Formula Jr
08-13-2001, 09:59 PM
Here is a write up of the 2001 BIGWATER (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/facts.jpg) meet at Tahoe Lake. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lakemap.jpg) Those attending, were Owen Saffell (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/meatshow.jpg) and "Donzi Dog Henry". (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/donzidog3.jpg)
This year, the event was held at the Forest Lake Rd, Tahoe City Campgrounds and Launch Ramp. Having arrived on a Thursday late, this was a good choice as there was very little room at the inn this time of year. $15 for a site and launching per day - you can't beat that! The ramp was a good, paved three lane affair with a sound floating dock and the CG was next door. Also by the camp site (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/camp1.jpg) was a fresh water source for warming up the boat and cleaning out the header rust before launch. I knew this was going to be a good weekend when I did my Friday ramp pre-check and low and behold here's (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/minx1.jpg) what's at the dock. The fella had a problem with keeping it in forward gear, so he was SOL for the day, but said there were three other Minxs on the lake. I told him about Donzi net which he remembered from reading an article in HotBoat Magazine on AOTH. :) Henry was impatient with my yacking, damn dog doesn't understand the human communication thing. So, Henry drags me back to the boat and camp site for wax and prep. While waxing, several people walk up asking about the boat. This place, is wild - they know their history! One guy even correctly places the JR as a '66 . Wow! So I'm talking again, and getting really amazed by the fact that here, at Tahoe; Donzis, Formulas, Cigs are the local spoken language. Henry gives me the "We getting on the water or WHAT?" kind of look, so I get back to task. I figure the Woodie show will main sequence on Saturday, so I launch and head South on the Western shore. At the launch site were all the Woodie guys since this was the first, and best launch site close to the show. The nice thing about wood boat owners is that they know what they are doing and helped out with the single-hand launch while I parked the trailer back at the camp site. This is the parking site they use for the show, so I - being a camper - was not taking up precious parking spaces. Henry doesn't have opposing thumbs so he isn't particularly useful during launchings. I don't yet know where gas is so I take it easy down to Emerald Bay. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/bay1.jpg)
Along the way, there are Donzis everywhere, and some of the coolest looking boats from the late 60's you could imagine. Once in Emerald bay, I found one of the few sandy areas. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/rockbeach.jpg) Alot of the folks will anchor and then raft in, as the bottom in most places isn't very forgiving. This is the only way to get on the Island and climb up to the Teahouse. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/teahouse1.jpg)
Directly west of the island, on the shore, is an 1880's abandoned structure. Not sure if you can explore it, but the beach is nice.
Further down and around the lake is Beacon's Resturant (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/beacon2.jpg) and Dock. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/beacon1.jpg) This is the South Shore destination for most boaters. There's gas, a good dock and beach and the surf-and-turf food is expensive. For excellent service, I suggest taking a micro-recorder and a camera. They must have thought I was reviewing the place; which of course, I was.
Knowing where the gas was, I decided to 8/10 it out into the lake. This is where I discovered that Henry's lack of holding power was a limiting factor on airtime. Poor dog got to shoulder height a couple times before I backed off. Gotta remember to bring duct tape (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/beachdog.jpg) next year.
If I was more familar with the area I would have tooled around, late into the evening, as there was a meteor shower earily in the night and later, a quarter moon lit up the whole lake. After putting the boat on the trailer and parking it at camp, we drove the rim road South. This road is pretty twisty for pulling a trailer. Turned around at Richardson's Point where Beacon's is. Along the way I scoped out some possible future meet sights, like Meeks Bay, a very expensive resort and marina. It has rooms (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/meeksbay2.jpg)on the lake and an outdoor gathering place. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/meeksbay1.jpg)
Saturday morning we all headed up to the Classic Woodie show. This is the largest show of its kind in the world, and well worth the 20 buck entry fee. Parking is very limited, so next year, we are starting out earlier or taking the shuttle bus.
Boat Show overview 1 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lineup7.jpg)
Boat Show overview 2 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lineup5.jpg)
Boat Show overview 3 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lineup3.jpg)
Boat Show overview 4 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lineup2.jpg)
'55 Cobra 1 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/55cobra.jpg)
'55 Cobra 2 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/cobra3.jpg)
God bless the woman that would give such a boat as this, to her husband as a surprise birthday present!
Thunderbird ( '39 Custom Hacker Craft) - Art Deco on water. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/thunderbird.jpg)
Sweet Little '49 Racing Baycraft. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/sweetboat.jpg)
'46 Stancraft Double Ender. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/dender.jpg)
Outside the show, Donzi was well represented (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/donzibeach.jpg) and there was even a sighting of a rare Chris Craft Super Sport (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/chriscraftsporter.jpg) (A Jim Wynne design.)
After the show, we splashed the boat again, with the gracious and knowledgeable help of the woodie guys, and headed clockwise, north to the Nevada Shore. Here we have big wide sand beaches a-plenty. A great area for a picnic next year.
Then I found the spot I was looking for. Twenty years ago to the day, a different guy named Owen (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/23me.jpg) looked out on this lake wondering when he would be out there, looking back (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lookback.jpg) at the shore. That time has arrived. Life is good.
http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/tasig.gif
This year, the event was held at the Forest Lake Rd, Tahoe City Campgrounds and Launch Ramp. Having arrived on a Thursday late, this was a good choice as there was very little room at the inn this time of year. $15 for a site and launching per day - you can't beat that! The ramp was a good, paved three lane affair with a sound floating dock and the CG was next door. Also by the camp site (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/camp1.jpg) was a fresh water source for warming up the boat and cleaning out the header rust before launch. I knew this was going to be a good weekend when I did my Friday ramp pre-check and low and behold here's (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/minx1.jpg) what's at the dock. The fella had a problem with keeping it in forward gear, so he was SOL for the day, but said there were three other Minxs on the lake. I told him about Donzi net which he remembered from reading an article in HotBoat Magazine on AOTH. :) Henry was impatient with my yacking, damn dog doesn't understand the human communication thing. So, Henry drags me back to the boat and camp site for wax and prep. While waxing, several people walk up asking about the boat. This place, is wild - they know their history! One guy even correctly places the JR as a '66 . Wow! So I'm talking again, and getting really amazed by the fact that here, at Tahoe; Donzis, Formulas, Cigs are the local spoken language. Henry gives me the "We getting on the water or WHAT?" kind of look, so I get back to task. I figure the Woodie show will main sequence on Saturday, so I launch and head South on the Western shore. At the launch site were all the Woodie guys since this was the first, and best launch site close to the show. The nice thing about wood boat owners is that they know what they are doing and helped out with the single-hand launch while I parked the trailer back at the camp site. This is the parking site they use for the show, so I - being a camper - was not taking up precious parking spaces. Henry doesn't have opposing thumbs so he isn't particularly useful during launchings. I don't yet know where gas is so I take it easy down to Emerald Bay. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/bay1.jpg)
Along the way, there are Donzis everywhere, and some of the coolest looking boats from the late 60's you could imagine. Once in Emerald bay, I found one of the few sandy areas. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/rockbeach.jpg) Alot of the folks will anchor and then raft in, as the bottom in most places isn't very forgiving. This is the only way to get on the Island and climb up to the Teahouse. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/teahouse1.jpg)
Directly west of the island, on the shore, is an 1880's abandoned structure. Not sure if you can explore it, but the beach is nice.
Further down and around the lake is Beacon's Resturant (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/beacon2.jpg) and Dock. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/beacon1.jpg) This is the South Shore destination for most boaters. There's gas, a good dock and beach and the surf-and-turf food is expensive. For excellent service, I suggest taking a micro-recorder and a camera. They must have thought I was reviewing the place; which of course, I was.
Knowing where the gas was, I decided to 8/10 it out into the lake. This is where I discovered that Henry's lack of holding power was a limiting factor on airtime. Poor dog got to shoulder height a couple times before I backed off. Gotta remember to bring duct tape (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/beachdog.jpg) next year.
If I was more familar with the area I would have tooled around, late into the evening, as there was a meteor shower earily in the night and later, a quarter moon lit up the whole lake. After putting the boat on the trailer and parking it at camp, we drove the rim road South. This road is pretty twisty for pulling a trailer. Turned around at Richardson's Point where Beacon's is. Along the way I scoped out some possible future meet sights, like Meeks Bay, a very expensive resort and marina. It has rooms (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/meeksbay2.jpg)on the lake and an outdoor gathering place. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/meeksbay1.jpg)
Saturday morning we all headed up to the Classic Woodie show. This is the largest show of its kind in the world, and well worth the 20 buck entry fee. Parking is very limited, so next year, we are starting out earlier or taking the shuttle bus.
Boat Show overview 1 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lineup7.jpg)
Boat Show overview 2 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lineup5.jpg)
Boat Show overview 3 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lineup3.jpg)
Boat Show overview 4 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lineup2.jpg)
'55 Cobra 1 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/55cobra.jpg)
'55 Cobra 2 (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/cobra3.jpg)
God bless the woman that would give such a boat as this, to her husband as a surprise birthday present!
Thunderbird ( '39 Custom Hacker Craft) - Art Deco on water. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/thunderbird.jpg)
Sweet Little '49 Racing Baycraft. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/sweetboat.jpg)
'46 Stancraft Double Ender. (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/dender.jpg)
Outside the show, Donzi was well represented (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/donzibeach.jpg) and there was even a sighting of a rare Chris Craft Super Sport (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/chriscraftsporter.jpg) (A Jim Wynne design.)
After the show, we splashed the boat again, with the gracious and knowledgeable help of the woodie guys, and headed clockwise, north to the Nevada Shore. Here we have big wide sand beaches a-plenty. A great area for a picnic next year.
Then I found the spot I was looking for. Twenty years ago to the day, a different guy named Owen (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/23me.jpg) looked out on this lake wondering when he would be out there, looking back (http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/lookback.jpg) at the shore. That time has arrived. Life is good.
http://www.epud.net/~owen/tahoe/tasig.gif