Unfortunately they don’t race the boats in our small town but they do Hydro boats at a local lake. It’s all vintage stuff too and will try to get out there and snap some photos
Now THAT'S what I hope to build at some point! There used to be a similar boat that ran around on Grand Lake o' The Cherokees when I was a kid staying at Grandma and Grandpa Brooks' old lake house...I would sit and watch the stuff going on out on the water...this BEAUTIFUL wooden boat that was probably only 20 or 30 years old in '79 came rumbling up almost into their little cove one day and I stood up and ogled it through grandpa's old binoculars... ...always wanted one like that. Maybe I'll get one put together sometime and use this old Pontiac 316 if I can make it work in a marine application. I suppose my favorite wooden boat that actually carried my young carcass out on the Gulf was the "Lady Eventhia" that Edgar Walter built in his back yard and launched in '75...we caught many a snapper and other saltwater fish from that sweet ol' gal. only photo I can find of Lady Eventhia, Capt Walter sitting on it, unfinished, 1975
Awesome story @hillbilly and really brings a smile to the face. It seems like old wood boats have the best history and stories. As most stay with families for generations with numerous kids learning to waterski ,picnics and amazing fishing trips. I will be building one at home soon and a combination of traditional and modern. If there is any questions on building one please ask any questions, would love to help.
A late landlord of mine had a wooden canoe hanging in his garage that he and his Dad had built. I always thought it was cool .
My apologies for posting this too late as a friend of mine puts on this event . Some of the boats are a bit newer then the hydros of the 50s and 60s but same spirit of boat racing.
When I taught cabinet making one of the instructors was teaching making wood strip canoes and kayaks . It was a cool to see how they went about putting light weight boats together. In fact I went out and bought the router bits to experiment on the technique and it works great and seals nicely it’s a cope and cove. They will let you create curves without creating gaps.. As we routed each plank on both edges like a bookend for a Perfect fit .
Outboard Motor powered Marathon Boat racers 1953 courtesy of Mercury Archives (video) Mercury Film Archives - Winnebagoland Outboard Marathon (1953) (youtube.com)
"Way Back Story" My Dad built boats for a few years,when I was a kid mostly sailboats. Barlow Boats ,Coconut Grove Fla. in the 1950's, Years later a buddy of mine got a old wood 50 ft. Picnic Cruiser boat from his dad . Who had a old ruff boat yard on Miami River,to fix up. At one of the docks,a sunk boat in the boat yard ,an was saved by his dad Jim Sr. , who fix it up some,got working. Left it in his Will,too Jim Jr.. My Buddy "Duke"{ Jim Jr.}. 1938 Trimmer Ship 50ft. " Lord Jim" all wood. Duke kept working on it,I helped him some of the time.. We used it a good number of times a years. It could sleep 8 for over nite. We raced Duke's 23ft. E-scow highly mod. sail boat 3 races a year. Biggest race in south fla. Miami to Key Largo ,,Used "Lord Jim" as a safety chase boat for the sail boat races=Friends n wifes got to ride an watch from "Lord Jim". 28 years we raced his sail boat,won first place over all monohull,,, 26 times,{ all sail boats with only One Hull. } The other 2 we flipped the sail boat,and had to be saved by "Lord Jim" "Miami to Key Largo Race"
A sign on the dock reads as follows: "Half Hour Rates Motor Boats with Radios Boats…” Hello, Our dad used to take us to Los Angeles, when our mom wanted to go shopping in the “Miracle Mile” area of West downtown location. (The Wilshire District) If he timed it right, we had shopping in the morning and after a nice lunch for our mom, we drove to MacArthur Park Lake to get our kid activity taken care of in one swoop in Los Angeles. The huge lake in the middle of a metropolitan city area was unusual, but offered tons of all day fun on the water. Rental boats of all kinds were available. My brother and I always favored the motor powered boats with levers as throttles. The steering was fun and there was a “rev limiter” (new term) of sorts to keep the damage of “out of control” boats to a minimum. Your boat could go as fast as the others and no one boat was faster up to a point, as the throttle lever pushed forward. In other words, the boats did not go very fast as it was an enclosed lake. But, while they were on the water, we could accelerate and steer all over the lake proper. My brother and I always wanted to be in a boat by ourselves, but the lake operator would not allow it until we got older. Jnaki Speaking of “older,” as teens we could rent the boats that were inside of the circular, Rainbow Pier lagoon in Long Beach, in front of the Municipal Auditorium, for similar boats with a lack of power. But, it was nice to be able to cruise around on a calm body of water on a date. At the time, the boats in Los Angeles had more meaning to our dad, as he was the one to introduce us to the fun activity. It was a draw, every time we went to that area of Los Angeles for a road trip or family visit not one complaint being dragged down some shopping aisle looking at clothes. Little kids and moving boats we could steer? What is not to like? YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
