead and deflate unless I'm just moving to another launch site. Why, the second screw-up was that I didn't wash the sand off ALL the tube before I put it back in the pickup bed and again you could see scratch marks in the Dacron cover from the sand against the cardboard I had put there to protect it!
Boy there's a lot to learn with these darn things.
Thought of a cool joke! Tell your buddy you'll fill his big bladdered tube and have someone distract him while you fill it with helium (well.... which ever one that doesn't blow up) and see if it makes a difference. Wouldn't it be cool if the tube was so light it would almost float on air!
JapanRon
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