WRC Guys & Gals,
Well another season of meets on the water has come and gone ! But if you are going to close out a season, I don’t think we could have done it in a Grander way ! Altho the forecast for the day had temperatures in the 40’s to mid 50’s it didn’t discourage our gang of Outboarder’s from showing up to enjoy our last meet on the water !
Al and I arrived about 9:30 and greeted the earlier arrivals that already had boats in the water or were checking out some of the motors on display in the parking lot. I noticed Mr Jay Miller and Randy Wilcox had the back of Jay’s truck opened with a 12hp Royal (OMC badge motor) sitting on the tail gate. Jay explained his dad worked at one of the Atlas stores that sold the Royal line of outboards and he just happened to find one that reminded him of his youth !
Moving on to others on up the way, I saw Rex Jackson talking with a Bill Reed and Rick Whitman, Rex informed me he had a 16hp ScottAtwater on his boat and it was a good runner, I said we’ll see about that ! (I never did get to see him run it) ! Our very own Treasurer Mr. Bob Joynt was just up the way getting his Peterborough boat with a 10hp Evinrude ready to hit the water !
I saw John Fairgrieve pull in with his Chrestliner and a 25 Evinrude on the transom. Paul Wood already had his PennYan in the water and was out for a run which it did quit nicely ! Walking back down to the canopy where Mike was setting up the tables for lunch I greeted by Marty Belfi, he told me about a project he had taken on that was giving him fits ! It was a little Aqua Bug type boat with and inboard / outboard for power. Marty explained what the problem was and we discussed a couple options to make it a running boat ! Hopefully he’ll bring it over to our Wednesday group to work out the bugs (pun intended) !
I told Al it was about time to launch my boat, and in Al’s usual helpful demeanor he was there to lend a hand and hold the boat while I parked the truck ! My trusty Mercury 200 was a bit reluctant to fire up as I didn’t run it before we put it on the boat ! My bad ! But being persistent which you have to be with Mercury’s, it eventually fired up ! I told Al I wanted to take it for a run before I offered him a ride ! So as I cruised out beyond the speed zone the old Merc. ran great, once out in open water I opened it up and away we went with a big smile on my face only to have it turn to a frown when it abruptly quit ? I discovered the problem fairly quick as I’d had it happen before, the check valves in the primer bulb were sticking ! Once I turned it vertical all was good ! Back to the dock to pick up Al and go for a ride ! We cruised down the lake with a very cool (cold) breeze in out faces, time to head back to the dock !
I saw Mr. Scott Wimbush had launched the double ender White boat with the little inboard engine and soon had it putting along nicely ! Back down on the docks Steve Schmitmeyer was cruising along nicely with his slightly over powered 3hp Johnson or maybe it was an Evinrude ? Anyway it was way too much power for his boat, You go Steve !
Back out on the water for a couple of speed runs I stopped to take a video of Scott and Tom Shanor cruising along in the White Double ender ! Please take the time to visit our Web site ~ wrcoutboards.org ~ and check out the pictures of the meet, both todays and other meets this past year !
While talking with Al Gammon and Dan Curran we all noticed the lunch line had formed and if we didn’t move quickly we might miss Mike & Judy’s great meal ! So we hustled down the grub ! Mike and Judy never disappoint the gang when it comes to lunch, big fat hotdogs, macaroni, coleslaw, Baked beans, and Mike’s famous pulled pork, Yum ! The only problem was when I went to find our chairs to sit and enjoy the feast, all seats were taken ! No problem that’s why we bring um, first come, first serve ! If your late you just have to sit on the grass LOL, unless you happen to know a sweet young lady (Emma Hollingsworth) that gave up her seat to a tired old man looking weary from running motors ! The other plus of that situation was meeting the delightful young man that accompanied her ! I won’t try to pronounce his name or even spell it but, we had a nice chat and I found him very enjoyable to talk to !
Once lunch was over it was back out in the boats for a couple more runs around the lake ! I think everyone went back out for a couple more runs as the docks were empty and the lake was full of all sorts of boat motor combinations.
On my last run I noticed John Fairgrieve was hailing me to come over, so I turned around and went to see what the problem was ? John said his 25 Evinrude just died and wouldn’t restart plus when he put his hand on the cowl he got a shock Hmmm ? I can’t wait to hear what he finds is the problem ! Kelly and Ryan Hollingsworth came over to help but John had already handed me the tow rope. Once back near the dock I could see there was a back up and the launch ramp, a big sail boat was tied up one side waiting to be pulled and a Tompoon on the other side waiting to pull out with several smaller boats also waiting ! So John and I circled for several minutes till I saw and opening to pull him close enough to toss the rope to a lady waiting on the dock ! Mission accomplished !
I was finally able to sneak in behind the sail boat and go get the truck. Kelly and Ryan also tied up and Ryan was going to get his truck and Kelly said she’d wait with my boat when I got down with the trailer. Al was there also to lend assistance in loading the boats ! All loaded and tired down we were ready to leave ! Another super day on the water with lots of great friends ! See Ya all next time and remember ~ Keep The Blue Smoke Flowing !
Gary