Life at Lake X in the '60s

I just had a very nice 45 min telephone conversation with Mike Ramsey. He confirmed that "Terri Ann" was Roy Ridgell's daughter. Therefore I am quite certain that it is Roy in the #43 boat named Terri Ann II. Mike also told me that he and Jim Harkins ran together in the 1st Bahama 500 in a 3 engine ?formula?...not sure of the number but it was yellow and maybe #44. They had some problems along the way and while deep in a trough, Jim Stough literally flew over the top of them as he "flew" from crest to crest. He doesn't think Stough even knew they were there. As I have said, there was some VERY BIG water that day. Later in the race the bottom of their boat (Harkins & Ramsey) delaminated and they were towed into Chub Cay where they spent 3 days. Mike ran many offshore races, some with Odell Lewis, some with my brother, some with Johnny Bakos, and he drove in a North American S-22 in a race with Ralp Seavey hanging on for dear life. That was a race from West Palm Beach to Lucaya one day and back the next day. That boat eventually broke the bottom open. Mike spent 40 and 1/2 years with Mercury and is now retired in New Smyrna Florida. I believe he has many good stories clinging to the inside of his skull and I will work hard to extract some of them. - Steve Sirois

Welcome Aboard Mike Ramsay,,,,,,,,,, Happy Veterans day Seeroy,,,,,,,,, Those boats look like they belong in a bath-tub compared to todays engineering and innovation.:cheers:

Thank you gofish for reminding us - a BIG thank you to Steve and all the other vets out there!!!:thumbsup:

jeff

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Originally Posted by seeroy

Jeff - J-3 stall speed is apparently about 33kts. I would guess boat speed would be that plus safety margin of 5kts or so. Therefore I would WAG boat speed of somewhere around 38-40kts (42-45mph). It is also possible that the J-3 might be modified for even slower stall speed. I've never flown anything like that, so I am relying on stall speed gathered from internet......Jeff - Is there any possibility that I could get a .jpg from you prior to QB briefing I am giving next Tuesday? :o -Steve

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Steve it was 45 mph I was on the boat.

Mike R.

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Originally Posted by Mike Ramsey

Steve it was 45 mph I was on the boat.

Mike R.

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Hi Mike - Were you one of those that caught the landing gear and can you tell us anything more about the event?

I had a great surprise today when my phone rang and John Stenback was on the other end. I had not seen or talked to John in many years. John Stenback was one of the truly great Outboard Offshore racers "Back in the Day". He is now retired in Chocowinity, NC. After much back and forth laughter he related the following story to me (slightly embellished):

Seems that Ralph Seavey (AKA Seawall Seavey, see page 3, post #35) had been enjoying that famous Saint Cloud nightlife at the J&A Bar until the wee hours. Meanwhile John Stenback and Charlie Rush had made aquaintence with one of the multitude of Lake X alligators whom we shall name "Alli". She was one of the 3 foot variety which, if handled very carefully, could be captured and coaxed into some nefarious activity. This was also true of some of the others of the female gender which were sometimes encountered in the J&A Bar. Standing in the old shop, John & Charlie could see directly across the boat slip and noticed that Ralph's car was missing from the Triple O Trailer. Assuming that Ralph would soon return they began to hatch another brilliant scheme. They stealthily carried their newfound friend over to Triple O and tied the unhappy reptile to one leg of Ralph's bed, which was in the very back of the trailer, and made their retreat to await his return. Now you must understand that when one returned from the J&A in the wee hours, ones brain would be a little foggy from having consumed much adult beverage. Ralph's brain was no exception upon his arrival at the Triple O Trailer. He opened the back door which led directly into his bedroom. Alli, having gotten a bit aggravated by her restraint, greeted Ralph with open mouth, many bare teeth, and much loud hissing. By the way, that was much the same greeting that Ralph got from some of the ladies in the J&A, except they may not have had as many teeth as Alli. It only took Ralph a second or two (or considering his condition, maybe a bit longer) to realize that this was not a hallucination. At that point he let out a blood curdling scream and leapt back into the night. By now John & Charlie were screaming laughter and were heard by Ralph, who began screaming some very interesting epitaphs back at them. As things began to quiet down, Ralph went to the front door of the trailer and John & Charlie could see the lights sequence on as he worked his way back to his bedroom. There followed much screaming, hissing and other interesting noises from within, and then things got very quiet and the lights went out in the bedroom. Believe it or not, that is the end of the story. If you need a more conclusive ending, use your imigination.:leaving:Steve Sirois :p:rolleyes::D

I only have this one shot of a gator with any personnel - but this happens to be ECK. This may have been used in Iron Fist also.

jeff

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Originally Posted by digital_jeff

I only have this one shot of a gator with any personnel - but this happens to be ECK. This may have been used in Iron Fist also.

jeff

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When this gator got loose EC was in that cab without hitting the ground. This one was caught in front of Ridgell's trailer. Jim Stough was on the front end and roy was on the back end. It took five of us to put it in the truck. 9 ft long.

Mike R

I don't remember exactly when this was, probably in the mid 90s. He would sit on the bank near the mouth of the small slip. Never seemed to bother anyone. A few of the guys would tell me about 'hitting something' while on the water, usually resulting in a missing skeg, probably one of this guys buddies.

jeff

Catfish were in the lift wells inside the main building with giant bite marks on their backs where it looked like gators had gotten a hold of them.

Is that Howard Johnsons still there by the turnpike in Kisimmee with all the boat pictures in the bar??

Dd

Skater,
Last time I drove past on the turnpike I didn't see it. I bet JFL would know.

jeff

Jeff, Hate to break you away from Lake X, but was wondering if you have any photos from the Sarasota facility? I know there was some photos somewhere on this thread, cant remember where. When I'm on Siesta I always look for any remnants of the facility but don't quite know where to look except at the south end. How long ago was it abandoned? I kind of remember seeing it years ago since I've been in the Sarasota area since 1951. Can you jog my memory? Gary Larson

Hi Gary,
Siesta Key was before my time. I am by no means an authority, but I do have plenty of pictures. I think Steve had mentioned a few things about it and what it was used for after the move to Placida. I'm sure there are a few others out there on this thread who will know.

jeff

Thanks Jeff. I guess looking for alot of this old stuff is like looking for buried treasure, and Florida has buried alot of the past. Thankfully guys like you have preserved some of this treasure on film. Wish I had thought about photographing some of this stuff as I saw it, especially those little yellow boats going up and down the intracoastal.
Gary

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Originally Posted by nianticgary

Jeff, Hate to break you away from Lake X, but was wondering if you have any photos from the Sarasota facility? I know there was some photos somewhere on this thread, cant remember where. When I'm on Siesta I always look for any remnants of the facility but don't quite know where to look except at the south end. How long ago was it abandoned? I kind of remember seeing it years ago since I've been in the Sarasota area since 1951. Can you jog my memory? Gary Larson

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Hi Gary - The best I can do, as far as the Sarasota Siesta Key Test Station is concerned, is to post some pics of what is there today and try to explain where things were 40+ years ago. I will try to do that in the next post. - Steve Sirois

Gary - This map shows where the Siesta Key Test Station was located at the Southern end of Midnite Pass Road.

http://i35.tinypic.com/jjv407.jpg

This is what it looks like today. Make note of the small oval island at the tip of the big building at the very Southern end of Midnite Pass Road. The property included pretty muach all of the pennisula pictured. Joe Anderson's family lived in a house at the North end of the property and on the West side of the gate. Mr Kiekhaefer had a house about half of the way down the property on the East side of the road. The Test Station was located at the very Southern tip of the property. See next post. - Steve
http://i35.tinypic.com/2n7l3a.jpg

When I first went to work, there were 2 buildings that made up the Test Station. They were laid out in kind of an Ell shape. One building housed the Office, Ed Finley's Photographic lab, and Boathouse Bulletin Shop. The other building housed workshop, small parts room, and the channel (that you see in this picture) between the main part of the property and the oval island, actually flowed through the building. There was a wooden bridge across the channel in the same location as the bridge in this picture. One could walk across the bridge, through a sliding door in the South side of the building and out onto the oval island. There were roll down doors over the channel on either end of the building. At night, the endurance boats were kept in the channel, inside the building, and the doors were rolled down for security. Just outside of the West side of that building there was a swiveling I beam hoist that we used to put small boats in and out of the water. The fuel dock was just to the West of the building and there was a drive-in boat ramp just to the North of the fuel dock. Just to the North of the ramp there was a floating dock were small motors were run as well as various components that were hung in the water on ropes for corrosion testing. Eventually, a fork lift boat rack was built on the West side of the area. I can close my eyes right now and see eveything as I walk through the facility in my mind. That was a wonderful part of my life. - Steve Sirois

http://i36.tinypic.com/108fp0w.jpg

Here I am (was) at the Siesta Key Test Station, circa 1969. Note the recently built boat rack behind my left shoulder. - Steve Sirois

http://i38.tinypic.com/2aa12r5.jpg

Steve,
Thanks so much for all your info about Siesta Key. It is just so bad that all of the old Florida Mercury test facilities are gone along with alot of old Florida itself. It was a different time and different era. I was a product of 1950s and on Florida and sure do miss it and can imagine how all you guys who were part of the Merc facilities feel. Today Florida is just a big mess of people and alot of traffic. Nothing special any more. People don't know what they're missing. Thanks for sharing.
Gary

Steve,

How did they "close" the midnight pass? Backfill? How would they "reopen" it? Dig a channel back? See the google earth pic below.

Oh, and I am only 36, but I surely miss the Florida I grew up in too. It just doesn't exist any more.

Thanks,

Steve.

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Originally Posted by RabidGatorFan

Steve,

How did they "close" the midnight pass? Backfill? How would they "reopen" it? Dig a channel back? See the google earth pic below.

Oh, and I am only 36, but I surely miss the Florida I grew up in too. It just doesn't exist any more.

Thanks,

Steve.

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Rabid - Apparently the pass closed in 1983. There followed a significant decline in the Little Sarasota Bay ecosystem. The enclosed link to the Midnight Pass Society gives a pretty good history of what happened. Also, if you Google Midnight Pass, you will find a number of stories and opinions on the situation. During the late '50s and '60s I spent alot of time in the Little Sarasota Bay and Midnight Pass area. The area was pristine. When I was in Junior High School (Brookside), some of my friends and I would camp out on the small island just inside of the pass. Very early in the morning we would hear the fishing boats going out through the pass. One could walk amongst the mangrove trees around the edge of the island and look down into the roots which descended into the water. I would see multiple layers of different kinds of fish all the way to the bottom, which was 10+ feet beneath the surface. The water was crystal clear and, when it was quiet, I could hear a hissing sound coming from the water. I'm not sure what made the hissing sound, but many who have found themselves in that serene moment will remember it forever. One could walk the flats to the West of the island and easily catch stone crabs. We would have a metal hook on the end of a dowel. Walking in shallow water, one would stick the hook into holes in the sand and probe for the crabs. You could feel it when you hit their hard shell. If you were lucky, they would grab the hook with a claw and you would gently extract them. I would remove one claw and return them to the water. There were many areas where one could walk oyster beds at low tide. As long as the oysters were still beneath the surface at dead low tide, they were good. We always carried a screwdriver to open them. Sometimes we would just stand there in the water, open oysters and eat them on the spot. Other times we would gather a trash can full of them and throw them on a hot grill. When they steamed open, we would experience one of the best gastronomical delights imaginable. Sometimes we would spear snook form under the docks at the Happyland restaurant and trade them for beer from the staff. That evening the restaurant would have a sign out front that read "Rainbow Trout Tonight". Everybody knew that it was actually snook. On the rare occasion that the temperature got very cold, snook would come into the channel in the boat shop and just lay there. Midnight Pass was quite narrow, so when the tide changed, the flow was very strong and impressive. The following link will take you to the site I mentioned at the beginning of this post. Wistfully Looking Back :o - Steve Sirois
Oh By The Way; GO GATORS!!!

http://www.sarasota.wateratlas.usf.e...oc_Summary.pdf

Here is another link which gives a pretty good account of what happened. BTW, the island he is on, would be the same island I camped on when in Junior High School. - Steve

http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2...6-19152754_ITM

I recieved this article from Mike Ramsey yesterday. Story from Mike to follow soon. Synopsis: 1966 Paris 6 hour. Kiekhaefer took 14 boats. 2 turbine powered, the one below driven by Mike and a turbine powered Molinari driven by Odell Lewis. Mike said my brother was the only one of the 14 that finished. No doubt some of those that post here, were there. Stories please? - Steve Sirois

http://i33.tinypic.com/4gt9va.jpg

Easier to read caption - Steve
http://i34.tinypic.com/2c0lj7.jpg

Just goes to show how little time it takes people to screw up a good thing and especially nature. And it seems like the more $ you have the more you can screw up, like our economy. If we'd all learn to leave well enough alone, like the Everglades.

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Originally Posted by seeroy

I recieved this article from Mike Ramsey yesterday. Story from Mike to follow soon. Synopsis: 1966 Paris 6 hour. Kiekhaefer took 14 boats. 2 turbine powered, the one below driven by Mike and a turbine powered Molinari driven by Odell Lewis. Mike said my brother was the only one of the 14 that finished. No doubt some of those that post here, were there. Stories please? - Steve Sirois

http://i33.tinypic.com/4gt9va.jpg

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The date on the newspaper is the day I left Vietnam..

Semper Fi

Paris '66 The great confrontation---Brits Versus U.S OF A
.Pit allocations were always a tad contentious due to the very limited space, with 90 odd re-fuelling rigs clamouring for space. For the last 5 years we Brits had it sussed. get up at 6 am and be the first to claim your territory !!!!!!! problem was, the yanks had got wind we were early risers and the sneaky buggers got there before us.We arrived to find half of the total space was taken with monster refuelling rigs and cantilever cranes ,and 6'6" Texicanas guarding the territory. 50 gallon oil drums filled with fuel and a multitude of spares that made us weep with envy.
Chuck the bloody lot in the water i yelled at nobody in particular and moved to throw 'SOMETHING ' in the water, 2 bodies barred the way and a chap who i got to know quite well that day said to me in a very soft disarming sort of way, 'do you have a problem sir.? i just cracked up and stood there speechless. first , i had never in the whole of my life been called SIR. !!!!! I could not believe these Hill Billies.. I called for back up which duly arrived in the form of Shaky Bill [all five foot nothing] and proceeded to stick out my chin in a very belligerent manner to show these guys they were pushing the boundaries and playing with fire. Twenty minutes later after realising it was going to piss down heavily all day we moved our kit upstream by fifty yards, under the bridge, consoling ourselves with discretion being, and valour etc.
Lifelong friends were made that day, Roy Ridgell, Bill Sirois. Met Bill Steele for the first time. Never understood how he held that job, always seemed like a mouse to me. T'was a bad day for the Americans, they lost a lot of kit, but they helped the Brits all day. That was the day i grew to love "THE COLONIALS"
1966 was the year i won the British championship and i had a Carniti engine on the rear of a Bristol that was untouchable. Had the 6 hours in the bag, Index of performance, Class winner. All i had to do was wave as i took the chequered flag. Unfortunately, 200 yards after the start i ran over the top of an out of control inboard and spent a long time tasting the water of the Seine. Never again did i take anything as read.!!!!
We knew the Yanks would be back next year, But i got to know more of them earlier than that in the summer of '67 when Pruett and Ballesterros Went to a little island called Des EM Biez. That's another story/ jw

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Originally Posted by digital_jeff

This is the same boat in both shots.

jeff

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Jeff - do you have anymore seacraft pics!!! these are awesome shots.

Digital Jeff,
Since you have all these photos of Lake X etc, do you have photos of the yellow test boats that ran all over Florida. How about the 1960-80s motors and the Mercury collection. Did you or anyone photograph the collection. I'd love to see it.
Gary Larson

Hopefully I mentioned somewhere earlier that I never raced in Europe, so I can only relay stories from those that did. With that in mind, let me relay '66 Paris 6 hour story from Mike Ramsey who was there. I talked to Mike for as long as my cell phone battery would hold out this AM. I will insert his story in 3 successive postings. Enjoy. Best Regards - Steve Sirois

In Mikes Ramsey’s words: PREPARING FOR THE ’66 <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comhttp://forums.screamandfly.com/forum...st1:City w:st=</st1:City>PARIS</ST1:place> 6 HOUR RACE. Prior to the ’66 <ST1:p6 hour we were tasked to setup 2 Rover Turbine boats. I was assigned a Liuzzi with 145HP Rover turbine on #1 Mercruiser with speedmaster lower unit. Produced good power at 63,000 RPM. It ran 78mph light & 74mph full fuel. Performance was good in bumpy water. Odell Lewis had the same power package, but in a Molinari tunnel boat. We actually had production gasoline Rover/Mercruiser 60hp, 80hp & 90hp packages on the market. (Steve talking here. I actually ran the production package on endurance at Lake X. When running, it smelled like french fries cooking and always made me hungry) Back to Mike Talking: The Liuzzi/turbine was controversial from the beginning. Mr. Kiekhaefer looked at the dashboard and euphemistically said, “Why do we have a Rolls Royce dashboard in a Volkswagen?”. He then proceeded to bare handedly tear out the bulkhead between the driver and engine. He came back later and tried to bare handedly tear out the dashboard by hitting it with his fist. He had not realized that it was reinforced with aluminum. It sounded like the breaking of a baseball bat. At that point Jim Kubasta jumped up on the deck, yelled “Piss on this boat” and proceeded to thus christen said boat. The Rover Representative went to Mr. Kiekhaefer’s office and they talked. The result was that the boat was to go to <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1:pParis</st1:City>. The other boats had proceeded to air shipping earlier. Mike and John Stenback then drove the boat to <st1:City w:st="on">Chicago</st1:City> to get it air shipped to <st1:City w:st="on">Paris</ST1:p,</st1:City> but were unsuccessful in that endeavor. Soooo, they hit the road for <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State> where they were successful. On the way back to <st1:State w:st="on">Wisconsin</st1:State>, while driving along at their usual 90+MPH, one of <st1:State w:st="on"><ST1:pNew York</ST1:place</st1:State>’s finest noticed said speed and chose to inquire. Naturally, Mike and John had no compunction about mentioning that they were race boat drivers. For an hour, they entertained the gentleman with grand stories of their exploits. With this information in mind, he allowed them to continue about their way with no further recourse.

In Mikes Ramsey’s words: ON TO <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comhttp://forums.screamandfly.com/forum...st1:City w:st=</st1:City>PARIS. We worked out of the Paris Distributor’s shop. At first there were language difficulties with the French mechanics. No doubt some expletives were hurled back and forth until an interpreter arrived. After that, the French were magnificent and always, immediately and with great relish, accomplished any task. The French would arrive in suit and tie every morning. Deliver a hearty “Good Morning”, go to the locker room to change into work clothes, and commence with whatever task was at hand. At noon, someone would go to the corner deli for 10 loaves of bread, 10 pounds of spiced ham, and 10 bottles of wine. At quitting time the French would go back to the locker room, shower, change back into suit and tie, bid a hearty “Good Evening “ and go home. Following the race, when it came time for the Mercury guys to head home, they each gave up their Lake X jacket, with gold stripe down the sleeve, to the French guys. The only exception was Bill Steele. He refused to give up his jacket and one of the French did not yet have one. So the other Merc guys pounced on Steele, ripped off his jacket and gave it to the French guy. When we departed, the French mechanics were actually in tears as they bid Adieu to their new Yankee friends.

In Mikes Ramsey’s words: THE RACE.. Unfortunately, I had a flameout at the start and immediately fell behind the fleet. Got it running again and rapidly gained on the fleet. By the 3<SUP>rd</SUP> lap I had passed half of the fleet and was running like a stripped ass ape. I caught a funny wave and stuffed the boat while passing under a bridge. The boat spun and hit the bridge abutment. When my head cleared, I jammed the throttle lever forward and was rewarded by some very nasty sounds coming from behind me. To my surprise, when I turned around, I noticed that the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comhttp://forums.screamandfly.com/forum...laceName w:st=</st1:PlaceName>Seine <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType> had swallowed the back half of the boat and was gaining on the front half. If you have ever seen the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Seine</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType> up close and personal, there is one thing you know for sure……You do not want to immerse your pink body in it’s lovely water. All manner of nasty things have taken up residence there from the effluence of the sewers. Therefore, I climbed up on the nose of the Liuzzi, which was the only portion still above the water. In their zeal to compete, oncoming drivers passed within mere inches, nearly causing me to add further effluence to the river. Fortunately, none of them hit me and their wakes eventually pushed the boat to the shore. I jumped ashore, tied the boat to a tree and began my trek to the pits. Unbeknownst to me Odell’s Turbine Molinari had rid itself of one of the required sponsons that allowed it to stay afloat. As I approached the pits, Mr. Kiekhaefer saw me and exhibited some of that temper he was famous for. He kindly inquired as to the whereabouts of his 2 turbine boats. I told him that mine was tied up to a tree and wasn’t going anywhere. This, of course, pleased him….NOT!! As I arrived in the pits, I was witness to some rather interesting European boat racing etiquette. It seems that a very excited Frenchman had hit a piece of debris in the Seine and knocked off the nose of his boat as if someone had cut it off with a saw. He had tasked the crane operator to pull the boat from the river, whereupon he promptly nailed a board across the gaping maw. He then engaged the crane operator to return the boat to the water. The crane operator refused to comply resulting in screaming expletives being hurled in both directions. Shortly, a Race Official came upon the scene and pointedly told the Driver, “You pulled your boat out of the water. You are disqualified”. To say the least, this did not sit well with the Frenchman. As he shouted, “VIVE LA <st1:country-region w:st="on">FRANCE</st1:country-region>!”, he leapt from the seawall to the dock and punched the Official in the nose. Someone pushed the driver into the water, which immediately either cooled him off, or heated up the river. The only Mercury Team driver to finish the race was Bill Sirois, and his engine was on it’s last legs at the end. Mr. Molinari very handily won the race. Somewhere, lurking back in the fleet, was the affable Jackie Wilson. Hopefully, he will add more to his previous posting about this event.

Of all the race sites in the world, for me anyway, Paris is "THE MECCA". This is the place where friend and foe got together on the Sunday closest to November 7th and for 6 hectic hours threw might, main and sinew, hope guile and endeavour into winning a trophy that you could have bought for the price of 3 hours of fuel, but the winning was PRICELESS. That's the reason firms like Molinari, Scotti, Abatte. Shakespeare, Hodges, Cougar, MM LEVI, Bristol, Bluefin and a thousand more, backed by corporations like Mercury, OMC, Volvo, Ford, Ferrari, Jaguar and many many more were so anxious to taste the fruits of a victory in Paris. The generated publicity from this one event was beyond compare worldwide.
There were some very old scores to be settled between drivers. Ie. Shakespeare and Merryfield. Scotti and Molinari with Tullio Abatte added to spice it up a bit. And when the Americans came looking for glory, the europeans joined together to repel boarders.
Shakey Bill won in 1963 and midst much celebrating Carl K GAVE him the engine, that's when i started to race as opposed to circumnavigating . Paris entries were closed at 90, but if you were well known and a likely lad your entry would be accepted, so it was not uncommon to have a field of over 100.
Remember the Seine Traffic was only held up for 30 minutes before the off and was then allowed to start 15 minutes after that. Sunday morning in Paris at 10-15 am on the river was mayhem. The build of barges was let loose and convoys of these huge working craft filled with everything from coal and steel, to tomato plants, bicycles and french knickers. created oceanic conditions. The drivers were generally on their way downstream for Sunday lunch, and to be an hour late was a mortal sin. So the buggers just opened the taps wide and let rip. Fun to be there , i can tell you.
The rivalry went from fierce to almost mortal in Paris. you don't even have to look deep, OMC V MERCURY, Molinari V the World. Velden V Seebold. Amidst it all friendships were born that still hold fast today, and if the originals are gone the continuation still runs on with the families. I was lucky enough to have been born in a time when i could take part in that wonderful fraternity of men called powerboat racers. Done it again, went down memory lane and forgot the time, sorry 'bout your bad luck folks, promise i'll get back to some real Paris stories. The initiation of the boy Ridgell, The night Roy lost control of Mr K.s brand new NSU Wankel etc.

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Originally Posted by bernie

OK Digital Jeff, now find me some shots of Doc. Magoon's Atlantic Ocean speed attempt boat - would have been in the '80's - it had 5 or maybe seven 3.4's on it - MGB29 was involved in that one, maybe he'll chime in. Think the reasoning was that if they had engine problems during the trip they would just unbolt the sick motor and deep six it. Don't ever want to know what Mercury spent on that one.
Turn the heat down and the lights off - BJB

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Hi Bernie,
I found a film made, mainly about the preparations for the crossing. The boat was a Cigarette with 4 engines. The number on the cowl reads 200 in a vertical fashion inside a large 'V'. I thought that may have been a 2.4L. You older guys, sorry, more experienced guys may be able to identify these better than me.:D

jeff

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Originally Posted by bigshrimpin

Jeff - do you have anymore seacraft pics!!! these are awesome shots.

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Hi bigshrimpin,
I have lots of Seacraft pics. You might get a kick out of this one though. I came across this shot some time ago, now this was before Photoshop and high quality electronic retouching, so you be the judge...

jeff

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Originally Posted by nianticgary

Digital Jeff,
Since you have all these photos of Lake X etc, do you have photos of the yellow test boats that ran all over Florida. How about the 1960-80s motors and the Mercury collection. Did you or anyone photograph the collection. I'd love to see it.
Gary Larson

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Hi Gary,
I guess I need some more info on the 'collection'. Did you mean the entire line up from the 60s through the 80s?

jeff

Hi Everyone,
FYI
I am working on starting a new thread to help cover some of the questions asked above - things not exactly related to the Lake. I would like to keep Steve's thread aimed at the Lake and the 60's, but there are so many other avenues to venture down. Please stay tuned, and please feel free to send me PMs with ideas, it may take some time to take off and get going.

jeff

Jeff,
I guess what I'm talking about is some of the motors they kept in a museum or collection at the Lake that I seem to hear reference about. These are probably some of the experimental or being developed motors they were working on or the public never saw. Did something like this exist or does it still exist?
Gary Larson

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Originally Posted by nianticgary

Jeff,
I guess what I'm talking about is some of the motors they kept in a museum or collection at the Lake that I seem to hear reference about. These are probably some of the experimental or being developed motors they were working on or the public never saw. Did something like this exist or does it still exist?
Gary Larson

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Hi Gary,
I'm guessing you refer to the vault. The vault did exist, but it's contents have scattered. A few people have made reference to it previously. In the later years, most of the second floor served as a museum of sorts. It was always my understanding that these engines belonged to Mr.Kirchman
I do have a few pictures of the second floor back in the 60s, but it looked like it was all production engines - nothing exotic. The second floor was set up like an auditorium, probably for use with visitors or dealer meetings. The vault, on the other hand did have some products that were off limits.
I hope someone else can help out with these details.

jeff