Life at Lake X in the '60s
For years I have wanted to pass along some of the experiences I had at Lake X from 1962 through 1970. This is going to take awhile and will be a living document. That means that I will add bits and pieces over time. Additionally, I invite anyone that was there to add their experiences. CAVEAT! Do not expect everything to be accurate and correct. It's not that I don't want to be correct. But, unfortunately, I will have to work from memory and the few items I still have as clues. Also, I have been known to embelish. If there is one thing I have learned in my life as a former boat racer, fisherman and fighter pilot; it is that boat racers, fishermen and fighter pilots are the greatest liars in the world. I especially know that is true about boat racers because we would always run every race boat through the measured kilo at Lake X many times as we tried new things and as Don Schwebbs banged on our props. We always knew exactly how fast our boats were running before we left the lake. The only significant variables were fuel loads, water conditions and whether we were running in salt water. SOOOOO...you would not believe how many times somebody at a race site would tell me that they were running at 75mph and I would walk past them in an absolute 62mph boat. Excuse me if I get names, places, dates and alot of other things wrong. Also feel free to correct me. I am Steve Sirois and my brother was Bill Sirois. Many of you may have heard of or known him. Very few of you will have known or heard of me. In my next post I will try to explain how we got to Lake X. :rolleyes:
Sarasota High School Racer
1959 Bill was an officer in SHS JB's Club (junior JC's I think). He convinced members that a good project would be to sponsor a boat race on Sarasota Bay. Needless to say, Bill would be the race chairman. I not sure that he told anybody in advance the he also planned to compete. He cobbled together an old fishing boat and attached a Mercury KG-9. I think he did quite well. Bill was also a outstanding swimmer on the SHS swim team and Coach Carlie Cleland was thorougly p---ed when Bill quit the team in order to go to work for Al Holub at Sarasota Marine. Al also had a part interest in a small boat building business and after sending Bill through Mercury Service school began to let him use one of his hulls and a Mercury to run in local races. Bill was forever grateful to Al for that. I went to a race with Bill and his girfriend Suzanne (Willy) Williams in Palmasola Bay. He won that one handily and soon had caught the attention of Mercury. I think that Bob Burford, who was married to Helen Kiekhaefer, got Bill in the door. Anyway, he was soon at Lake X running endurance. A side project was helping to build the 17 mile road around the property. Chet Strickland was right along side of him as they slogged through the swamps. Bill and Chet had been good friends through High School. Chet was also a very successful racer in both the US and Europe. The last time I saw Chet was at Bill's funeral. More later - Steve
Big Brother helps me get onboard
June 1962. Right after SHS graduation, Bill helped me get onboard with Mercury at the Siesta Key test station. A point to be made....Back then it was Kiekhaefer Corporation. Later it became Mercury Marine. Gene Wagner was the Boss there and a great guy to work for. Had alot of fun running endurance in salt water and will provide many stories about that in the future. I started at Manatee Jr College in the Fall and barely hung in for awhile. In 1963, I flunked out of MJC and went to work full time at Siesta Key test station and shortly ended up at Lake X driving endurance. Ted Collins ran the admin side of things and Joe Anderson was the boss in the shop. Over the next several years I worked on and off at Lake X and Siesta Key while I also returned to MJC and then Univ of South Florida. Finally eked out a BA in Management at USF in 1968. We ran 24 hour endurance at Lake X from Monday AM until Saturday at Noon when we would pull the boats out of the water an wash them. Often I would then drive a truck to Sarasota to pick up parts at the Airport Distrubution warehouse and return Monday AM. We worked hard sometimes, but played hard all the time. Needless to say, there was a copius amount of adult beverage consumed. Many stories about that in the future. I honestly do not know how I survived those whiskey years. More tomorrow night, I hope! -Steve:rolleyes:
