|
September 14th 2009 Update/recap by Branden deBuhr
I am very happy to say that the BOASTY Props To Our Soldiers event was a huge
success thanks to the hard work of Nicole Bacchi, the Palms Marina (it's owners), and the
wonderful boaters at the Palms Marina in Willis Texas on Lake Conroe. The day started off
with last minute decorations to be put up, the arrival of the Patriot Guard, and our guests
which began arriving as early as 10:30 am.
here's a ROCKIN picture of Nicole on the dock! SHE'S AWESOME!!!
Many of the guests had no idea what to expect or what Nicole had in store for
them(and neither did I). But to my knowledge every guest was completely blown away by what
went on that day.
Once everyone had assembled in the Palms Marina pavillion, the
Patriot Guard came in with their flags flying and their bikes roaring right at 12:00pm. There
were a couple speeches first by Nicole followed by myself. A safety briefing, and then onto
the boats. The Fire Constable and lake Sheriff escorted the boats out of the marina and onto
the lake. The houseboats which had filed out first wanted everyone to go just 7 knots but
everyone else who could, wanted to go faster. We all kicked it up to about 25 or 30 for a
nice ride down to the dam which took about 20 minutes to get there on a direct route. Some of
the boats took their time and toured the lake before coming to raft up with the rest of us.
Upon arrival at the dam we had found that other boaters had taken
our marked spots but the sheriff asked or told them to move fortunately for us. Mostly
because the inboard boats needed the deeper water to raft up with the other boats.
Right after all the boats got all tied up, the Texas Freedom Flyers arrived
overhead! For a good 15 to 20 minutes they kept flying overhead in different formations.
They'd drop from the sky, buzz the boats, and give props to our soldiers (LITERALLY)!
This is I think my best video I shot of the Texas Freedom Flyers
group over Lake Conroe at the BOASTY Event! Boy was this a surprise. I had no idea that they
were going to be doing this. I just wish they would have swooped in lower so that we could
have read their tail numbers. That would have been cool! The other thing about this video is
that I have believe it or not become a country music fan. The song on the stereo was
Montgomery Gentry "This is My Town". It was such a fitting song to be playing on the radio
that day. In a single weekend I decided that I wanted to become a Texan! Not so much
because in Texas these people use their boats 365 days a year! It was everything!
These are just a few of the 516 boat pictures I took that day. There are other pictures from other
participants also on the HotBoatDeals.com website. Just go to the photo albums to find them.
I also took 32 boat
videos and I know there are some videos which were uploaded by other members as well.
|
