2012 Mahogany & Merlot On Beautiful Lake Chelan, Washington – Saturday Sneak Peek
We are happy to report that we are now at Lake Chelan, Washington for the big 3rd Annual Mahogany & Merlot event again this year, the weather on Saturday was fantastic, providing flat water for the race boats and we are having a great time. In fact, such a great time that right now it’s 3:23 AM as we prepare this short “sneak peek” report from Saturday, because in 4.0 hours I have to back on the dock with my camera to catch my ride out to the center of the hydroplane race course with one of the safety boats to hopefully snap some good shots of the big Unlimited Hydroplanes and Limited Hydroplanes running (at speed) on the course today (Sunday).
This year there are 5 Unlimted Hydroplanes on hand, as well as probably 15 Limited Hydroplanes burning up the water, the sights and sounds of the hydroplanes is spectacular as usual.
Here’s Miss Bardahl being craned into the water, one of my all time favorite vintage race boats. The nice folks from The Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Kent, Washington (Seattle area) always do a first class job organizing this event and making it possible for us to see the vintage race boats in action, in person.
And we even spotted some “Sons of Varnish” members, fellow Woody Boaters Steve & Brian Franchini heading out for a ride in the family Tollycraft Outboard. Great stuff again this year.
A huge turnout of over 45 wooden antique & classic boats on hand for the boat show, representing a wide range of cool boats of all sizes, makes and years.
We also had a nice surprise when we realized that fellow Woody Boater and Sons of Varnish member Tyson Konecny (from the Okanagan Chapter ACBS) made the trip down from Langley, British Columbia, Canada for the day with his family to take in the sights and sounds of the event. Here’s Tyson capturing one of those perfect shots of a boat at the dock.
It was a pleasure to finally meet Tyson and we shared a few laughs and stories between photos on the dock. This guy gets it…
Hey Matt – Check out the cool Whaler shoot boat they were using today… Look familiar?
Stay tuned on Monday for the full report from the 3rd Annual Mahogany & Merlot event, this is simply a spectacluar gathering of unquie race boats, classic boats and wonderful people. Special thanks go out to the nice folks from The Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum, the Pacific Northwest Chapter ACBS and the many volunteers for making this a reality and big success.
Falling asleep, gotta go….. Texx
Good Night, Pleasant Woody Boater dreams, Texx
These pics are a great way to wake up this morning, thanks for taking the time to post them. Enjoy the day and I look forward to some action hydo pics from the center of the action. The safety boat is your ride? Really? How lucky can a guy get. Next they’ll let you take Miss Batdahl out for a few laps. Enjoy yourself.
Racer’s 19
That’s the exact model of Chris Craft I grew up with…
There went away 50+ years, just like that as I flashed back to my Dad running around the lake… I can still remember the song (sound) of his engine after all these years…
Dad’s boat went to Seattle (his sister’s family bought it) and we later learned it had sunk in the Sound…
but the image in my mind of Dad in the boat…priceless!
Blue skies and T shirts? Were those pictures from yesterday or 7-8 weeks ago?
Probably the last good weekend for us on the dry side of Washington. Winter will be here soon….we do need it!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dang! A Parallel universe! I love it.
Thanks TEXX!
I think Tyson needs to show his allegiance by getting a SOV inked across his back. …if he has any room left.
Correction: “Getting an SOV tattoo inked across his back”
Chad – A simply smashing idea! It wouldn’t surprise me to see him do it! He’s a great guy and as Texx says, he REALLY gets the hobby and his shots are excellent – he’s an asset to our little chapter up here. Aside from boats he gets cars and I think we may see him towing his CC with his feshly restored ’59 Chevy Wagon next year – that will be cool.
I am putting this on my must-attend list for next year. Usually I am beat after long trips in mid to late Sept. to the International somewhere, but next year it is a mere 6 hours from me so this show WILL happen for us. Each year it looks just great – what a mxiture, wine, hydro’s and woodies. Hard to beat that.
Great banner pic Texx.
Can someone get Tyson a peek at the latest BRASS BELL while he is south of the border?
FYI – I just repaired this story so you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. Fell asleep and forgot last night…
Thanks for the kind words guys! Daniea and I brought the wee baby for the day, which, after a supposed 3 hour drive turned into a 6 hour drive, and we only were able to spend a couple hours there.
But I have to say, driving into town, and seeing the Unlimiteds running, Daniea had to tell me to keep my eyes on the road.I couldn’t help myself! I rolled the window down and I could here those piston powered boats on the water, and I nearly lost my shit! Excuse the expression.
Back story, My dad used to wrench on race boats back in Ontario in the early 70’s. When we came to BC in 75, we were fortunate enough to get the Seattle broadcasts of the hydro’s from Seafair. It was an event at my house, every Sunday that the races were on, as it took all day to run the heats. He always wanted to see the old wooden boats and so did I. I lost my dad a couple years ago, and all I could think about when I got to the beach with my camera, was how happy he would have been to have been able to hear them and see them. I wear my emotions on my sleeve at the best of times. Needless to say it’s hard to take photos with tears in your eyes . And I don’t mind tellin yah that. He would have just loved it.
Anyway, sorry to write a novel, but it was a religious experience for me, And I thank the Hydroplane Museum for doing the work they do, and bring those boats to the lake.
I can’t wait till next year to spend 4 days there so Daniea can drink wine, and I can spend 2 full days staring at hydros and classics!!
Oh, and Chad, thanks for the idea! 😉