Kingsland Spring Wet Meet – April 8–10, 2016
By Tom Oncken
The writing on the wall suggested to me that this was going to be an unusual spring meet at Lake LBJ this year. I received notice from one of my roommates during the Conroe meet in March that he was going to miss the Kingsland meet so he could participate in a soccer tournament with his daughter who is coming somewhat of a soccer star. My other roommate contacted me shortly afterward to let me know that he would not be attending since he and his wife were going to be spending some quality time with their grandson. Having been in both of their positions at one time or another, I applauded both of them for taking the time to be with their families. A week before the Kingsland meet, I noticed an email asking for someone to deliver some motors to the meet for John Slator. It quickly became apparent that John and Cindy would not be attending the meet either as I volunteered to transport a motor and some parts to Kingsland. John and Cindy attended their son’s 50th birthday party on this weekend. Once again, the family is always first, so I am happy that they decided to celebrate with their son.
Now, all that was left to do was to travel to Kingsland and have some fun. Then, Adam Finn called me on the Wednesday afternoon before the meet and I almost could not understand him. He sounded horrible as a result of contracting the influenza virus, and he informed me in a very low and raspy voice that he would probably be in bed for the rest of that week. I encouraged him to stay at home and to get some rest. I certainly did not want to share the flu with him. I told him not to worry about us because I would handle things in his absence.
Let’s see, Adam and Susie Finn were not coming, and now I was going to be in charge of the Saturday evening meal at the meet. Being a huge fan of the Houston Texans, I am all too familiar with the concept of having a “third string quarterback” enter the game when the first two quarterbacks go down for the count. You all remember the “third string quarterback” don’t you? He is usually the old guy who has played the position for years, and then sits on the bench waiting for retirement to come. With “first string quarterback” Adam and “second string quarterback” Susie (maybe vice versa) both out, I have to admit that I had concerns about getting the “victory dinner” prepared and on the table. I had assured Adam that everything would be fine, and I kept saying that in my mind over and over as I traveled to Kingsland. Then it finally occurred to me that my secondary family, our Texas Chapter membership, would not let me fall on my face in preparation for Saturday’s evening meal.
Saturday morning, we were all invited to partake in an excellent breakfast prepared by Cornelia Kueffner and Marilyn Rathbun. Cornelia produced plate after plate of “Rösti” (a Swiss-Germanic style potato, onion, and cheese cuisine) to anyone wanting to participate in the special breakfast. Marilyn prepared an excellent fruit salad to compliment the meal. Gentlemen, these ladies are spoiling us. We have got to find a way to pay them back for their loyalty and generosity.
Legendary Chef Meatball, who arrived in his newly acquired bright red 1940 Ford pickup truck hotrod, was not worried about the evening meal. Completely confident in the task at hand, he accompanied me to his favorite meat market in nearby Llano to purchase freshly ground hamburger that he would ultimately grill on Saturday evening. Cornelia went with us to get the meat, and later assisted me at the local HEB where we purchased other necessities for the hamburgers, including buns, cheese, tomatoes, onions, pickles, salad supplies, frozen desserts, flatware, paper plates, and some canned soft drinks. Phase one was now complete, and all is well for the moment.
Later, while Meatball prepared patties for grilling and I was slicing tomatoes for the burgers, I was asked if I had any salt and pepper for the burgers. Needless to say, a quick trip back to HEB secured the remaining items required for the afternoon meal. While Meatball and I were in my somewhat vacant cabin preparing the meat and tomatoes, some of my favorite ladies across the driveway (Cornelia Kueffner, Marilyn Rathbun, and Sylvia Coffey) were preparing the desserts which had to be baked in the oven and cutting up lettuce and tomatoes in preparation of the salad and dressing for the meal (and once the meal was completed, cleaning up afterwards). Oh, and Joe McCauley had to make another trip to HEB for the ketchup that we forgot during the earlier two trips.
Needless to say, the meal was a great success due to these wonderful ladies and Chef Meatball. As always, Meatball grilled the burgers to perfection and all of the sides were excellent. Even the desserts that we purchased disappeared quickly. We collected $10 per person for the meal and, when all was said and done, we had a very small amount of cash leftover that was given to Chip to deposit into the chapter bank account. Hopefully nobody left unhappy or underfed. I cannot thank everyone enough for all of their help and patience with me during this endeavor. I must say that I personally look forward to returning to my spot on the bench (where I belong) at the next meet.
By now, I am sure you are all asking, “were there any motors or boats there?” Well, of course there were! Even though most of my attention was preoccupied with other things, our other members were swapping and trading and running boats and motors. With the absence of John Slator, I noticed David Coffey, Jr. filling the void by wheeling and dealing for several outboard motors and various parts. At one point, he was yelling with excitement from the center of the lake as he returned from a local marina where he had just purchased a mid-1960’s electric start Evinrude 18hp. The motor fired right up after he shot carburetor cleaner in the carburetor intake. Tony Robinson brought a pickup truck bed full of motors and some parts for sale or trade. He had one large West Bend Shark that he traded to David, but traded back for it when David realized that he had used up all of his available space in his vehicle with the 18hp Evinrude. David got another smaller motor in exchange for the West Bend.
Those in attendance at this spring meet included the following: David Coffey, Jr.; David and Sylvia Coffey, Sr.; Jim and Tracy Johnson; Richard Kairis; John, Nina, Johnathan, and Sarah Kremp; Stan and Donna Kremp; Jerry and Rocky Lindamood; Chris Link; Morten and Martha Lovstad; Joe McCauley and Cornelia Kueffner; Meatball Murray; Tom Oncken; Chip and Marilyn Rathbun; David and Nancy Reese; Tony and Andrea Robinson; Dave Samstag; Doug Samstag; “Scott-Atwater Al”, Katie, Addison, and Abigail Smith; and Walt Thompson. Although I made a concentrated effort to take a note of all who attended, please accept my sincere apologies if I overlooked anyone. I still find it refreshing that so many ladies attend our meets, and in several cases bring their young children. Thank you ladies! Despite the early indications, we had a very nice turnout and signed up a new member, Chris Link. Welcome to the Texas Chapter, Chris! You have joined up with a very special group of people.
Doug and Dave Samstag brought their Marchetti hydro boat with the Mercury “Challenge engine” that Doug has been working on. Although the motor ran, Doug is still “tweaking” the engine until she performs the way he wants it to. Chip Rathbun brought and ran his Corson boat with its 1958 Johnson V-4 50hp. Morten Lovstad brought his hand-built flats poling skiff powered by its Mercury 4-cylinder inline 50hp outboard and actually got to run it this time. As you will recall, he did not get to run at Lake Conroe because the lake had been closed due to debris in the water. Morten introduced us to his friend, Jim Johnson, who also brought along his hand-built 12’ Tango boat powered by a 1953 Evinrude Fleetwin 7.5hp outboard. David Coffey, Jr. ran his aluminum bass boat powered by a Mariner outboard so much that he spent a great deal of time at the gas docks (where he ultimately discovered his new Evinrude). I can attest that the Mariner ran very well and has plenty of power for his boat. Stan and John Kremp brought a pair of Alumacraft boats, a 1950 12 footer powered by a 1957 Mercury Mark 25 and a1974 14 footer with a 1958 Johnson 18hp.
Joe McCauley brought along his trusty May Fly III with its 75hp racing Johnson Stinger. Joe also ran his Glastron boat powered by its 1991 Johnson 70hp. If I understand correctly, it also served as a tow vehicle during the meet (but that may be another story). Jerry Lindamood brought his hand-built Lindy Craft with Mercury 115hp outboard. Jerry needs to figure out how to bring his beautiful wooden boat to the Houston International Boat, Sport & Travel Show. It is more than worthy of our January exhibit at the NRG Center, if not a prospective entry to the “Keels and Wheels” event held in Seabrook, Texas each year. Although he did not run it, Walt Thompson brought a nice original 1961 Duratech Sabre fiberglass boat with a 1960 Evinrude Starflite 75hp. The boat has been in Walt’s family since new and is still carried on its original trailer. The boat has had several outboards over the years; however, Walt purchased the period correct Evinrude from Meatball so he can complete restoration of the family boat. Walt has been working hard to buff out the fiberglass to a nice luster. He pointed out a ghost registration as the old Connecticut registration numbers still show up on both sides of the bow as white images that remained after removing the old numbers. Walt is doing a top-notch job on this boat and has hopes of having it running on Lake Travis later this summer.
At this point, I feel a need to add a couple of personal thank you notes. I wish to thank John and Cindy Slator for meeting me along the way to the meet so I could get the items they needed transported to Kingsland. I did not have to get off course at all and received a nice lunch at John’s expense as a result of the stop. Later on Friday evening, when Dave and Doug Samstag learned that I did not make the usual stop at Opie’s Bar-B-Q in Spicewood, they invited me to go with them to the local Mexican food restaurant. What a great dinner we had. Dave then picked up the check and would not allow me to contribute. Thanks Dave. Saturday morning breakfast was covered by Cornelia Kueffner, Joe McCauley, Marilyn Rathbun, and Chip Rathbun, so I did not have to make a trip to the nearby coffee house to buy my breakfast. Finally, although I told Louis Rothermel not to worry about the room at the meet, upon arrival at the Longhorn Resort, the manager on duty told me the balance of my room had been covered. Thanks Louis. As a result of all this, other than gas in my Suburban, I only spent $10 on my Saturday evening meal. I give my personal thanks to all. You are all very special in my book.
As a final note, the weather was a little strange during the weekend. It threatened to rain early Saturday morning, but the sun ultimately came out and the skies cleared up for a while. When we made the trip to Llano, we noticed lightning strikes on the other side of Llano, and apparently there were also some lightning strikes south of the lake, but we really never got hit with a rain storm at the resort. Although it was a little windy at times, the temperatures were very cool and our members were able to have some fun on the water. The bottom line is that the Texas Chapter had another very successful wet meet. Good accommodations, excellent food, and great friends gathering together to play. What more could you ask for??
Please click on the link below to see the rest of the pictures from the weekends event in the photo gallery: http://www.texaschapteraomci.com/gallery/lake-lbj-2016-spring-wet-meet/
