Bert Serra - Thank You

[Bob V]

It was January 17th 1974 at 1:50PM. I had recently bought my first (SJ) tunnel boat from local boat builder and racer Freddy Van Wagoner. I was at Lake Seminole, Florida to test drive the boat. A friend of Freddy's was there to watch. His name was Bert Serra. He too was a racer, but I did not know him until that day. After making several passes, I took one last pass before putting the boat back on the trailer. I remember the old blue keller reading 86 mph and suddenly it got real quite and all I could see was blue sky. By the time I blew over, Bert had gotten into an observers boat and quickly gotten to me. He jumped into the 55 degree water and held my head above water as the boat slowly pulled us back to shore. By the time we got in the paramedics and ambulance were standing by. My back was broken, but my life was saved thanks to a gentleman I never knew until that day, Bert Serra. Thank you Bert where ever you are...

[pyro]

Small world. I KNOW Bert Serra and his family. He used to live lakefront just down the road from where I now live. I used to hang out with them all the time when they lived here. I have been in his house a few times, and have seen old boat racing pictures on his basement wall. He used to watch me fly by his house in my boat, and he commented that it looked good.

OK, I'm making some calls. I WILL do everything I can do to get you in touch with Bert to thank him. He lives in Florida now, but he knew a lot of people in my neighborhood, and I'm going to try to get his phone number in Florida for you.



-chad

[pyro]

I made some calls, and I got my hands on his cell phone number. I left him a voice mail. I'll try to get you in touch with him.

[Watermark]

I too would like to say hello to Bert.. In 1974, my first year with Mercury Canada, he let me drive his "U" Class boat in "S" class. Bert had three boats, two Molinari's & his black Hubercotti. To make a long story short, Bert handed the boat over to me for the entire season and was a wonderful team partner in Canada for Spencer Dunn, Oley Berkis and Mark Rotharmel.

In the photo attached, you can see "Mark & Bert" listed as drivers on the front cowl.. glad it wasn't "Bert and Ernie"!

In any event, if you happen to track him down, I'd like to say hello and thank him again for taking a chance on letting a long-haired 19-year old drive his new Molinari..

[pyro]

I just got off the phone with Bert, he was happy to hear from me. I told him about Scream And Fly, so he may be posting here in the near future. I told him that someone posted a picture of #11, and he thought that was really neat. If anybody wants his number, e-mail me.

Bob V, you've got mail.

This felt really cool to get people who were into the sport back in touch. This stuff was going on before I was even born, so I don't have any stories to share. I really enjoy reading the posts about the racing and the politics from back in the day... I hope Bert shares some racing stories here...

-Chad

[Fish]

I too would like to say hello to Bert.. In 1974, my first year with Mercury Canada, he let me drive his "U" Class boat in "S" class. Bert had three boats, two Molinari's & his black Hubercotti. To make a long story short, Bert handed the boat over to me for the entire season and was a wonderful team partner in Canada for Spencer Dunn, Oley Berkis and Mark Rotharmel.

In the photo attached, you can see "Mark & Bert" listed as drivers on the front cowl.. glad it wasn't "Bert and Ernie"!

In any event, if you happen to track him down, I'd like to say hello and thank him again for taking a chance on letting a long-haired 19-year old drive his new Molinari..

did someone say Bert's black hubercotti?? Here is a pic of it just before Bert got it. Tommy Huber built the boat and my dad tested it to get it dialed in. Bert was unable to come down to run it at belglade so he told my dad to go ahead and run it (Dad had retired the year before). He won by a long way. That boat was REALLY fast. Funny, we were just talking about that boat and Bert yesterday when I had lunch with my dad.

Sorry for the poor quality, I made this pic of the hubercotti from an old poor quality negative.

BobV, I sent you an email about my dad, Jack. I look forward to speaking with you. Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.

[Fish]

another....

[Bob V]

Thanks to the efforts of Chad aka Pyro, I was able to get back in touch with Bert Serra. We spent the better part of an hour on the phone today doing what we do best, living in the past. It seemed fitting because today is the 32nd anniversary of the day he saved my life when I blew over. I always knew that Bert was up some where in Michigan, but I did not know where. Well, thanks to Chad, I learned that Bert had moved to Florida. Not only did he move to Florida, but he lives only about 15 minutes away from my house. Chad...many thanks to you for your efforts. You made finding the needle in the haystack a reality. Bert and I are planning to meet for lunch later in the week. Thank you does not quite seem enough, but I will say it again...Thank You! Sincerely...Bob Van Bomel

[pyro]

No problem. Glad I could help. I'm still feeling warm and fuzzy a day later.

Small world... ;-)

[kerrieb]

Mark - I stumbled on this website after my son was doing some research onhis grandfather Oley Berkis. Hope to hear from you. Kerrie (Berkis) Bolton

[Matt2581]

Well im glad to say that im sure my father Bert Serra would love to hear from u and i will get a message to him and let him know that u would like to talk to him

sincerely his son Matt Serra

[Fish]

Well im glad to say that im sure my father Bert Serra would love to hear from u and i will get a message to him and let him know that u would like to talk to him

sincerely his son Matt Serra

Matt,
welcome to scream and fly, glad you are here. I remember your dad from when I was a little kind. there are pics above of my dad (Jack Staples )driving youre dad's hubercotti at belle glade before he came down and picked it up. Sorry for the poor quality, I took them off a negative my mom had. Glad you are here,

fish

[pyro]

Hey Matt, long time no see. I'm KELLI's brother, remember from the wakeboarding days on Loch Erin? I still actually live in the area.

You must have Googled your dad's name, I see this thread tops their search results.

This is an old thread from January '06. I talked to your dad a while back and got him in touch with Bob. I still have his number in my phone. It's all good.