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  1. #106
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    1st Bahamas 500

    1967(?) 1st Bahamas 500....Red Crise spectacular! I think there was something like 63 boats entered and it was definately rough water! I rode with Wayne Vickers in a Seacraft with twin Mercs. If I don't screw this up, Iwill attach 2 pics..1 of the boat and 1 of me sitting in the boat at Freeport. I don't remember how fast the boat was, but I do remember all of us were watching Carl Mosely's cute daughter on the docks. Anyway, the race starts and about 20-30 miles later we were doing OK when a throttle cable came loose from the engine and we were dead in the (very rough) water for awhile getting it reattached. When we got going again everybody was out of sight so we actually had to navigate instead of following the crowd. When we finally got to the half way fuel stop at Nassau it was late in the evening. We didn't want to go across the flats on the way to Eleuthra in the dark, so we said the Hell with it and got a hotel room for the night. That sounds like a gentlemanly way to race. Next morning we got up at a decent hour, had some breakfast and continued our journey, finally finishing in an elapsed time of something in excess of 24 hours.....but we did finish! It was either the next year or the year after next that Red instituted a new rule that said you had to finish in a specified time or you were disqualified. Apparently he just didn't understand that this was a gentlemans game. -Steve
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails #43a.BMP   #43.BMP  

  2. #107
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    Tape your eyes open & look out for the bear

    Funny things sometimes happened on Endurance at Lake X. I think I previously explained how endurance ran 24 hours a day for 5 1/2 days a week. The day shift could get incredibly hot during Summer and if you were sun sensitive, like me, you had to cover up which made the heat even worse. Swing shift was when you missed out on all the fun of St Cloud nightlife. Things at the J&A Bar would be fairly quiet by the time you could get there after midnight. The midnight shift during Winter could be so damn cold you would think you were in Wisconsin instead of Florida. Cape Canaveral (now Kennedy) was only 35-40 miles away as the crow flies and on a number of occassions the sky would light up brightly as a launch would go off in the middle of the night. On a cold calm winter night you could almost hear the crackle of the rocket. One night a helicopter came down low over the lake and followed me for awhile. Sometimes you would be assigned to a very comfortable boat like the Jones cat. That was truly a sweet ride. Other nights you might be assigned to the #29 boat. I don't remember what brand it was but it was a very hard ride. For awhile I drove an Alim with a Buick (V6?) engine on a stern drive. That was also a pretty nice ride. One very cold night I was in that boat and it I started feeling warm and cozy. It felt like warm air was circulating around me and then I realized that it was also wet air. Discovered that a hose had a pin hole in it and hot water was spraying forward. The worst ride was a diesel that seemed to run forever. No matter how hard you abused it, it just kept on running. It was loud and smelled. Also the floor was always slippery form the diesel fuel. The hardest thing about the midnight shift was staying awake. Guys would try some weird things. One night I was sitting in the shop during my 3:00AM fuel stop when John Flood pulled into the slip, tied up and walked into the shop. I thought he looked a little weird, which was not unusual for John. I realized that he had attached tape to his upper eye lids and fastened the other end to his forehead. Yes, he had actually taped his eyes open. On another night, my headlights caught something white bouncing up and down some distance in front of me. As I overtook John I saw another novel way to stay awake. He had taken a rag and tied it around his head and then he had tied 30-40 feet of rags together and attached them to the one tied around his head. Then he threw the "tail" overboard. The rags tail would hit the water and bounce in the air. Every time it hit the water it would jerk his head back almost violently. He thought this was a great idea. But then who was I to judge. Sometime during my 1st week at the Lake I walked into the shop and I was startled to see a bear sleeping on the floor. At least that was my first impression of "Jet". Jet was probably the biggest, blackest Labrador Retriever that I had ever seen. He loved to ride in the endurance boat with us and would always be looking to liberate your lunch from your hand in the middle of the night. Late one night I was driving the deisel and Jet was laying right next to the engine. It was incredibly loud with no engine cover and the smell was enough to cover any other smell. As I got hungry, I looked back at Jet sleeping soundly some 15' behind me and stealthily eased a sandwich out of the bag and started to unwrap it only to suddenly find him sitting up next to me and slobbering like crazy. Jet didn't see, smell or hear food, he sensed it. Sometimes Jet would ride the boats for a day or two at a time. You could pull up closely to another boat and he would jump from one boat to the other while we were running along at full speed. On a number of occassions he would jump into the boat slip and attack small alligators. I think that practice stopped when he got hold of one that was a little bit too big. One night Bill and Chet (?) were out on the Lake in a small fast boat and managed to sneek up behind one of the endurance drivers without being noticed. Bill climbed into the endurance boat, eased up and hid behind the guys seat. He then reached the throttle lever beside the seat and pulled it back a little bit. Naturally the guy reached down and pushed it back forward. This went of for several itterations until Bill left his hand on the throttle. When the driver rached down and found another hand there, I think he nearly crapped his pants. We had alot of fun on the lake at all times of day and night. To this day I do not know how I managed to not get fired. Just dumb luck I guess.
    -Steve

  3. #108
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    awesome reading.. please keep the stories coming...
    1986 Daytona Eliminator 21ft , 3.6GT Johnson V8
    1974 starbuck 17ft full tunnel hull w/ 200 evinrude x-flow..


  4. #109
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    Smile D--n 29 Boat

    Seeroy Remember that 29 boat what a B--l Buster If my memory is correct I think it was a Brunswick boat back from when they originally built a few runabouts in the "60's...........Mutually hated that diesel boat among other things it was very slow which made you a target for washdowns, banannas and anything else that could be thrown,,,,,,,,,,,But those Jones I think they were boats #1 and #4 were special with those 6 in lines back their purring you were just blowing by everything on the lake,,,,,,,,,, Also remember a decked over duo with a renault engine was a pretty good ride very quiet and I think you did a lot of reading from that rig,,,,,,,,,But my favorite day was when Wayne Meyer put together a race prepared v8 hooked it up to a Mercruseir #1 drive put it in a green Scooti-Craft and said take it out and see if the drive can handle the Horspower,,,,,, Boat ran aboout 60 and enjoyed every minute of my shift,,,,Never was in on testing those BP engines on the Switzer-Crafts But the South end of the Lake had to be rush to go sliding around,,,,,,,,,,, In awe of your memory and literary skills............GoFish7070

  5. #110
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    lake X

    Steve
    Great stories keep up the good work!
    I bought a boat a year ago a Glastron CT15. The guy i got it from said he got it from Billy Martin an offshore racer in new jersey.
    The boat has a mercury asset tag nailed to the hull. It was originally gold metalflake but now has a yellow topside. Jim hunt & some other guys said they had seen him at lake x & he may have got it there?
    Just wondering if you had any imfo on the boat or Billy Martin?
    Keep the great stories comeing!!!
    Dale!
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails boats& florida 095b.JPG   boats& florida 054.jpg  

  6. #111
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    To test if someone is ticklish, give them a little test tickle

    One summer during a break in College, I decided to try to work in Miami instead of at Lake X. Bill and Doug Janisch were both working out of Miami and had rented a house on the River and one block from the Playboy club. Bill would be racing in Europe most of the summer and Doug was gone alot. So it was beneficial for me to stay there and keep an eye on the house. To top it off, Mike Gordon kept his twin Ford powered Bertram (Fish Peddler) tied up at Bill's dock. The deal was that instead of paying dockage, we could use the boat. My only problem was to find a job. I had met Don Aronow on several occasions and decided to check in with him. I walked in the door at Magnum to find Don, Jake Trotter and Jim Bruell. I asked Don if he needed any help for a few months and was pleasantly surprised to be hired immediately. Seems Don was going for the UIM championship and must compete in Europe in order to win it. Knocky House would be on the other side of the pond with that boat, but Don must also compete in a California UIM points race as well. I just happened into the right place at the right time. He had a 28' single Mercruiser Magnum that I was to take to Long Beach and ride with him in the race. He would arrive from Europe the day before the race. The boat was already set up and on the trailer. I had some time to spend in the shop and enjoyed the camaraderie of Knocky, Jake, Jim, and Dave Stirrat. Also Alan Brown (Brownie) was next door at Donzi(?). In the evenings I would run around Biscayne Bay in Mike's Bertram. Miami had not gotten so crazy in those days, so I had a pretty good time. Finally it was time to head for Long Beach. I Hooked the boat up to Magnum stake body truck and headed West. By myself, no air conditioning, no radio, summer time, pulling a race boat. Somewhere along US-90, (I don't think I-10 was there yet) I decided I had better arm myself against desperados. I stopped at a gun shop and purchased a .32 caliber revolver and continued West. I figured that it was about 3,000 miles total so I would drive it in three 1,000 mile runs. The first night put me somewhere in central Louisiana. I spent the night in a small motel and early the next morning I carried the pistol wrapped in my maps as I headed to the truck. As I unlocked the door, the pistol slipped out of the maps and landed on it's hammer between my feet. BANG! I have absolutely no idea where the bullet went, but the first thing I did was to check that my testicles were still intact. Thankful that they were, and there did not appear to be any noticable bullet holes anywhere else in my body, I listened for any signs that I might have hit something else. Except for the shot, it was a very quiet morning, and since I had not heard any protest from anyone, I figured it would be best to get the hell out of there. From that time forward, there was never a bullet under the hammer. The six shooter was forever more a five shooter. I spent the next night and day in Las Cruces New Mexico at a very small motel. Let me say that Las Cruces may be a nice place today. In the mid-sixties it was the pits. If there are any Las Cruceans out there, sorry about that. Anyway, it would not be a great plan to traverse the deserts of Southern California in mid summer, with no AC, during the heat of day. So, I layed over until early evening and then set out for Long Beach. Half way across the desert I pulled off the road next to a small mountain and layed on the ground for a while. I will never forget how incredibly clear the sky was and I had not seen so many stars since my childhood in the farm country of Northern Indiana. I arrived in Long Beach the next morning with a week to kill before the race. I had never been in California before so I was excited to see as much as I could. I rented a motorcycle and immediately went to the Marine Stadium for the Sunday boat races. On Monday, I put the Magnum in the water and ran it to make sure there were no problems. Everything was good so I put it back on the trailer and spent the rest of the week touring. I'm going to take a break for awhile and write the rest of the story later -Steve
    Last edited by seeroy; 03-13-2005 at 07:25 PM.

  7. #112
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    What I did during my summer vacation

    Sorry about that, I had to walk the dogs....A piece of advice....when you walk dogs in the dark and then let them back in the house, and then you notice that there is a leaf on the doormat....do not pick it up! It might not be a leaf....and the next time make sure that the dogs leave all of their products out in the grass...not on the doormat. Back to a fairly dull story.... The night before the race, and Don has not yet shown up. The next morning I find out he arrived at 3:00am from Europe. He doesn't have a clue about the course or checkpoints. This is a 2 day race. Day 1 is Long Beach to San Diego. Day 2 is San Diego to Long Beach. So we blast off for day 1 heading South. Half way there we come across Bill Wishnick in his "Big Broad Jumper". He has lost an engine and is pulling a monster wake behind him. Don, looking for a little excitement, decides to jump the wake about 2 feet behind Wishnick. I fly across the cockpit like a ragdoll and clobber Don. He looks at me with total disdain but still has no idea where the next checkboat is. However, I do. A couple miles offshore from San Diego is a clump of rockswhere one of the checkboat is to be. I point to the rocks and checkboat but Don just keeps going toward the harbor. Seemed like a good time to get even for his wake jumping antics, so I hit him in the arm as hard as I possibly can and finally get his attention and head him toward the checkboat. Finally we cross the finish line and Don heads for the Hotel and many hours of sleep. Early the next morning I took the boat out to check for leaks and come across an aircraft carrier leaving the port. I ran a couple of circles around it to the amusement of the sailors on deck. Day 2 starts and we head back North. Much to my amusement, Don has a very large bruise on his arm. Odell Lewis and Mel Riggs finished first in the turbine boat and we finish second several minutes later. Odell is idling about 50' out from the finish line dock when Don decides to pull another one of his close-by passes. He goes by Odell at full speed with only inches to spare. If I had stuck my arm out as we went by, I could have shaken hands with Odell....albeit, very quickly. After much SoCal hospitality, food and whiskey at the awards banquet, I headed back to Florida a day or two later. I remember absolutely nothing about the return trip. Dr Bob Magoon was a very close friend of Don. Sometime during that summer, I rode with Bob in the Around Long Island (NY) race. We were doing pretty good until we puked an engine and had to withdraw. I was under the deck calling in to race control on the radio when gas fumes started to get to me. To this day, that was the closest I have ever come to getting "mal de mer" (sea sick). When things finally quieted down back in Miami, Don asked me to rig a small tunnel hull that he had acquired. I had a little time in a Molinari at Lake X, so I took that project on with relish. I finally got the tunnel in the water and ran it around the area some. It crowhopped alot but it ran pretty well. I went back to the dock and got Don. We ran around for awhile and, since this was his first ride in a tunnel, he was thrilled. Also, it was his birthday and he proclaimed this ride to be a great present. He went back into the office and, as I walked by the parts room, I noticed an "elephant ear" prop on the floor. I didn't know who it belonged to...so...I immediately acquired it for Don's birthday boat. WOW! Now it flew like the Molinari had at the Lake. I went into the office and told Don he had to go for another ride. He said he was too busy... so, once again, I hit him as hard as I could and told him he had to go for another ride....which he did. He could not believe how much better it ran and told me to strip the boat immediately so he could pull a mold from it.....which he did. Thus was born the "Magnum Missle". As the summer ended, I went back to school and never again got in a boat with Don Aronow....nor did I want to.....my fist was sore. Years later, I was saddened to hear of his untimely and tragic demise. I don't know what ever became of Knocky House, Jake Trotter, or Jim Bruell. If any of you know, I would be interested in hearing. -Steve
    Last edited by seeroy; 03-06-2008 at 01:25 PM.

  8. #113
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    Smile Seeeeeeroy you still kickin??????????????

    Seeeeeeeeeeroy Can"t surrender yet,,,,,,,,,,,To Hot a read and I know their are a million more Lake X stories out their,,,,,,,,,,,You've rested enough exercise that literary skill,,,,,How about the Hurricane parties.............Later gofish7070

  9. #114
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    Yea, what he said.

    I have been to Lake X a couple of times, and I love those stories from the old days. Hope you don't think no one wants to hear them, cause we DO!
    Wayne Tarrant

    Melon Belly Diplomat and Ambassador

  10. #115
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    Yes we do
    22' Activator w/ 250xs Merc Opti, back home again

  11. #116
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    Thanks...

    I'm at work, just saw this thread and read all of it.. Please add more ASAP...

    Ripper


    I love these stories... You should write a book!!!!
    Rip & Ski Racing

    Ski Centurion Barefoot Warrior
    225 3L Mercury


    Owner / Driver
    Aquaholic
    40 footer with dual Merc Cruizers!
    *****************************
    Mississippi River!
    Supporter and Adult Entertainment Director of The Upper Midwest Power Boat Association

  12. #117
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    196? SeaCraft

    My Father, Frank G. Brown III co-drove this boat!

    Dad has told me so many stories about Lake X.



    Frank G. Brown IV(Jr.)

  13. #118
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    196? SeaCraft

    hopefully the picture comes through this time
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Offshore-SeaCraft-31.jpg  

  14. Likes Capt.Insane-o liked this post
  15. #119
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    Great pic


    Please feel free to include some of you father's stories
    22' Activator w/ 250xs Merc Opti, back home again

  16. #120
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    Quote Originally Posted by blkmtrfan
    Great pic


    Please feel free to include some of you father's stories
    Please do, this has been one of the most enjoyable threads I've read on S&F.

    Thanks


    Power Marine 650 Offshore Race, Yamaha 130 Pro-V

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