Man Down! Operation DanO

[JPEROG]

Mark,

You guys are doing a jam up job for him. Very cool deal to see happen-

Joe

[KOMotion]

Hey Mark and Chad,

That’s super nice of you to do this for Dan. I can offer up to help with any interior vinyl upholstery repairs or replacement if needed.

Kevin O

[FlowMaxx]

Hey Mark and Chad,

That’s super nice of you to do this for Dan. I can offer up to help with any interior vinyl upholstery repairs or replacement if needed.

Kevin O

Awesome stuff Kevin. If you could PM me your number, I'll give you a call in the next few days and we can discuss and catch up

Thanks much!

[FlowMaxx]

The group has another collective 21 hours of work in on the boat in the last week. It is pretty much pre-rigged with a few minor exceptions. The boat is going in shortly to get some "cosmetics" done. We will probably be somewhat light on photos going forward because we still want to maintain some element of surprise. We have no indication that DanO has seen this post, but realize and accept that it is possible he will before seeing the boat in person.

Larry (SpeedJR) donated a bunch more needed misc items to get the rigging close to the finish line. Larry - your generosity has been exceptional.

Chad has been an animal on this project. He has done most of the sanding and that part should be wrapped up within a few days. We expect it back and then final rigging before the end of the month.

Kevin - we will be calling soon.

Thanks

[FlowMaxx]

Sanding is basically complete. Motor cowl and pan getting painted this week, boat going to get a fresh topcoat next week. We just need to finish up a few odds and ends such as throttle/shift cables, stern lift eyes and a few other details. Thanks to Kevin, we now have plan B for interior if plan A does not come through in the next few weeks.

A few key players are really stepping up to the plate to get this ole girl to the finish line. We really would like to share more details, but we need to keep the rest of this project under wraps to keep the surprise element in place. Could be ready in a few weeks if everything falls into place.

[Tom Foley]

Tremendous effort ! I have to go back and re-read it all but what parts are still needed for completion ? great job guys !

[FlowMaxx]

Thanks Tom. There isn't much more that we need. Perhaps some cosmetic items such as a new set of dock lines, a couple nice lifejackets (XXL for DanO) or some other bling for the boat. Once everything is done, we will make one final purchase with whatever money is left to get whatever final items are needed.

[Schramer]

Tremendous effort ! I have to go back and re-read it all but what parts are still needed for completion ? great job guys !

We have a "possible" option for making and/or modifying a cover for the boat but as we sit today, there will probably not be enough money to buy a cover to be modified or, for sure, enough money to cover a custom-ish fit cover. This would top it off but we have spent a little more than we had projected in our budget (as it usually goes lol).....plus the paint materials will probably scrape up any extra loot we had set aside as inflation added 15-20% to the original list of materials we guesstimated in the very beginning of the project.

If anyone has anything that could help out on that front we would be much obliged......even a used vamp cover we might be able to restore would work.? We are sooooooo close but all agree that the finished product without a cover isn't where we would like it to be, especially since Dan-O doesn't have a garage to keep it inside with anymore. We GREATLY appreciate all the people that donated parts and/or money to the cause as all of us have done the same thing, on top of working on the boat & putting it all together, but we couldn't have done it without all of you. This is why S & F is the shizzle & we couldn't possibly thank you all enough!!!!

If anybody has any ideas......we will listen!!!!!!

Schramer

[89LASER]

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RJ3DZTV...roduct_details

I had purchased this one for my Laser 388, comes with and engine cover and fits pretty good. Water runs off of it.

[89LASER]

[smirnoff]

Any photos of the finished boat?

[Schramer]

Still getting painted....we had a few setbacks. Next week or 2 it should be done but we have to finish rigging it, when she comes back. I think it would be better if some peeps that want to see the boat b4 we reveal it should send us a PM w/ an email and we can shoot some pics over......we are trying to keep the final product low key in case he saw this thread. As of this second, we are planning on finishing the boat and maybe waiting till spring to make sure the fresh motor runs well, gearcase shifts properly, and all the gauges function as they should so he doesn't have to do too much to make it 100% for him....like final fitting/mounting of the seats as we are guessing at this point

[FlowMaxx]

We wanted to provide an update for everyone on where we are at with this project. After many months of work, the boat was finally ready do give to DanO. There were a few delays along the way, but we got the boat where everyone is very pleased with it. The boat was stripped of all the old finish, sanded, prepped and the exposed (exterior) of the top of the boat was done in DanO’s two favorite colors, Blue and Silver. Scott T. laid down some excellent paint with metalflake in it and a few coats of clear. We purchased new back-to-back seats and Kayla Z. did the rest of the interior, which is substantial on a Vamp, around 12 pieces in all, including the main seats. With the seats and paint, donated funds covered the cost of materials and Scott and Kayla covered the labor, which was extensive. Additionally, the boat needed to be taken to a local fiberglass shop to fill in all the holes and repair the top cap of the transom that had not previously been finished. Additional shop supplies needed to be purchased along with some odds and ends that were needed, that had not been donated. Thanks again for all that contributed money to this. 100% of the donated funds (and then some) were used to get this boat to where it is. Also, all of the labor was donated, with the exception of the fiberglass shop. Thanks to everyone’s extreme generosity, there were enough parts to make a complete boat, along with a ton of extras for his other projects.

A few weeks back, DanO was in town and was wondering what was going on with his boat and asked if he could come and get it. We decided to tell him to come with a trailer because we had some things for him, but that he would have to get the boat another time. DanO came and was confused, but pleasantly surprised when we showed him all of the things that folks donated to help his cause. We explained that we shared his story and lots of people donated parts and/or money and many of them were strangers that we had never met before. DanO was extremely grateful and was starting to think of what he could use and where. Dan has 3 boats that did not get burned since they were outside. All 3 are future resto projects that need a lot of work.

Then we showed him the boat. He couldn’t believe it and was in complete shock. He loves it, and loves the color and all the special touches. Dan B. made a special teak glove box cover with the HS logo and Pip’s signature engraved. DanO loved that. He was brought to tears as he realized what it took and how generous so many people were to get the boat to where it is.

Lastly, the motor(s). Dan got enough to make a full Mercury V6 setup for this or one of his other boats. Several donated parts including a powerhead, cowl, pans, mid, trim and DanO has a gearcase that was pulled out of the fire that may be usable. There were several other motor parts, rigging parts, gauges etc. Dan got all of it and is very grateful. That brings us to the cherry on the Sundae. DanO had a neighbor and good friend named “The Duke.” The Duke had purchased a 1977 Ventura that was custom ordered from Howard Pipkorn himself back in 1977. When the boat was delivered, The Duke rigged it with a brand new Evinrude, which he loved and held on to until he was an elderly man. Many remember The Duke as “TheDukeofChippewa” here on SAF. Many can probably remember him telling his stories of his prized boats and this motor. Anyways, he passed away around Dec 2019 or so. DanO was very close to him and was extremely saddened when The Duke passed. We were able to purchase this motor for Dan as we knew it would have extreme sentimental value to him. Since DanO lost so many memories in this fire, we knew we had to get it for him. Since we did not know what motor Dan would want on the Vamp, we decided to leave that decision to him. We know he has an inline-6 that would be perfect. The Evinrude is bolted to the boat so he can get it home. Dan needs to finish the rigging, glass the seats and battery tray where he wants them and rig whatever motor he wants on the boat. He has everything he needs and should be on the water soon, if his work schedule allows.

On behalf of DanO and the many people that helped do this for him, a sincere THANK YOU! This board is near and dear to many of us and we are so happy that this family of people came together to help a brother in need. Take care friends.

[Speed Jr.]

Awesome!

[rjdubiel]

Thank you to everyone that donated parts/cash and a very special thank you to all that donated hours of work, thank you to all the boys and gals that did the work to get the boat to this point.

I am going to call Mr Dan shorlty!

RJ Dubiel