See the complete Gallery of Kingsland pictures at: http://www.texaschapteraomci.com/gallery/lake-lbj-kingsland-fall-meet/
The Lake LBJ area weather was supposed to be bad on both Saturday and Sunday, so boating hopes for a fun running weekend were cautiously optimistic. Adam Finn and Chip Rathbun arrived early and took their respective Alumacraft and Corson on a long and pleasant cruise. Back at the Longhorn, the wind had kicked up enough that the Llano was too rough to open up Hans’ May Fly III, as it doesn’t have power trim. George Gustafson ran his Kaos tunnel/Stinger wide open anyway with the motor trimmed under; he came off a roller and stuffed a picklefork and flipped it. Once the boat had been towed back to the launching ramp many club members jumped in to help turn the boat over and cautiously drain out the water. Then came drying out the motor.
Plenty of old iron and parts for sale decorated the lawn Friday, so there was a lot to look at on into Saturday. Breakfast was provided by ‘Scott Atwater’ Al Smith and his young uncle Moses. Cornelia Küffner added Rösti to the Tex-Mex fare. Everyone meandered around talking and looking, and then at about 10AM the fall shoot-out began.
The “TX AOMC Fall Nationals” on Saturday were between Chip Rathbun’s Corson powered by a Fat Fifty and Al Smith’s 1960 Glaspar G-3 powered by a Sears-McCulloch 75. Al should have won hands down but had problems, so Chip emerged as Champion for a second year, providing more honor to the Fat Fifty than was previously known to either man or beast! Al brought along a second McCulloch 75 with a rare Sportsman gearcase and wanted to try it out. He bolted it onto the G-3 but no go. The carburetors probably needed cleaning.
There was less east wind on Saturday so the faster boats could run safely as a well as the slower ones. Cornelia, who’s still learning to drive the May Fly, ran it both Friday and Sunday. Young Gus Gustafson ran his Sterling tunnel powered by a very nice sounding V-6 Mercury 150 all three days, taking many a passenger for a fast ride.
Doug and Dave Samstag ran their two ‘25’ hydros, one with a 22 c.i. Mercury powerhead.
New members Tony Robinson and Ben McCauley got their Evinrude 35 powered 1958 Wizard aluminum boat buzzing after some carb adjustments. They also displayed a lot of old iron from Ben’s collection.
Youth member Jack Stevens enjoyed both his Evinrude 18 powered ‘pancake’ Minimost Hydro and a newly-acquired Johnson 40 powered Glen-L runabout.
Jeff Workman and son ran their 8’ boat powered by a 5 ½ Johnson. The boat was built by father and son.
Mark Lindhorst ran his restored Alumacraft powered by a nice Mark 6, and Mark Betner ran his 1973 Starcraft I/O with a mint 1981 Mercury 10 as back-up power. Jerry Lindamood brought his Mercury 110 powered Glen-L. Jerry’s got his smaller Glen-L upside down straightening the bottom and adding two lift strakes. He’ll also add rear steering. Chip and Al may have some new competition sooner or later. John Slator brought a lot of parts for sale, including some good looking OMC pressurized tanks. David Coffey and son, Captain Gary, John Platou, and Michael Worley were also present. John helped Jack and Jeff with the Johnson 40/ Glen-L rig. Meatball Murray floated in and out over the day. What Meatball did not tell us: he has a pristine Carlson flat bottom with Merc 850 sitting at his shop. The rig is owned by Louis Collins, whom I have not yet been able to convince to join our club.
Adam Finn presided over the club meeting on Saturday evening, followed by Fall Nationals awards. McCauley and Son racing tee-shirts were presented to Al and Chip. As an additional first prize, Cornelia gave Chip a chirping seagull from North Germany.
The Saturday evening feast of catfish and ‘condimentos’ including stuffed Jalapenos, chocolate cake and more were cooked by Moses and ‘Scott Atwater’ Al. Cornelia added deviled eggs and German-style potato salad to the fare.
Saturday night’s rain was followed by sun, calmer water and blue skies on Sunday. Gus, Cornelia, and Tony were out early on the water again while most of the party pulled out and left for home. Next April, we look forward to seeing the McCulloch 75 push the G-3 like it’s supposed to.
We missed both Louis Rothermel and Di Johnson and their old-iron Evinrudes.
Joe McCauley