Issue No. 24,3rd Quarter 2007	Compiled & edited by Linda Radon

     BIG Radon family news - summer of 2007

        On June 23^rd, our son Josh married Sarah Schroeder in Paso Robles. Sarah and Josh met at the UCSB Graduate School of Education in 2003 and became engaged last September. Sarah teaches second grade in Hollister.

Sarah's parents, Glenn and Denise, hosted the wedding in their back yard. They and their families worked very hard to make sure everything looked beautiful and perfect. Josh and Sarah were married under a pergola with the luscious green blanket of vineyards behind them. Needless to say, the wedding day was incredibly magical.

Mario Ferrito, a colleague of Josh's from the high school where they both teach English, eloquently performed the ceremony.        

As we have said before in Radon Team, we could not be happier about Sarah joining our family.

 Don & Linda Radon

Linda, Josh and Don before the ceremony

Don gets ready to record the occasion

Mario performs the ceremony as matron of honor Taunya Rose and best man Matt Lydon observe

Mr. and Mrs. Josh Radon march back down the aisle to the theme of "Star Wars"

From left: Denise, Glenn, Kate, Sarah, Josh, Jake (Sarah's brother), Linda, Don

Don & Glenn get an early start on the celebration

Josh and Velma Radon

Cassie Radon was unable to attend the wedding but rested comfortably at home

Josh and Sarah traveled to London, Paris and Amsterdam on their honeymoon. 
Here they are in front of the Palace of Versailles

Featured Boats

#1 A custom Radon 22' for Tony Hotchkiss

Tony Hotchkiss recently took delivery of his custom Radon 22'. Tony uses his boat for surf trips, paddle boarding, and diving. His boat is powered by a single Honda 225 HP outboard. The outboard is mounted on a Stainless Marine bracket that also serves as a swim step.

Tony is most definitely one of the great customers mentioned in the President's message in the last Radon Team newsletter. He is one of the nicest people we have met and it was really fun to build a boat for him. Below are photos of his boat and some of the features on it.

The Stainless Marine outboard bracket doubles as a swim step

The bow with the Freedom 800 windlass and dual anchor lockers

Tony has the new Garmin 4212 Network chart plotter, in the upper left of the dash. His Garmin system includes chart plotter, GPS antenna, satellite weather module, Digital remote sonar, transducer and temperature probe.

This is a pull-out drawer with a stove top inside...

and here the drawer is closed.

Side passenger seat with storage below

Tony has a space saving fold-down seat at the helm

The porta-potti fits in a compartment between the bunks...

and here it is hidden under the bunk cushion.

This shows the back of the cabin with the bait tank in foreground

There is plenty of space on the cabin roof racks for surfboard/kayak storage

Above and below - storage holds

Don & Tony on delivery day

Our crew with Tony
From left: Kate, Jeremy, Matt, Miguel, Nacho, Freddy, Oscar, Jose, Don & Tony

Tony is happy that his boat is finally done

Tony's boat ready for a surf trip ......

and anchored at the Channel Islands

Here are the engine break-in stats on Tony's boat. It has a 225 HP Honda outboard and a three blade Mercury Marine "Inertia" prop:

• Running in flat water at wide open throttle with 110 gals of fuel, 15 gals of water and two people, the top speed attained was 37.5 MPH at 6200 RPM and the mileage was 1.6 MPG
• Running in flat water, at 23 MPH, at 4400 RPM, the mileage was 2.25 MPG
• Running in small chop, at 28 MPH, at 5000 RPM, the mileage was 1.8 MPG

#2 - Kauai Fire Dept. -  26' x 8'6" Radon "Classic"

We recently delivered a new 26' custom Radon fire/rescue boat to the Kauai Fire Dept. The boat is equipped with twin Evinrude ETEC 250 HP outboards. In a test situation, the top speed of over 50 MPH was attained. This will really come in handy during a rescue incident.

First splash in Santa Barbara

Here is the deck layout with the tow bit and rope locker in mid deck

The side dive/rescue door...

and here are the dive door storage brackets

The helm

The Kauai boat is powered with twin Evinrude ETEC 250 HP outboards. There is a stainless steel rope guard surrounding the outboards.

Once the Kauai boat was complete, we towed it to a San Diego freight yard to be shipped to Lihue, Hawaii.

Here is your editor getting in one last photo of the boat before it is shipped out.

We left the boat with all of the other "big stuff" waiting to be shipped to Hawaii.

The boat arrives in Kauai!

First Hawaii launch day in Kauai's Port Allen harbor.

Cleaning up the new boat after the sea trial at the fire station

The boat's name is 'WELAOKEKAI'; which translates to "The Heat of the Ocean" - A perfect name!

In photo above and listed below are the firemen who were at the Lihue,

Kauai Fire Station #3 on the day of the first sea trial:
Kneeling: FOA Steven Doi
Left to right: FF James Pelegrino, FC Masa Hosaka, FF Butch Keoahiolalo, BC Teddy Williams, Don Radon, FC Albert Kaui, 
FC Charlie Metivier, FF Roy Constantino, FF Paki Vaughan

FOA - Fire App. Operator, FF - firefighter, FC - Fire Capt., BC - Battalion Chief

Linda & Don with Kauai Fire Chief Bob Westerman and his wife Ann

 
Nawiliwili harbor in Lihue, Kauai

Many thanks to EVERYONE in the Kauai Fire Dept. A special thanks to head Kauai Fire Chief Bob Westerman and his wife Ann for their hospitality and Capt. Steven Doi and Capt. Charlie Metivier for their hospitality and their incredible support and hard work to make the boat a reality.

We would also like to thank everyone in the Finance and Purchasing departments of the County of Kauai for making the process of doing business with them so seamless.

Engine care, part five:

Keep your engine compartment dry!

Many electrical problems start out in the engine compartment. When your boat is running and the engine compartment becomes warm, any water  in the bilge will evaporate. When the engine cools down the moist air condenses into water and settles onto the engine components.

The best way to keep your engine compartment dry is to eliminate any water leaks there or anywhere else on your boat. Every time you use the boat, inspect your bilge and if there is any water at all, remove it.

Photos from our customers and friends

First salmon caught on Paul and Shelly Fortier's boat

John Grant holding a 36 pound yellowtail

Susie Lang is the "snorkel queen"

Scott Barnett with a Texas large mouth bass

Dr. Mark Borden's wife Erin swam to shore on Lake Berryessa to snap this photo. Their children Konrad, Riley and Drake are on the boat with their dad.

The Merkers diving in Palau!

Photo archive

Radon Team is finished for now! See you next time!