MOB News

May 20, 2006

Lake Webster Wet Meet

By Rick Eichrodt

The first wet meet of 2006 was staged at North Webster, Indiana at Lake Webster. The city park and pavilion was again provided by Harry Brinkman and a “Thank You” goes out to Harry for setting up this meet. Maybe Harry had something to do with the weather because it was a gorgeous day. The meet started around 8:00AM with members coming from Illinois, Ohio, Canada, Michigan and Indiana. There was a record 14 boats in the water that day, everything from a canvas duck boat to a Feathercraft. There were Lone Star’s, Crestliner’s, home made boats, and everything in between. The motors that saw action that day were a 1949 Mercury KF9, MERC 700, MK30, MK55, KE4, Evinrude Ducktwin, Martin 40, Sea Kings, and a Cross Sea Gull. In the display area, there were about 20 motors set up for viewing. Among them were a nice 1930 Elto Model 178 4-60, Mercury MK55H, KG7Q, 1920 Lockwood Rowboat motor, 1926 Caille Liberty Twin, and sprinkle in a few other Mercury’s Neptune’s, Johnson’s and many others.

The awards given out at this meet were Favorite Antique Plaque. That award was won by Roger Dykehouse for his Caille Liberty Twin. Second plaque given out was Favorite Classic Motor; it was awarded to Jack Gilbert for his restored Mercury MK55H. The Favorite Boat award was given to Rick Eichrodt for his Clark Craft Kit boat. The Emmett Walls Trophy was awarded to Jim Hickman for his Mercury Merc 700 DR which Jim was giving rides to anyone who asked. Jim also went on a rescue with his boat. It seems like Dick Fontaine went out for a ride in his boat. I guess he was taking in all of the lake but forgot to check his gas tank. He ran out of gas. Through the miracle of modern times, he got out his cell phone and called one of his friends who were at the meet to report his predicament. Dick told Dean Chapman that he was out on the lake and out of gas. When Dean asked him where he located, Dick told him, “near an island”. Well, there are about 5 islands on Lake Webster! Dick was rescued and was seen out on the water soon afterwards, this time with plenty of fuel. Another rescue was noted. It seems that Chris Scratch wanted to go out in his boat and Chris Eichrodt went along to document the ride with a video camera. They were gone for the longest time, all through the business meeting. Finally, Dean Chapman went out in is boat with a Martin 40 to rescue the boys. Chris’s Cross Sea Gull decided to upchuck some oil through a top bearing seal and coat the entire mag plate with oil. The boys were dead in the water along with Chris Eichrodt’s camera which ran out of battery power about the same time as Chris’s motor failure. Dean got a hearty round of cheers as he towed in the boys.

It has become a tradition at our meets to have a pitch in luncheon with the chapter providing the main course and the grill. Everyone is encouraged to bring something to add to the table and it, again, was a feast. If you went away hungry, it was your own fault. Chris Scratch brought down some of his wonderful tasting Shish K-Bobs. There were plenty of desserts, salads, hot dogs, brats and other food items provided by the members and the club. A special thanks goes to Stuart Fillinger for doing most of the cooking, along with Chris Scratch. After the lunch the usual MOB business meeting was held by President Jay Walls. The trophies were given out along with the display dash plaques. One of the items that were discussed was the new MOB banner which was displayed for the first time.

After the meeting it was back on the water for rides and relaxing with friends or just checking out the items for sale. As the afternoon wore on, the members started to thin out. The meet wrapped up around 5:00PM and the usual stragglers hung around to get as much on the water time as possible. The next wet meet on the MOB schedule is the Super Meet at Constantine in July with the last wet meet held in September.

See Ya on the Water,

Rick