How did you get into boating ?

[skyskier]

And what was your 1st boat ? My Pop & a couple of his buddies bought a "kit" from Glenn L boats about 1954. They laid up the entire thing, plywood construction, I don't know if it had a V drive, mighta been a straight drive type deal, Jess Hughes was a mechanic and put a big lincoln V-8 in it ALL of us kids had a turn or two sanding that big sob, we'd go out to Elsinore from Paramount, no 91 fwy back then. There were no "ski shops" our dad's built our skis until somebody popped for a "VELMAR" production ski from Sears & Roebuck. Jess's Dad had a little 10 ft or so outboard fihing boat with a evinrude 15 hp on it, us kids could get up behind it while the grownups took the big boat. The trips to Elsinore were like a special outing back then, took lots of planning & preperation, we spent most weekends at Marine Stadium. Launching there meant unhooking the trailer and pushing it into the water, then pulling the trailer out with a big ol rope, had to get EVERYBODY on the back of the tow vehicle jumping up & down trying to get some traction. Pop ended up buying his 1st boat, a glasspar ( P17?) outboard, kept it for about a year, decided he wanted a new "Inboard" bought a 16 ft Raysoncraft. We were at Marine Stadium one weekend, a guy walked up to my Pop and told him, him & his boy were getting ready to go to someplace in Arizona the following weekend to a "waterski race " Parker was the place , anyway, he told my Pop his boat was down and his boy had a "new" racing ski he wanted to try out and would my Dad pull him a lap or two? After 2 laps, "Flat Out" behind that 16 ft Raysoncraft with the small block buick, my 'ol man was H O O K E D We went to Parker the next weekend, Pop signed us up in the 13 to 15 boys class. We had a hard time staying up with the start boat just to get lined up to go racin :( We came home Sunday night, Pop sold the Raysoncraft on Tuesday, bought a 18 footer from Ralph Muirhead, Unlimited Marine in Lynwood on Wednesday and that "guy" from the Marine stadium helped him "build" a ski racing rig. My Pop won the 1965 or 66 High Point Driver of the year in the old Pacific Coast Speedboat & Waterski Racing Association. I know he never set out to "win" the big trophy, he just showed up EVERY race because he wanted to "race". He'd pull ANYBODY that needed a ride for whatever reason, he just wanted to race :D
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/skyskier/CS1.jpg
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd289/skyskier/popdoadontheramp.jpg

[RiverRacer]

Very cool story!.. This is my first boat(Stevens)what a learning experience that was, it was a total POS(the pic) when I got it but I thought it was great didn't know better, never ran more than 20 minutes anytime I took it out. That was enough of that, that winter it got a total remake and it never missed a beat for 4 years until I sold it!...

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8749/stevensrb4.jpg

[Terrible toy]

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/terribletoy/Bies.jpg

Ditto on the cool story skyskier. My first ski boat was not in the record setting catagory, but sounds like it was more reliable then Art's first boat.:D It was a 57 Bies with a split Casale (came with a Hallcraft) and 350 Chev. That's my brother pretending he's joe racer. It was 1972 and we were headed for Ming and immortality at 66 mph and a 6 boat length 1st round loss. Check the zoomies, probably cost me a couple of miles per hour at least.:(

[skyskier]

Very cool story!.. This is my first boat(Stevens)what a learning experience that was, it was a total POS(the pic) when I got it but I thought it was great didn't know better, never ran more than 20 minutes anytime I took it out. That was enough of that, that winter it got a total remake and it never missed a beat for 4 years until I sold it!...

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8749/stevensrb4.jpg

Looks like Elsinore ? Stevens as I recall were a rough ridin hull , nice looking, but beat the hell outta ya !

[SPUN1]

There's a Stevens up here in the Northwest that race's with CDBA named "Pussycat", I can never get tired of looking at that boat. What a nice looking old school boat.

[RiverRacer]

Looks like Elsinore ? Stevens as I recall were a rough ridin hull , nice looking, but beat the hell outta ya !

That's correct, good ole Smellsomore 1973. Stevens was no different than any other flat, they all pound the $hit out of ya running in water they shouldn't be running in!..:D

[RiverRacer]

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/terribletoy/Bies.jpg

Ditto on the cool story skyskier. My first ski boat was not in the record setting catagory, but sounds like it was more reliable then Art's first boat.:D It was a 57 Bies with a split Casale (came with a Hallcraft) and 350 Chev. That's my brother pretending he's joe racer. It was 1972 and we were headed for Ming and immortality at 66 mph and a 6 boat length 1st round loss. Check the zoomies, probably cost me a couple of miles per hour at least.:(

That is a cool boat!.. Wish I had pics of when I first bought mine to compare because it was a real POS, but this is how it looked after a winter's worth of work, just applied the car theory to it (K.I.S.S.)never missed a beat after that year after year!..

http://www.v-driveboat.com/vweb/attachment.php?attachmentid=511&stc=1&d=1213329910

[poncho]

There's a Stevens up here in the Northwest that race's with CDBA named "Pussycat", I can never get tired of looking at that boat. What a nice looking old school boat.

How could i see a pic? used to live out there and knew of a few,what kinda number is it running.Went to the cvdba web site but couldnt find it maybe with the drivers name

[Terrible toy]

That is a cool boat!.. Wish I had pics of when I first bought mine to compare because it was a real POS, but this is how it looked after a winter's worth of work, just applied the car theory to it (K.I.S.S.)never missed a beat after that year after year!..

http://www.v-driveboat.com/vweb/attachment.php?attachmentid=511&stc=1&d=1213329910

That's pretty darn nice for a first boat. What all did you have to do to it to get in that condition?

[RiverRacer]

That's pretty darn nice for a first boat. What all did you have to do to it to get in that condition?

Thanks Bill, picture this it had a sub floor covered with carpeting(matching blue), a carpeted box for a drive line cover and partially covered the v-drive(to hide the untrimmed plate), it had a drive shaft loop on the motor end(smart huh) all electrical and plumbing hidden under the floor, real sanitary rigging huh!. So I pulled the floor out and to my surprise the floor was delaminating, fiberglass tanks were deteriating, all the plumbing was copper tubing mounted solid to the pump and filter and tanks, it had one piece of hose going to the carb that's it!. The electrical was the biggest spaghetti pile you could imagine just laying on the floor, with corroded terminals and all!. Nice picture huh,LOL... So I stripped it bare and shitcanned about a 100lbs of garbage and started out fresh, built a tranny for a friend for some glass work, got some aluminum tanks cleaned up the v-drive and trimmed the plate, made a driveline cover, put all mechanical gauges in, later went to a mag so all I had was 3 wires. Rearranged everything so plumbing was minimal and simple!.. The only thing I didn't do was change the shaft angle, only because I didn't know anything about that at the time and it did fly, I'd like to have that boat back with the right changes it could be a nice handling boat, but I'm sure by now it's in some land fill or something!.. :(

[Norcal_73]

Interesting stories here. Keep them coming. Basically I am a third generation boater on Clear Lake. Always lived near the lake. Grandparents pratically lived on the lake with their boats along with my uncles and aunts. My parents had their boats over the years as well. Taught me to swim when i was learning to walk, had me skipping on tractor tubes around 5, skiing soon after, let me drive their boat when i was 12. Then let me purchase the Sanger (boat I have now) on payments when i turned 18. Now I am 34 yrs of age and still living next to the lake. Would i ever leave this area? Nope. Not with natures swimming pool at my back yard. Sucks not having a roomy house, just a mobile home in a park, but hey a 100 mile shorline lake with a 1977 24' Larson cabin cruiser, 1973 19' sanger v-drive, 12 foot aluminum with merc o/b and a bunch of water toys, towables and such, life here couldnt be much better.

[SPUN1]

How could i see a pic? used to live out there and knew of a few,what kinda number is it running.Went to the cvdba web site but couldnt find it maybe with the drivers name

Sorry it took so long to get back on line, busy day at work.
I have some pic's of it at home but would have to scan, i may be able to do just that. I will look for the number and what class and get back to you.

CDBA will be racing on the weekend of June 21st at Dexter lake, can't wait!!!!
I've been going to as many races here in Oregon as i can within the last 7 years.

[SnoC653]

The only thing I didn't do was change the shaft angle, only because I didn't know anything about that at the time and it did fly, I'd like to have that boat back with the right changes it could be a nice handling boat, but I'm sure by now it's in some land fill or something!.. :(

What length was it and what changes would you make. I've started on the floors on my 68 and I've decieded to put it on the slow track and do it right. Just to make sure I don't rush it, I've picked up a J&+ boat (not saying that bad word here) to play on the river with while I rebuild the stevens right. I only have slides of my 1st boat. It was a 16'4" Luaterbach 280 started off as a 266 (old WaWa boat). Bought it from my dad. My entire childhood I was taught boats are useless unless they turn left. Exceptions were allowed for turn judge and tow boats. Not sure how old I was when I found out most boats were floated off their trailers and not lifted off with a crane. Boy those were fun times and good memories.

[dmontzsta]

About 14 years ago, my Dad decided he wanted "A boat I have always dreamed of owning, but your Mom never let me get it, now I am getting it, dont care what she says" boat. :)

It was a flatty, he took me out in it, scared the shit out of me, I was pretty amused and became hooked. :)

[RiverRacer]

About 14 years ago, my Dad decided he wanted "A boat I have always dreamed of owning, but your Mom never let me get it, now I am getting it, dont care what she says" boat. :)

It was a flatty, he took me out in it, scared the shit out of me, I was pretty amused and became hooked. :)

I like your ole man's thinkin!..:D

[RiverRacer]

What length was it and what changes would you make. I've started on the floors on my 68 and I've decieded to put it on the slow track and do it right. Just to make sure I don't rush it, I've picked up a J&+ boat (not saying that bad word here) to play on the river with while I rebuild the stevens right. I only have slides of my 1st boat. It was a 16'4" Luaterbach 280 started off as a 266 (old WaWa boat). Bought it from my dad. My entire childhood I was taught boats are useless unless they turn left. Exceptions were allowed for turn judge and tow boats. Not sure how old I was when I found out most boats were floated off their trailers and not lifted off with a crane. Boy those were fun times and good memories.

It was a 17'tr, first thing would be to shit can all the junk bronze hardware for good steel stuff, change shaft angle to 8 degrees, been too long don't remember what the strut location was so not sure if I'd change that or not, the bottom could have had some fine tuning also!..

[Terrible toy]

Thanks Bill, picture this it had a sub floor covered with carpeting(matching blue), a carpeted box for a drive line cover and partially covered the v-drive(to hide the untrimmed plate), it had a drive shaft loop on the motor end(smart huh) all electrical and plumbing hidden under the floor, real sanitary rigging huh!. So I pulled the floor out and to my surprise the floor was delaminating, fiberglass tanks were deteriating, all the plumbing was copper tubing mounted solid to the pump and filter and tanks, it had one piece of hose going to the carb that's it!. The electrical was the biggest spaghetti pile you could imagine just laying on the floor, with corroded terminals and all!. Nice picture huh,LOL... So I stripped it bare and shitcanned about a 100lbs of garbage and started out fresh, built a tranny for a friend for some glass work, got some aluminum tanks cleaned up the v-drive and trimmed the plate, made a driveline cover, put all mechanical gauges in, later went to a mag so all I had was 3 wires. Rearranged everything so plumbing was minimal and simple!.. The only thing I didn't do was change the shaft angle, only because I didn't know anything about that at the time and it did fly, I'd like to have that boat back with the right changes it could be a nice handling boat, but I'm sure by now it's in some land fill or something!.. :(

Familiar story, probably was someone who bought a bare hull thinking they could rig it themselves to save money. Glad you were able to finish it right. I'm sure the soul of that Stevens was happier.

[RiverRacer]

Familiar story, probably was someone who bought a bare hull thinking they could rig it themselves to save money. Glad you were able to finish it right. I'm sure the soul of that Stevens was happier.

Well I'm not too sure about that, the kid I sold it to kinda reminded me of the dork I bought it from!.LOL..:D

[hm66Howard]

Art, it looks like your v-drive was up under the dash. What was your shaft angle?

[058]

Got my 1st boat when I was 9, a Rockholt C class runabout, total POS, hull was used up and would have been better off as firewood. Powered by a 30 hp Mercury 4 cyl. which was too much motor for that boat but it did haul ass if I could keep the transom in it, came close to losing the motor a couple of times. As I got older a few more outboards came and went. It helped that I lived on the water and boats were a way of life in my neighborhood. My 1st flat was a 62 Stevens, 331 Chry. Hemi with 4 Strombergs. Ran the 331 until it kicked a rod out of it. Then swapped the Hemi for a FE 390 Ford, ran that for a year then stepped up to a 427 Ford, Ran that until I bought the Howard wood deck and dumped the Stevens [less engine] to some clown who thrashed that poor boat mercilessly. He even drove it up the launch ramp at Tulloch without a trailer under it,:eek: alcohol was involved. :rolleyes: I didn't know if I wanted to keep the Howard so I threw a mule engine together, a 429 out of a 70 T-bird with a ka-gillion miles on it, fresh set of heads, a rump-rump cam and a tunnel ram. I fell in love with that boat and still have it after 26 years. Next flat was and is [still have that one too] a Hondo, bought it from a good friend who bought it for the Tunnel Port 427 that was in it and didn't want his wife to know he bought another boat, he already had 4 or 5. I dropped the 427 from the Stevens into the Hondo and went from there, had a blast with that set-up but wanted to go faster so in went a twin turbo/blow-thru 460 deal, 9-10 lbs boost and alot of gear but still wasn't enough so I stepped up to a draw thru T.T. with intercooler. 13-14 lbs of boost, now we are tempting the hand of fate, boat is too fast for casual lake use and after a few people died [friends of friends] in boating accidents I started rethinking this whole lake thing. Afterall how many times can you haul ass across the lake at 7K+ with a Bud between your legs and not have a problem, its bound to happen sooner or later. I know, I know...save the speeches about drinking and driving. I don't do that anymore.

[RiverRacer]

Got my 1st boat when I was 9, a Rockholt C class runabout, total POS, hull was used up and would have been better off as firewood. Powered by a 30 hp Mercury 4 cyl. which was too much motor for that boat but it did haul ass if I could keep the transom in it, came close to losing the motor a couple of times. As I got older a few more outboards came and went. It helped that I lived on the water and boats were a way of life in my neighborhood. My 1st flat was a 62 Stevens, 331 Chry. Hemi with 4 Strombergs. Ran the 331 until it kicked a rod out of it. Then swapped the Hemi for a FE 390 Ford, ran that for a year then stepped up to a 427 Ford, Ran that until I bought the Howard wood deck and dumped the Stevens [less engine] to some clown who thrashed that poor boat mercilessly. He even drove it up the launch ramp at Tulloch without a trailer under it,:eek: alcohol was involved. :rolleyes: I didn't know if I wanted to keep the Howard so I threw a mule engine together, a 429 out of a 70 T-bird with a ka-gillion miles on it, fresh set of heads, a rump-rump cam and a tunnel ram. I fell in love with that boat and still have it after 26 years. Next flat was and is [still have that one too] a Hondo, bought it from a good friend who bought it for the Tunnel Port 427 that was in it and didn't want his wife to know he bought another boat, he already had 4 or 5. I dropped the 427 from the Stevens into the Hondo and went from there, had a blast with that set-up but wanted to go faster so in went a twin turbo/blow-thru 460 deal, 9-10 lbs boost and alot of gear but still wasn't enough so I stepped up to a draw thru T.T. with intercooler. 13-14 lbs of boost, now we are tempting the hand of fate, boat is too fast for casual lake use and after a few people died [friends of friends] in boating accidents I started rethinking this whole lake thing. Afterall how many times can you haul ass across the lake at 7K+ with a Bud between your legs and not have a problem, its bound to happen sooner or later. I know, I know...save the speeches about drinking and driving. I don't do that anymore.

Cool story Bob, I learned a long time ago the beer stays in the cooler until the boat is on the trailer for the rest of the day!..:D

[RiverRacer]

Art, it looks like your v-drive was up under the dash. What was your shaft angle?

That's because it has a long deck, actually it just comes up to it, angle was typical 10 degree for back then!...

[058]

Cool story Bob, I learned a long time ago the beer stays in the cooler until the boat is on the trailer for the rest of the day!..:D
Art, it is only by the grace of God did I survive all that. Pretty stupid shit looking back but back then it seemed that beer and boats go together like ham & eggs. One time I was making a great pass in the Howard and launched off a hidden roller, boat came down nose down and was an "Oh Shit" moment....slammed up against the wheel, had water coming over the tip of the bow and the only thought was "uh oh....this is gonna hurt..." A few bumps and bruises and a Howard a little worse for wear, a few more stress cracks but what the hell....These were back in the days that jackets, ballistic shorts and helmets were for racers only. We were just lake tramps, we don't need that shit. Thank God times have changed. Some time I'll tell you the story of the 1 AM pass at Berryessa.....yes, alcohol was involved then too...

[warpt71]

I think I will hold George completely responsible for getting me into a flat bottom. Yeah that’s right, all his fault!!! Not really but he did play a great role in finding my dads Sanger which was the first flat that I had ever ridden in and the first boat I ever drove. I know nothing else :D :D Dads boat is a '73 Sanger that we have always had as a ski boat, it sat 3 so it was a family boat too! I now have a '71 Hondo that I bought from a friend of my dads and George had his hand in that boat too. So with out him, I might have been a GREEN OUTBOARD lover!!! Thakns George! The River is calling us

[poncho]

Sorry it took so long to get back on line, busy day at work.
I have some pic's of it at home but would have to scan, i may be able to do just that. I will look for the number and what class and get back to you.

CDBA will be racing on the weekend of June 21st at Dexter lake, can't wait!!!!
I've been going to as many races here in Oregon as i can within the last 7 years.

Hey no problem thanks for getting back,used to run with those guys once in a while pretty cool group of racers.There used to be a Cole in the group named Risky Business and was driven by a Vancouver cop named Duane Dewey i think,is that boat still around it was my favorite and he was a way cool guy,my wife asked him if the coors Light World Finals in 1988 was worth the coin and he totally convinced her that we had to go he became my hero that day heres a pic of Duane at Phoenix in the late 80`s early 90`s and a pic of how to treat a rental car at that race.

[RiverRacer]

I think I will hold George completely responsible for getting me into a flat bottom. Yeah that’s right, all his fault!!! Not really but he did play a great role in finding my dads Sanger which was the first flat that I had ever ridden in and the first boat I ever drove. I know nothing else :D Dads boat is a '73 Sanger that we have always had as a ski boat, it sat 3 so it was a family boat too! I now have a '71 Hondo that I bought from a friend of my dads and George had his hand in that boat too. So with out him, I might have been a GREEN OUTBOARD lover!!! Thakns George! The River is calling us

Sure, blame it on somebody else why dontcha!. LOL.. :rolleyes::D:D

[RiverRacer]

Art, it is only by the grace of God did I survive all that. Pretty stupid shit looking back but back then it seemed that beer and boats go together like ham & eggs. One time I was making a great pass in the Howard and launched off a hidden roller, boat came down nose down and was an "Oh Shit" moment....slammed up against the wheel, had water coming over the tip of the bow and the only thought was "uh oh....this is gonna hurt..." A few bumps and bruises and a Howard a little worse for wear, a few more stress cracks but what the hell....These were back in the days that jackets, ballistic shorts and helmets were for racers only. We were just lake tramps, we don't need that shit. Thank God times have changed. Some time I'll tell you the story of the 1 AM pass at Berryessa.....yes, alcohol was involved then too...

The good ole days!.LOL..:D

[poncho]

Sorry about the thread jack guys:eek:

[SPUN1]

Hey no problem thanks for getting back,used to run with those guys once in a while pretty cool group of racers.There used to be a Cole in the group named Risky Business and was driven by a Vancouver cop named Duane Dewey i think,is that boat still around it was my favorite and he was a way cool guy,my wife asked him if the coors Light World Finals in 1988 was worth the coin and he totally convinced her that we had to go he became my hero that day heres a pic of Duane at Phoenix in the late 80`s early 90`s and a pic of how to treat a rental car at that race.

Poncho,
I've watched that Risky Buisiness boat several times, gives me goose bumps to watch him drive it.
I do have photo's of that Stevens but can't do the scanning. If you can PM me ,i'll throw 3 duplicate photos in the mail for you to have, just need an address.:)
Thanks.

[dmontzsta]

Cool story Bob, I learned a long time ago the beer stays in the cooler until the boat is on the trailer for the rest of the day!..:D

Very smart! :) I learned that at a young age, with a car/boat/dirtbike, etc...when the beer is cracked, it is time to settle down. :)

[Norseman]

Very smart! :) I learned that at a young age, with a car/boat/dirtbike, etc...when the beer is cracked, it is time to settle down. :)

That settle down routine is how I got to be the designated driver at 16 coming back from the races. I raced dirtbikes for about 3 years, and most of the guys that I travelled with were older, so they'd kick back with a beer on the way home and I'd drive. Worked out for everyone!!:D:D

[RiverRacer]

That's the way it should be!..:cool: