Første tur
Med sin nye specialbyggede Anderson pontonbåd er mulighederne for at komme til at fiske på de bedste pladser langs kysten og i søerne blevet en mulighed. Mange års drømmerier er blevet virkeliggjort.
Ulykke og lammelse
I 1989 var Niels Henning Andersen passager og involveret i en bilulykke, der resulterede i en brækket ryg og lammelse fra navlen og nedefter. Fremtiden og de mange planer måtte revideres. Livet skulle nu leves i en kørestol.
Vil mere end Put&Take
Under Fluefiskerdagene i Randers i februar kom Niels i kontakt med Lars Andersen, manden bag de efterhånden velkendte grønlige pontonbåde.
Niels, som på grund af sit handicap mest har fisket P&T, havde i længere tid puslet med nogle ideer om at blive flydende og om at kunne fiske de bedste fynske kystpladser.
Niels, der udlært cykelsmed, er bosat ved Bogense og fiskede i 2013 omkring tyve gange. I 2014 og fremover er Niels sikker på, at det bliver til mange flere ture!
Udvikling og betingelser
Tanker og ideer om en mulig kombination af en kørestol og pontonbåd blev udvekslet. Opgaven var at designe og udvikle en pontonbåd, der kan monteres med en motor, og som kan samles og klargøres af en kørestolsbruger uden hjælp fra andre.
Anderson Pontoon var med på udfordringen.
Lars Andersen, manden bag Anderson Pontoon fortæller: "I mere end et halvt år har jeg arbejdet på konstruktionen, og der er blevet grublet, bukket og svejset. Jeg tror, det er lykkes!"
Alt lykkedes, og selv om det i november både var blæsende og koldt på Randers Fjord, var Niels Henning Andersen sejlende. Bemærk El-motoren, der har batteriet siddende som toplåg. Selv på halv gas havde den specialbyggede pontonbåd en god fart og manøvredygtighed.
Niels Henning Andersen kom ved egen hjælp i vandet og retur igen. Forøvrigt er Torqeedo el-motoren første version fra det tyske firma.
Selv turen opad den relativt stejle rampe forløb godt, men "gav varmen", som Niels selv udtrykte det!
Everything worked and Niels Henning Andersen was sailing even though it was a cold and windy day at Randers Fjord. Note the electric outboard motor with the battery housing on the top as lid. Even at half throttle the custom made pontoon boat sailed at a nice speed and with good manoeuvrability.
Even the trip back up the relatively steep boat ramp went well but “turned up the heat” as Niels put it!
FROM WHEELCHAIR TO PONTOON BOAT FISHERMAN
With his new custom built Anderson pontoon boat he now has the opportunity to go fishing on the best locations on the coast or in the lakes. Many years of dreaming have come true.
ACCIDENT AND PARALYSIS
Back in 1989 Niels Henning Andersen was involved in a car crash as a passenger which resulted in a broken spine and paralysis from the belly down. The future and his many plans had to be severely revised. Life was now lived from a wheelchair.
WANTS MORE THAN JUST PUT & TAKE
During the Flyfishingdays in Randers in February Niels got in contact with Lars Andersen, the man behind the well-known dark green pontoon boats.
Niels had due to his handicap mostly fished in Put & Take waters, but over a period of time he had gotten more and more hooked on the idea of getting afloat while fishing, which would enable him to visit the best coastal spots on Fyn.
Niels is a bicycle mechanic and lives near Bogense on Fyn. He fished around twenty times in 2013 but expect this number to be much higher in 2014 and the future!
DEVELOPMENT AND TERMS
Thoughts and ideas of a possible combination of a wheelchair and pontoon boat were exchanged. The task at hand was to design and produce a pontoon boat that could support an electric motor and could be assembled and readied by a wheelchair user without help from others.
Anderson Pontoon was up to the challenge.
Lars Andersen the man behind Anderson Pontoon says: “I have been pondering, bending and welding metal for over half a year to work out the construction. I think I solved it now!”
