Frostbite 2003

Welcome Race Fans! Frostbite 2003
in
Eustis, Florida

Wow! What a difference a year makes. Last years Frostbite was truly that, frosty, and we had 8 boats show up with the drivers and riders all dressed with parkas, gloves and hats! This year the (Florida) weather definitely cooperated with us being in the mid to upper 70's, no parkas or gloves were needed. In addition, we had 10 skiffs, 1 scarab, 1 racing runabout and Getting ready for take off. a flat bottom show up at the event. As always, many "boat less" people were there to enjoy the outing too.

We all gathered at the big ramp in Tavares shooting for a 10:00 a.m. departure. Two by two, the boats were put in the water. All that was left was to get drivers riders and riders rides. Those who showed up late were directed where to meet us. Finally we were all accounted for and headed out. First stop, the northeast side of Lake Eustis (about 4 miles) to pick up Cheryl and Dale Brintnall owners and publishers of Antique and Classic Boating Magazine. Dale wanted to get some shots of the skiffs in action. Along the way, the boys had to open up the engines (of course) and as usual, the local law enforcement officers were out there. Marty and I stopped by to let them know what we were up to. "We're doing a photo shoot for Antique & Classic Magazine!" we say. "We'll be doing some hot laps around this scarab which is the photo boat, so there is no need to panic." They gave us their blessing and we were on our way. Some nice boats you got there!

Cliff can't shake Stacey and Nicol. I quickly noticed that we lost a few boats. There were a lot more at the ramp then there are out here on the water. The reports started coming in, John Hoaglin on Bad Attitude (giving my brother in law a ride) was stuck at the dock, something about no juice in the battery. Bill Fiekert's Mad Dog pulled over to the shoreline, Roger Harris "Breakin' Water" took a detour, and Doug Apy and Jo Carol Too was no where in site. Not a problem, we'll gather up all the little ducks on our way back to the docks. Right now, let's take some pictures! We spent about a half hour and 60 pictures looking for that perfect shot.

After the photo shoot was over, some of the broken toys were towed back to the little ramp in Eustis. We towed Phil and Jean Jordan and when we got to the ramp, there were some of the previously unaccounted for boats. Phil Jordan's flat bottom "I'm Back" was having a fuel problem and Phil decided to bag it for the day. Bill Oakley's "Wo Jo" was at the ramp with a tranny problem and done for the day also. As we were leaving the ramp to head out to lunch, Bill Fiekert's Mad Dog was running again (kill switch) so we ran with him and took some video of his boat Can we go yet? skimming beautifully across the water. He was behind us, then sped up, did a few loops around us, all on tape. I must say he did look good. Oopps, did I say "did"? Yep, you guessed it! As he was running with us his boat came to a sudden stop, he lifted the engine hatch, and then put it back down. Not going to say anything else. We towed him back to the ramp in Tavares, and then joined the others at Dead River Vic's for lunch. Along the way we saw John Hoaglin's "Bad Attitude" running, when we were close enough we heard him say something about a dead battery. Oh well, stuff happens. Freddy Ziegler's JS-99 was at the ramp around 10 in the morning but we understand he had a starting problem and left for home. After about 3 hours of running we went to lunch. Give me my line back.

One end of the table.

Two hours for lunch! Listen folks, I don't know about you, but my vote for future events, LET'S PACK LUNCH and stop at Gilbert Park in Mt. Dora or go to the Eustis Lake Walk. We usually get together after events in the evening when we can't ride our skiffs to tell lies etc. If there's sun, let's run! My sister and I had to leave lunch early to prepare for the party later that evening, but the reports I heard was that paying the bill was a fiasco. Let's do something different in the future (thanks).

The other end of the table. After lunch, everyone got back in the boats and headed to the Dora Canal. (Where Marty caught us with Breakin Water instead of being home cooking). It's always a pleasure riding through the canal (as long as you don't have an extremely slow pontoon boat ahead of you!) Once at Lake Dora there was an opportunity for some more photo runs. The rest of the Skiffs that were there was Sun Dog, River Rat, Sir Alter Ego, and Jersey Girl. Dave Yeagers Sun Puppy a G3 class was driven by his brother Chris. We ran about 4 1/2 hours with the skiffs. Our tanks were empty for the second time and that's the sign of a GREAT day. Georgia peaches (?)

Later that evening, Marty and I hosted a post-Holiday party for our skiff family. There was the usual plenty to drink, plenty to eat, plenty of stories, and plenty of lies going on all evening long. Marty showed the tape he took of the skiffs that day right up till two skiffs soaked all the people and cameras on the photo boat.

Whose boat was the model? Tom's, Skip's, Cliff's?? Special thanks to Nat Church for the carrot cake she sent up with Skip, Paul and Timmy. Nat, you outdid yourself! Being at a Skiff affair, we argued over the number on the cake. It started out #8 and after much discussion we made it a #3. Nat wasn't there to defend her decision and Skip wasn't going there. Speaking of Skip, he brought oysters and cooked them and what a surprise having them cooked and served on bread. We had buffalo wings, Jamaican wings, ham, dips, assorted cheeses, salads, and lots of fufu stuff and deserts.