MOB News

Fall Meet

September 17, 2005

Greetings Fellow Outboarders,

On a beautiful Saturday in September, the MOB held it’s last “on the water” wet meet of 2005. You could not have asked for a better day as the sun shone brightly, the skies were clear, and there was plenty of blue smoke on the water. The parking lot was full and the city park in North Webster was full of old iron, items for sale, display motors, chairs, coolers, food, and about 60 MOB’sters. There were an abundance of boats on the water with many different motors getting some much needed exercise. There were quite a few Caille’s being run that day. Jay Walls ran his Caille Liberty Single, Chris Scratch ran a Caille 5 Speed Rowboat motor and I ran, for the first time, a Caille Liberty Twin. Other motors that saw some action were a couple of Johnson A’s and an OA-55. There was a Mercury MK25 being run and also a MK30 later in the day. Richard White won the John Sudlow Trophy for his 1932 Neptune Single. The John Sudlow Trophy is for the “small iron” motors of under 30 cubic inches. The trophy is a traveling trophy and is awarded to the owner of the best “running” motor. The boat has no bearing on the winning motor. The trophy is awarded through the votes of all the attending members.

As this has now become a traditional part of the MOB wet meets, the pitch in picnic turned out to be a food fest! Everyone brought some kind of items, from chips, salads, chicken wings, deserts and everything in between. If someone went away hungry, it was their own fault. This year Chris Scratch brought down some of his prized shish-k-bob’s and they were a hit as usual. Needless to say, he did not take any back home.

A new set of awards are now part of the MOB Spring and Fall Meets. They are plaques given out for “Best Classic Outboard”, Best Antique Outboard, and “Best Boat and Motor Combo” Award. Members sign up and the awards are voted on by the MOB members. This year, the “Best Classic Outboard” went to Mark Tschannen for a 1959 Sea King 25. The “Best Antique Outboard” went to Chris Scratch for his 1933 OMC Midget Racer. The “Best Boat and Motor Combo” went to Rick Eichrodt for his 1925 Johnson AB on a 1920 Star Tank boat. The voting was difficult because there were many beautiful motors and boats shown that day.

After the business meeting, which among other topics were the newly proposed MOB banner which will be shown at the first wet meet of 2006, the members got back on the water and enjoyed the gorgeous day. There were plenty of rides taken by other members. The sounds of old iron being run and the clouds of blue smoke lasted until the late afternoon. Pretty soon, one by one, the membership dwindled down until there were only about a couple of members left, my family being one of the last. The last of the MOB’sters hauled their boats out of the water around 6:00PM and headed home, exhausted and eagerly awaiting until spring, when we can return here and play again!

See Ya On The Water,

Rick Eichrodt

MOB Correspondent