Breathing New Life Into His Ranger

That's what Wayne Hayes has been doing for the past several days, and he's now ready to share some of the results of his hard work. It should be noted here that the photo at right is from a few years back, when Wayne and his Region 7 tournament partner at the time, Mark Ingram, were just returning to the boat-launch area at Munden Point for a weigh-in.

Wayne's current project is a complete re-do of his Ranger's interior--new seats, new console, new carpeting--in short, the whole works. If one thing can be said about this guy, whom I've known for a lot of years, is that he's "anal" about everything he does...and I'm not just talking about his own things. He's that way with everyone's property when he's working on it. He treats everything as if it were his, and I can't speak for anyone else, but I personally never have gotten that kind of service from a dealer--anywhere!

I still cringe every time I think about the way Norfolk Marine "once" screwed me on repairing a rig they had sold me. After waiting just a tad longer than they had told me the repairs would take, I walked into their shop to find my outboard in pieces (without ever first obtaining my OK), and a price tag I still would have been paying on had I not told them they had just inherited the boat back. And then they had the audacity to try and sell me another rig. You undoubtedly can guess what I told them. However, I digress.

Getting back to Wayne, who is and always will be my boat mechanic from now on, here's a pictorial look at some of what he has been doing to his Ranger in recent days:

(For a bigger size, click anywhere on this photo combination.)

As you can see, the job isn't done, but one thing is certain: When it is done, it'll be "picture perfect." Said Wayne this morning, "My hands are really sore, but luckily, I haven't cut them yet." Here's hoping his luck holds.