58th Houston Boat Show, January 3 – 12, 2014
Once again, the Texas Chapter of AOMCI was invited to join the Southwest Chapter of ACBS to co-exhibit outboard boats and motors at the huge Houston Boat Show held at the Reliant Center. This is a huge show – over 1100 new “for-sale” boats were there accompanied by all kinds of outdoor gear, campers and ‘what all’. See all the gallery photos at: http://www.texaschapteraomci.com/?p=2647 . Click on a picture to enlarge it.
However by popular acclaim, the most appealing and crowd pleasing boats (and motors) were our oldies. And we did wow the crowds as we were set up in the main lobby area of the Reliant Center where folks had to pass by us to enter the show. All our exhibitors had a chance to man the display booth during the 10-day show spanning two weekends. 
During these sessions, we had every kind of boat and motor question imaginable asked of us making this experience a real fun part of the show. Folks are still coming up to us relating about stored treasures in their barns and garages.
We seek to help them and try to spread the opportunity to join us in on our hobby clubs. 
This year’s exhibit was organized by Di Johnson and Adam Finn. This is the 28th year that the antiques and classics have graced the Houston Show. In fact we were pleased to again have on hand Mr. Wayne Myers who co-hosted the original oldies display in 1987. Although we are all about outboards, two impeccable inboards anchored the front and center spots of our display:
Mike Friesel’s 16’ 1946 Chris Craft Special Runabout. “Current Affair” is always a popular boat at this show. All the restoration work was done by Mike and his brother Dennis showing excellent fruits of their labor. 
Dave Parker’s 1947 16’ Gar Wood Ensign. “My Fair Lady” is just that – the fairest of them all! The 
plank work on this boat is exquisite – just try and find a visible bung.
During a solemn moment in the show, your chapter leadership presented the only ‘commissioned’ member of our club, Captain Gary Keeney, a new skippers cap as his venerable ever-present cap expired in an unsuccessful submerging in his washing machine before Louis Rothermel’s meet.
We had a variety of outboard boats and motors on display:
Darryl Hurst’s 1963 15 ft Proske w/1964 Johnson 60HP Super Sea Horse. The Proske is indeed a Houston-built wooden boat and Daryl did a beautiful job on the restoration.
Bob Macaluso’s durable 1957 15′ Yellow Jacket Catalina w/ Mark 55. This is a runner you see at all of our wet meets.
Di Johnson’s 1957 aluminum Feathercraft Vagabond II w/ his 1958 Mercury MK 58E & his popular childhood outboard collection.
Knut Bulow’s impeccably restored 1957 15′ CarVer Colonel Deluxe w/ 1958 Johnson 35HP Seahorse.
Edward Bachman’s 1957 Yellow Jacket Fury Deluxe w/ 1958 Johnson Golden Javelin 35 HP. This was the model Roy Rogers chased the bad guys in during that famous lake scene back on his ol’ TV show.
Ed Slominski’s 15’ 1956 Lyman w/ Mercury Mark 58. This is an excellently preserved lapstrake boat, and another beautiful example of Ed’s skillful ability to make his wood boats gleam.
Darrell Beaulier’s 1964 Power Cat 15 Ft catamaran type hull w/ twin 1960 Mercury Mark 700’s at 70 HP each. This was a real head turner as Darrell had just finished a 4 month restoration.
Bruce Miller’s 1963 15′ Thompson Sea Mate w/ 2000 Johnson 40 HP. This boat is marvelously preserved having been carefully stored in Wisconsin.
We had fewer free-standing outboards on display this year. Di Johnson had his three childhood motors on display; Elgin 2½, Johnson 5hp (TD-20) and Mercury KE-7 complete with his dad’s photos of him using each motor. Also drawing attention was Louis Rothermel’s pristine 1946 Evinrude 22.5 hp Speeditwin. 
