The Real Engine That Runs Our Passion – Friendship!
The shirt says it all. Thanks Jimmy!
This weekend as many of you know we are prepping the Baby Barrel Back Barn Find, AKA 4Bs to get ready for her public debut at the big Smith Mountain Lake Show next week. As we are plowing through a list of countless little things, I realized that the best and most fun part of this all is spending time with pals. Good Pals.
Yesterday digging through scrap rubber for some..well rubber for the gas tank straps
Jimmy and I spending two days on the road, and countless hours in the barn working on the boat, and time on the phone with Dave VanNess, Seth Katz, Dave from Classic Boat Connection, and even our new pal James Osborne at Rayco Fuel Tanks, who BTW is a fantastic guy and they go the extra mile to make stuff happen. Last week was a flurry of emails and phone calls trying to get stuff fast to make this happen, even Dan Nelson interrupted his California vacation to tell us some info on the Red White and Blue he just restored.
What a mess!
Rob Lyons at the Antique Boat Center was a help, Charles Quimby also gave us some tips, Brian Robinson, with help on finding her history, Don Ayers, Paul Harrison, Mike Mayor, Texx, Jim Staib, Clif Aimes who came by yesterday to rebuild the carburetor, George Butler who came by to look over the hull, Eric Zelman who is headed over this weekend to help. WOW, this is what its all about. A huge thanks to all, literally we could not do this without you. This little racer is truly blessed and her soul is reborn from the kindness of all her new friends.
The beer bottle tops say it all! AND NO! Still looking for a name. We had some we love, but still not perfect. WERACEM, STINKY, MISS SPELT, and VELMA. The original owners wife. is 4B’s a good name? To close to BB the fun YNOT Donzi though. BBBF? Baby Barrel?
Although they may not be involved in your latest project, you have many more friends all over WoodyBoaterville, like in Michigan!
I may sound like a broken record, but I have met the best people doing this stuff from all over the country. All over the world for that matter.
We here at Smith Mtn. Lake are so optimistic it will float in an upright position that I even told the local volunteer fire fighters to leave the pumper in the barn. We’ll just have a brigade of buckets in the wings, just in case. We have faith in you!
With that boat and your good nature I don’t see how you can beat BARREL OF FUN!
That’s what it’s all about. I meet amazing people every time I attend any event. I can second that James Osborne is a great guy and will search high and low to get you what you need.
As far as names go, I’m partial to WERACEM. 🙂
WERACEM….the perfect name.
Kinda depends on whether you
did or do racem or use them for fun.
Looks like to me that Jimmy does all the work on BabyBackBarrel ?
If you don’t name it Tommy then Jimmy will do. BTW, your grandma’s quilt works well as a deck protector.
That’s right….many of our best friends are associated with old boats.
I expect to see pictures of this one floating next weekend.
But let me ask, don’t you have a hurricane headed your way? It didn’t do any damage here at our place on the Florida panhandle coast but it apparently tore up the city ( Tallahassee) several miles inland. Paper says 70,000 to 100,000 still without power.
Barrel O’ Monkeys
Uhhh Matt – just a thought here, but you may want to get the boat registration current – just sayin’ – you never know what a local water patrol may do when they see an unlicensed raceboat running around… “U Bail Em” may be another name to consider.. 😉
Have fun. At least by ’37 the regular runabouts were using a cork product between the gas tank straps and the tank. not sure about the rubber?