Wooden Boat People
By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
Bummed Out
Well I was nearly done with my freestone guide and then a pain started up in by back and legs. It kept getting worse and worse. So I rolled into the doctors office and after several weeks they rolled me over for an MRI. Darn it I ended up having 3 herniated discs in my back (not related to building this boat), and the docs are recommending fusion surgery. Long story short my back is shot and I am now on the fence about this whole boat project. Only things left to do are build the seats, bend the kneebraces, paint, varnish, commission.
If the back is really gone, i cant see myself hefting a 350IBS boat in and out of rivers...
Whats everyones vote, keep or sell.
My other thought would be to keep the boat around until my 4 year old son is old enough to use it...That is easily 14 years away.....
Views: 195
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Clarke on
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I had surgery years ago to correct problems associated with a ruptured disc. Best medical thing I ever did. It wasn't fusion, but they do remarkable things these days and I suspect you'll be able to do as much boating as the next guy. Good luck!
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Permalink Reply by Terry E Walsh on
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Getr Done, I have gone through this! By next summer u will be fine!
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Permalink Reply by twoblacklabs on
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Don't give up on the boat. It's still therapy. Remember, a winch on the trailer makes a word of difference. Let your son help you finish it. Something he will never forgot. It will always be "the boat dad and I built together."
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Permalink Reply by Joseph Podesta on
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Thanks everyone for your input, got my spirits back up. Been stuck in bed now for 7 weeks watching the summer slowly roll by until the doctors come up with the ultimate decision on surgery...
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Permalink Reply by Mike Dearing on
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Joe,
I wouldn't give it up yet, you may have a long road of rehab ahead of you, but on the other hand maybe not.
Here's a few of my back friendly boating ideas.
Get a good trailer with winch. There is no reason to be man handling any driftboat in or out of the water. Most times it isn't necessary to use the winch at all. Driftboats draft so little water (especially unloaded) that you just have to barely submerge the trailer to float it on without winching at all.
Scrap the rope/strap oarmans seat and get a good supportive tempress style seat with a back rest on it. It will do wonders for your back rowing all day.
Buy very light oars light Sawyer MXG's with dynalite blades. The less weight you pull with your arms the easier it is on your back.
Opt for a very light anchor if any at all. Yeah you wont be anchoring in any heavy water, but you wont be holding the boat in lots of current with a bad back either.
Get out of the boat to fish more. Gives the back a rest, and you usually catch more fish doing this anyways.
Haul light loads, limit your self to day trips and one passenger only.
Teach your wife to row. Sorry man, but this is probably my best tip, check your ego at the truck. There is no reason she shouldn't learn to row. Its way safer if you both know how, and besides its more fun to fish then row anyways.
As one who has struggled with back problems through the years I feel your pain... literally, but I personally wont stop floating rivers until I'm either dead or a cant tie my lures on anymore, and hopefully even then my wife will take pity on me and take me out now and then ;)
Best of luck to ya,
Mike
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Well everyone, here I am 7 months later and back on my feet. The boat has not been worked on through all this but I plan on picking it back up in the Spring. I had 2 minor operations call nerve blocks. They really work but your discs remain the same so you have to be extreemly careful moving forwards...
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Permalink Reply by Ron Snow on
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Dear Joseph,
This is the first time I have seen this thread. I nearly replied tonight, to your first post without reading down the thread and understanding that it was from August.
Turns out, you have done what I was about to advise you to do. Keep the boat. Do the surgery.
Your 4 year old son is nearly 5 now and will be ready to go and row in a few more. He'll be wanting his turn on the sticks very soon, just like my grandson. He's only 9 but he wants to row. In just a few more years, he'll be driving us to the put ins on the river.
I've had a couple of disc surgeries and have been glad about it. Not nearly the life sentence of doom and gloom that it was years and years ago. I'm not riding saddle broncs anymore, but I am still rowing boats and hiking and fly fishing and hunting.
Enjoy the boat, and the son, and your nearly good as new back.
Ron
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Thanks Ron
I originally posted at the peak of injury, stuck in bed and heavily dosed with morphine. Overall I was stuck in bed for about 4 months and drugged out pretty hard before the guys at UCSF med center could agree on a treatment plan. Up until about september they were all talking fusion of my lower lumbar from L3/4 on down. I was pretty upset, basically they were telling me nothing good. I fought through that and went down to see Joe Montana's old doctor Dr. Schofferman over at SpineCare to get a second opinion. He went conservative and proposed the nerve blocks. I had a few rounds of them in the early Fall. They knock you down some but reduce the pain and eventually you get back on your feet. I will most like need some addtional rounds but my outlook on life is much better. Cronic pain is no way for anyone to be stuck with. I was in it for nearly 5 months with pain levels that were crippling, needless to say i was not the only one suffering, my kids really suffered without a Dad around and my wife took it with both barrels having to take control of me and the kids. Anyway I plan to pick up my boat in the spring. Still hitting PT and not quit ready to return to finish her. I am super glad I didnt sell her.
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