Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
September 2003
Photo's and input provided by Bill DeGlopper
Just
back from NH. A fine event and it didn't snow! There were 11 skiffs all
running together. Dave Yeager broke his truck & was a no show. Double
Trouble, Hops a lot, Flying Pony, Hot Ticket, River Rat 1, Stormalong, Sir Alter
Ego, Lowe Blow, Miss Align, Domino & Papa's Bundle (John Gast of GI, bought it
from Nemo at the NH show) Bill, Paul Nowack was there, but no skiff, so we
got him rides. Same with Double Trouble
```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
September 25-27
By Nat Church
Once we exited the Garden State Parkway the ride from New Jersey was colorful. I
was entering Wolfeboro with anticipation, as I had never been there before.
We arrived Wednesday around 4:30p.m. and once we got settled into our quarters
we went to the pits. A few boats already were parked, but not much activity was
about. We went to dinner at an Art Apy recommendation, the Wood Shed, and were
not disappointed! It was an antique barn converted into a wonderful
restaurant. Tres'cool, with a wonderful fireplace, stuffed deer heads, varied
sleighs.
Thursday was overcast and periodically a sprinkle, but nothing to stop the
event. The following skiffs were in attendance:
Papa's Bundle JS-9 John Gast
Sir Alter Ego JS-11 Skip Gillam & Paul Mezyk
River Rat 1 JS-97 Marc Bresee
Hot Ticket JS-25 Bill DeGlopper
Stormalong JS-88 Rich DeGlopper
Hops-A-Lot JS-3 Tom Law & Sandy McGugan
Flying Pony JS-73 Bill & Mark Russell
Double Trouble JS-38 Curt & Ray Schmitt
Lowe Blow JS-78 Bruce Lowe
Domino no number Len Finithy
The boats left at 11a.m., 1p.m., 2:30p.m., and 4p.m. with time
for spectator rides available. Praise to all the skiffers for their cooperative
hospitality. Everyone who came in said they LOVED the ride!!! What's not to
love?
Thursday night we went aboard the Winnipesauke Belle for cocktails and hors
d'oeuvres while we rode around the beautiful lake.
Friday the weather was somewhat better. It warmed up but still not rain! All
skiffs including the 7 liters, and the older boats all had a wonderful ride
around the racecourse with no problems. Again, spectators were taken on rides,
with even more accolades!
Friday night was a buffet dinner catered by the Wolftrap. The food was
excellent, and they had a mean key line pie!
Saturday still cooperated with minimal rain, while the sun peeked from behind
the clouds periodically. Skip and Paul headed out. While taking pictures, Skip
noticed the boat wasn't running right and while he shut it off, he heard,
"CLUNK"! So.... he was down for the rest of the weekend. The remaining boats
were running well except for Jeff Buckley in Executif 3, his 7 liter. Coming
toward the pits at about 150 mph, he lost steering and did a 360 right in front
of the crowd! Talk about hustle! Everyone was throwing him a line so he
wouldn't sink. The crane operator was outstanding all weekend. He got Jeff's
boat out just in time before sinking. Hats off to the crane operator!
I had rides with Bruce Lowe in Lowe Blow, and I should have brought my wet suit,
since there was a slight problem with water! But that didn't seem to have much
effect. It was great and thanks again, Bruce!
One of the big attractions was the Miss America VII U-14 owned by Jeff
Magnuson. I think the pictures speak for themselves. The boat is awesome with
its two Packard engines and fantastic stacks.
Saturday night was the awards reception and cookout. It was wonderful to see
all of the skiffers receive a plaque for participating! Skip also had videos of
some old skiffs and hydros, which were enjoyed.
Granted, a wonderful time was had by all-but since this was my personal first
time in New Hampshire...I am especially grateful for the experience and to Skip
and Esther for including me.
I know we're all looking forward to our next event. Till then...
"Sea Ya"
``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Bill Russell's photo collection from the event.
