Hello all!

Dave Church

Dave Church

Well-known member
It's been awhile since I was on here.....as a matter fact it took me a couple days to figure out my old username and password. Hope everyone is doing well. I took the last year or so to buckle down and finish my Masters Degree and some other important certifications for my work. I had a run-in with some medical issues that threw me into surgery in October of 2014...and then a completely different issue put me under the knife in March of 2015. Finally, I ended up in an ER in Iowa on another unrelated issue and had to have spine surgery this past September. Following the surgery I proudly asked one of the most stupid questions I could have asked my doctor in front of my wife......"Am I OK to hunt?" The answer was not only NO, but no shooting of any kind for nine months. I am set to be paroled this coming June. But, from the sounds of those that I speak to, I couldn't have picked a better (or worse) season to skip. During all of these surgeries and recoveries, I had to shut down the decoy making until I could physically get back to it. In the meantime I sat on a bucket in my shop and restored two motorcycles.....thank goodness for overhead slings to do the heavy lifting. I sold one of the bikes during the fall and will sell the next one in the spring. I realized that although the bikes are fun, I needed to get back to something closer to duck hunting. So, after stumbling onto my next project, I brought home a 1966 Crestliner (MFG) North Star aluminum boat. Its 19ft long, 79 inches wide, with 32in gunwales. I have a 40 horse Johnson with power trim which will push it. I am looking at having it ready for the sea duck season next year. Buying all of the items to get it in tip top shape makes my front step look like Christmas everyday when the UPS man stops by. Here is a quick pic...it kind of dwarfs my Grand Cherokee.

Hope everyone is doing well and had a successful season.
Dave
 
Wow, Dave. Back problems are no fun at all. Here's hoping you steadily improve & get back to all the things you used to do.
 
Good morning, Dave~

Welcome back! Sounds like you have had way too many "adventures" of late. I hope you are headed back to 100% and soon become a stranger to the World of Medicine.

Of course, I look forward to watching as you assemble The Perfect Sea Duck Rig.

All the best,

SJS
 
Welcome Back, Dave. Sounds like you've had one hell of a ride, I hope life goes a little easier on you from here on out!
That's a neat hull, definitely deep & wide. Will a 40 be enough HP?
 
Welcome back Dave, Know what you are going through. Was at the doc's getting back shots, can't use the duck boat, but got in some days at the duck blind. Can't walk long, can't row and can't stand long. Hope to be done with this soon. Miss the duck boat shooting.
 
Dave,
Welcome back...I found this site a great rehab from my 2 total hip replacements. AND that was not a "stupid" question for the doc. My wife
knows I'm "stupid" when it comes to hunting. When I asked at my THR
post followup visit, if I could hunt the duck opener 6 weeks after surgery, they were hesitant. My reasoning was I would get approval from my physical therapist that I could climb in and out of the boat, w/o risking a
dislocation. It was a hard sell to my wife, but I also posses stubbornness, which can be a bad combo with stupid. I promised I would not be in muck, and luckily my opener spot with Ligman has a firm bottom.
Best wishes to you. Many of us are beginning to realise our physical limitations. But getting out is important to our quality of life.
Look forward to your pics of your duck project.
Louie
 
Glad you are on the mend. You didn't miss much as far as hunting goes, my worst season since '96.
Did you ever get your diver head mold done? There is a bit more competition out there than there used to be.
Looking forward to your boat project.
Bill.
 
Carl, the 40hp came off of a 16ft Sea Hawk Center Console which is a pretty heavy fiberglass boat. This North Star only weighs in around 1000 pounds. I don't have any doubts that it will push it just fine. If I need to, I can always repower later on. My goal is to get there and return safe, speed and cold don't mix real well so having the windshield is a plus.
 
Capt Rich, Thanks for the welcome. Hope that back gets on the mend quick. My spine problem was actually in the neck so I had to get two discs replaced and a titanium plate.


Dave
 
S. Lewis, I fall into the stubborn and stupid group myself, but I wasn't taking any chances with this one. The two discs that were replaced needed to fuse back together with everything else and because they were in my neck, it was more likely to take a bad jarring from a gun recoil. Better to be safe and fight another day. I will start a thread soon and start putting pics up of what I have done with the boat as it progresses.


Dave
 
Steve, yes I am not a big fan of taking meds. This boat project is going to be pretty interesting and the size gives me a lot of options and how to do the interior for storage, etc. Once I post some pics, feel free in chiming in with anything you see could be better or any suggestions.


Dave
 
Boy Steve, that sounds tough. Glad your on the mend. Hope everything works out. Neat boat by the way.


I'm having some issues myself. I have a MRI scheduled for Tuesday to try to find out why I can't turn my head much and what's causing pain and numbness down my arms. Screwed my neck and shoulders up a few years ago and it's getting progressively worst. I hate being in the "Old farts club"
 
Ed,
pain in my neck, lack of mobility and pain and numbness down my arms is what brought on my surgery. Two herniated discs were the culprit. The surgery is not bad. I still have numbness in a couple fingers and Im fairly confident the feeling will not come back. The neck pain and mobility is much better.


Dave
 
Bill,
The mold is still in the works, I really just need to pull the trigger. Just haven't put any time or effort into lately. I would hope that I might have new heads by the end of summer if everything works out. I did see some new heads out that are foamers. This is good since replacements heads are hard to find.


Dave
 
It is good to have you back, Dave. You went through your fair share of medical issues and hopefully will be fully recovered by the time you want to get out and hunt.
Al
 
Dave, welcome back -- agree that you picked the right time to be away from duck hunting! If you had to miss a season or two, you timed it right, at least here on the Potomac! Best of luck with your recovery -- looking forward to following your boat project...that's one of those items on the retirement bucket list. Best, Rufus
 
Thanks RT. Don't wait too long to get on that bucket list. I've already retired once and am trying to do it again.......maybe in another 15 years. I will be posting picks of the restoration soon.


Dave
 
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