By Tom Oncken
We had another successful wet/swap meet at Lake Houston on Saturday, June 9th. We wish to thank John Plato for hosting this event and making the arrangements for us to use the picnic grounds, launch ramp, docks, and the clubhouse at Indian Shores Community Center. Unfortunately, due to Hurricane Harvey, the swimming pool was not available this year. Since repairs had just been completed on the pool, there were no life guards available to work the site on our weekend and community rules state that the pool cannot be operated without life guards on duty.
John Plato started early on Saturday morning setting up the “Kid’s Build-A-Boat” tent with the intention of preparing the pieces of the boat to be used in the Houston International Boat, Sport & Travel Show next January. He also brought the “Kid’s Paint-A-Boat” hull for painting and the little Evinrude used for “Kids Build-An-Engine”. When you consider that John also brought the grill to make lunch and a boat or two to play with, he and Alan Bischoff were very busy moving things all day Saturday. Thanks for all of the hard work gentlemen! We really appreciate your efforts.
As is customary for this part of the world, it was hot upon arrival due to the high humidity. There are a lot of trees; however, there was very little if any wind to speak of, so it stayed hot for most of the day. As usual, John and Cindy Slator came and had a few things for sale in the back of John’s pickup. Jerry Ball placed me in charge of a 6HP mid-seventies Johnson outboard to see if I could find it a new home. A few members set out some motors for display. Bruce Henderson setup his Mercury KG-7 Super 10 Hurricane. Shortly afterwards, Jeff Kubosh placed his unusual Wizard Powermatic 12 next to the Bruce’s Mercury. Jeff’s motor had been modified with the name “Raiders” on the side of the hood. A few other outboards were on hand, but the formal displays were not as large as in past years.
Several members brought their boats to the meet so they could run around on Lake Houston and see the sights. Peter Schultz brought his AlumaCraft aluminum boat powered by a nicely restored 1958 Johnson 35HP. With the swimming pool being out of bounds, Peter volunteered to take Emma, Tommy, and Charlie Oncken for a little boat ride. Thanks for keeping them occupied, Peter! Joe McCauley was also seen taking members for a ride on his Glastron boat powered by its Johnson 70HP. James Sengele, a new member who joined following this meet brought his 2017 AlumaCraft 14’ Jon Boat powered by a 1968 Johnson 9.5HP low profile outboard as shown in the photo below. Welcome to the club, James!
As usual, Adam and Susan Finn volunteered to prepare lunch for the individuals in attendance at this meet. For a small donation to the pot, each person was allowed to partake in grilled Hebrew National hotdogs with several condiments, Susan’s homemade chili (for the hotdogs, or to make a chili pie with Fritos), along with some fresh watermelon and cookies. While we were inside having lunch, a quick somewhat heavy rain shower moved across the area. It was over by the time we finished eating, but I got wet when I ran to close the Suburban’s open windows. It is funny because the shower disappeared just as quickly as it arrived and many attendees did not even know that it rained until they came out and saw the wet pavement. Otherwise the weather was beautiful for the rest of the afternoon.
Others in attendance not previously mentioned included Jose Alba, Darren Baird, Chris and Alex Baird, Gary Keeney, John Laney, John Martin, Dan Peoples, Chad Pinter, David Reyna, Steve Seale (also a new member), Glenn and Lee Seureau, and Royce Strickland. It is somewhat difficult to get people to attend during the heat of summer, so overall this was a well-attended one-day meet. We thank you all for coming.
Follow this link to see all the submitted pictures from the Lake Houston Wet Meet: http://www.texaschapteraomci.com/gallery/lake-houston-wet-swap-meet-june-9-2018/