WRC Guy & Gals,

Because of a sleepless night I was awake by 4 am, still a bit too early to head out to Leesville,  but my boat was already hitched up and ready to go as the previous two days of pulling it from the Lagoons, swapping motors and cleaning the inside had prepared it for the journey.  Dressed and looking at my check list along with a quick look at the boat and trailer said we were ready !  Down to our local Speedway to grab a cup of the much needed Java and I hit the road at precisely 6:am ! The BITB*  said it was just about a 2hr drive which would put me there just a bit after 8:00 allowing for any deviations along the way ! 

I arrived just a little after 8:00 to an overcast but beautiful lake as peaceful and serene as anyone could wish for ! I was the first one of our group to arrive followed shortly by Bob Korosa and Mike Seachrist.  Bob had decided to do another one of his engine comparisons, this time with 7 1/2hp outboards. The contenders list consisted of Johnson & Evinrudes, a Wizard (ScottAtwater badge motor), a Scott McCulloch (shorty), a Martin 75, an Elgin 7 1/2, a 7 1/2 ScottAtwater, a Mercury KE4 and last but not least an OMC military version of the mid fifties Johnson and Evinrude 7 1/2, brought by Rex Jackson !  These engines were designed to be completely watertight so when dropped with the troops and their inflatables they could be started right up with no worries about having to dry them out !  

I decided to launch my boat with my ScotAtwater 10hp and see if it would still preform like the last time I had it out !  A little stubborn taking about 6-7 pulls and it fired up.  Out beyond the bouys I opened it up and was pleased that it still had what it takes to jump up on plane ! It’s not a rocket like some of the other 10’s out there but does the job nicely !  

I greeted Bob & Mike and told Bob I had brought my little shorty 7 1/2 McCulloch to add to the run ! Bob said “lets start with it” ! Bob had brought his Alumacraft boat as the test launch so we mounted the McC on the transom and launched the boat. Bob suggested I be the operator for the single run then he would hop in for the two passenger run. I won’t say what the best speed was for either run as I don’t have any of the other times and speeds from the other engines. 

Paul wood also brought his PennYan and he and Bill Mohat were out trying to see if Bill found the problem with the 9.8 Mercury that would only run for 20 minutes then die !  Bill had swaped the Mercury coils with OMC coils to correct the problem ! But it developed shifting problems during the test run ! 

By this time many of our other members had arrived and were busy getting their boats and motors ready for the first runs !  John and Bill Reed arrived along with Rick Whitman and Dan Curran. Bob and Dan pulled my shorty McC and installed the next motor to be run in the evaluation !  I don’t remember which motors were tested and recorded as Bob and Dan were changing motors faster than most people change their ??  I marveled watching Dan grab a 7 1/2 “58′ Johnson, balance it in the bottom of the boat from the dock, step down in and lower it onto the transom !  You are the MAN Dan !  

A few more of our members arrived, Bob Joynt with the patina special  and a 10 Evinrude. Tommy Kenepp and Bob Peters brought Tom’s boat with a 10 Johnson. John Hagerman brought his Peterborough and a 10 Evinrude along with his Wizard 7 1/2 and a 53 ScottAtwater to test run, unfortunately the Scott has a problem with the shifting so won’t be in the comparison !

I had the pleasure of meeting two new members that I corresponded with, Dave Johansson and Pete Schwartz  who signed up with our club !  We also had another new member that wasn’t able to make the meet,  Kelly Opal ! Kelly had sent me a very nice email saying he wouldn’t be able to make the meet but looked forward to maybe seeing us at the next meet ? 

Another pleasure was seeing Anne McCoy come as promised, If you attended the sale of some of Cliff Martin’s motors put together by John Hagerman then you probably met Anne, Cliff’s daughter !  She brought some of the literature Cliff had accumulated over the years to offer to our members ! Thank you Anne !  I think you enjoyed meeting and sitting with Bill Mohat’s lovable dog Lilly !  

Moving on thru the day we also enjoyed a sandwich at the new restaurant in the South Fork Marina !  Keith Ott the Marina owner has done and outstanding job of improving the whole area to include the restaurant. Michael Huff the restaurant manager and did a great job of suppling sandwich’s, hotdogs drinks and more to satisfy those of us that needed some munchies ! 

Back out to the boats, Bob and Dan with John Hagerman’s help were narrowing down the outboard comparison. While walking out to the dock I heard a weird noise up in the air, was it a bird,  was it a plane, was it Superman ! No it was Bob Joynt flying his drone trying to harass us by giving buzz dives ! John Hagerman almost swatted the little pest out of the sky with his camera strap ! Bob I hope you got some nice video’s of Bob & Dan running the test comparisons ?  

I didn’t mention earlier I was also greeted by Marty Belfi and his friend, Marty had also brought his boat with a 10 Johnson. Ryan Hollingsworth, and John Birchak also brought their boats to check out the area !  Ryan informed me he is trying to set up a dry meet at their new house sometime in November.  They (He and Kelly his wife) always do a great job putting on a meet so stay tuned to the up and coming news.  I’m pretty sure Bob Korosa will be doing a follow up to the 7 1/2 outboard comparison. All in all it was a great meet with wonderful members and new friends ! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did ? 

See ya at the next meet  !

Gary