Well now, my boating experiences on the Ohio River are minimal. I
bought a boat late last August. It was docked at a marina on the
allegheny river and the dock contract came with the boat. So I left it
there for the time being. My first trip out resulted in a dinged prop
(the Allegheny is low along shoregrin). Got that fixed and did one
nice little Saturday outing in Pittsbugh. Then Ivan came along and
washed out the Marina. My boat was found 80 miles or so downstream
after going over 4 or five dams - totaled. So after getting a little
insurance money and watching for a deal I bought my current 19 ft.
cuddy in November. I have not cruised the river with it yet.

On the other hand, I grew up on the Ohio River (Parkersburh WV -
Marietta, OH area) and boated and skied with my family. Various members
of the family own contiguous lots on the Ohio and they have their own
ramp etc. Mom's house is there, too and that is basically where I will
be keeping and using the boat. Since about 1994 I have owned a couple
jetskis I use there too. I finally decided to break down and get a boat
for the benefit of my two grandsons (5 & 6 years old). They like riding
the jetskis with me, but seem to enjoy boating with other members of
my family and that seems more their speed. The cuddy fits that need too
(naps, a port-a-potty, a little walking room, etc.) or I would have
gotten an open bow boat.

I will mostly be boating on the Ohio around Parkersburg/Marietta. This
is the pool between the Bellvue and Willow Island Locks - about 45
miles. It includes the Muskingum River and the Little Kanawa River
also. In boating I enjoy just cruising or even "boat floats" and sking
(not sure this cuddy will be real fun for that as the 3.0 L engine
isn't real powerful). I enjoy the Regatta at Marietta every year, the
various historical river attractions including Blennerhasset Island,
etc.

Right now I am a bit of a boat newbie just looking for discussions on
props, maintenence, and general boat talk. I think I know the basics
just from being around it, but just discussion is fun if it is somewhat
pertinent to you (ocean going isn't ever going to be pertinent to me,
but I still read it between the massive rants here). The poster I
responded to indicated that there were other newsgroups that were
boating specific that Krause hadn't yet completely polluted and I was
interested in finding those. (I picked on Harry because when I first
got my jetskis he was crapping all over rec.sport. jetski and along
with a few other assholes drove it into the ground even though it
always seemed to have more pertinent info than rec.boats has). It is a
shame that a few idiots can destroy every newsgroup that they target.
An off target rant now and then is good and fun and I admit that I
participate some in other groups I frequent (Mike G. knows what I
mean), but here it is 99.9%.

Wow, that was more than I intended to say - just got on a roll I guess.
The Other Dave Hall