"Letters from Heaven" Miami 1960's 70's and 80's
After reading Steve's notes and stories from Lake X I think its time to record some stuff from the boat racing scene in South Florida from the 60's
I was only around and racing for about 5 years, but some of the guys I met back then are still some of my best friends today.
I am still in touch with:
Butch Stokes: a top racer and one of the best Mercury mechanics in Florida.
When Carl K came to town, Butch would work on his boats ,even with the Lake X guys along. Butch's wife Treasure was the most famous female driver back then. She and Rosmary Young were both Raveau drivers and were also the two best looking ladies in the Miami circut. \
Butch has a great memory of this period and I am sure we can get him to add to the discussion.
Oliver Land: Oliver was the man, when it came to props. He could never make up his mind if he wanted to live in Florida or Georgia. He was also a great driver and now lives in Columbus Ga.
Jimmie Sewares: Jimmie was a Power Cat driver. All of the young guys wanted to be like Jimmie. He was the Fonz of the OPC racing in Miami.
Dave Craig: I have not been in contact with Dave, but several of my buddies have and he is doing great and lives in central Florida. Dave owned Skyway Marine and was Carls right hand man in So. Florida.
When something new came out, Dave got to race it even before the Lake X guys! Butch worked for Dave as a teenager and got to test drive all the cool boats like twin bubble Powercats with speedmasters and stacks.
Dave was also World Champion Water Skier in the mid 50's and along with Dick Pope Jr, invented barefoot waterskiing. Dick's father owned Cypress Gardens where he and Dave worked, so guess who got the credit.
Barry Evans: Barry had a new 14 foot Raveau and I had a Merc 500. Several times we teamed up with my motor and me driving. His boat was really fast and when we got together we did pretty good until a race in the Miami Marine Stadium. I used to practice starting and got pretty good at leading at the first turn. With Barry's boat , I jumped to an incredible lead over the pack. Going down the backstretch I was already celebrating my win, when the next thing I knew I was swimming! The steering cable snapped turning the motor fully to its stop in a micro second. The boat did a complete barrell roll throwing me out and coming out upright! Its a good thing I had a big lead or I would have been run over by the pack. Barry is still kicking and lives in Texas.
Some of the other name from back then are:
George Griley: George and I were good friends until he passed away last year.
George was one of the great characters back then. If anyone watched the "Wedding Crashers" That was George and Dave in the old days!
Both had at least 3 to 4 girls friends at the same time.
Stories to come in the Future!
Herb Reeves The guy to beat in the 50 HP OPC
Jimmy Watkins Herbs buddy and also a great 50 HP racer
Tommy Sheldon Ran everything from OPC to 280 Hydros. I heard from Butch that he is still involved in vintage race boats in Florida.
Rees Schmidt Got a Switzer wing from Dave Craig, Like to drink, have fun with the guys and drive his boat every once in a while.
Don Pearson: Don worked with Butch at Dave's Skyway Marine. Don became one of the best mechanics also and went to work for Jack Wilcox Engine's building Race Engines mostly Chevies. Don and I became best friends, but I lost touch with him when he went to work for Ryder Trucks years ago. If anyone knows anything about him I would appreciate getting it.
Phil and Rosmary Young: Phil owned Young Electric. He also owned about 6 boats. Rosmary, Treasure , Richie Baiz, Butch Stokes and Fred Click all drove his boats during the sam time period in the early 60's
Fred Glick: Drove a outboard for Phil Young and worked with another of my best friends Richie Baiz.
Richie Baiz. I knew Richie in highschool before I started racing. He was skinny as a rail and about 5'6" tall. He was not only a great driver he became one of the best boat repairmen in South Florida . He was also a great guy and very funny. We were friends from the late 50's until around the early 90's. I had just found out where he was, when I found he had recenly passed away.
Boy, I would just like to talk to him one more time.
Steve Malone: Steve was just a teenager when his dad got him a twin cat.
Steve won almost everything for a year or two before he was twenty. I saw him a few years after I quit and he had gotten hurt very serverly in a tunnel boat blow over.
Art Deroaches (sp?) Art owned a big machine shop in Miami.
He race several different cats including the Raveau cat that I got hurt in.
That happened labor day of 64 and I still have the scars and stiff leg.
Art Wahl aka "Bugger Red" : Red raced different OPC classes and got hold of the Powercat Hydro driven by Chuck Merceau to set the Outboard Drag record in California around 1962. Bugger tried to get Carl to give him some engines, but Carl would not as Bugger was not known as the best driver.
He got hooked up with Scott. They had a new race motor that was supposed to be the Holy Grail of Outboards. Red raced the 9 hour in Miami and the boat went about 40MPH. It was so slow, I think Scott pulled him out and left with their tail between their legs. The motors were removed and the boat was dumped in the woods next to George Griley's duplex, where it stayed until Richie and I dragged it out, modified the bottom and popped a mold off of it.
Marcel Raveau: Every once in a while Marcel would come to a race. He was a little French guy and was one of the best craftsmen in the boating world. He could build a 14 foot Raveau from scratch in a week! When I first started he would charge around $325 for a boat completed and painted.
That all of the names I can remember from Miami, but I have a great scrap book and I will get it out in a couple of weeks and review.
Of course being in Miami and hanging around Skymarine (I would have to hide from Dave as he didn't want too many guys around to keep real work from going on) we met and saw Odell Lewis, Bill Sirois, Johnny Bakos and so on.
Charlie Wolff known as Leonard back then
