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by Brenda Tredwell
Earlier that day … Weaver called. Something about a crankshaft for Lorna R. that was supposed to have arrived at Bangor Airport but didn’t. Red tagged, last they’d heard it was in Kentucky. Snags like this aren’t needed a day before a race. “Al-Quaeda has it,” proclaimed Weaver, waiting. At Weaver’s, Archie Alley recounted numerous sorties - Beals to Bangor to Steuben ... Cool under pressure. Arch sat out major traffic at Brewer to deliver the part. After Weaver’s finished… Alley will drive the engine to Beals for Randy Kelley to install. This will be a late night. At 2:30 am, the boat’s engine was torn down to a bare block. Rod bolts of the custom engine were torqued, valves adjusted. The ratchet of socket wrenches under purplish fluorescent glare lent the scene an alchemical quality. The visceral force of each adjusting tweak traveled up the cut muscles of Weaver’s son’s sinewy arms. “All this because of a water pump,” cursed Weaver. The old gauge was fried, crystallized. “We burned her up. At Friendship, you could see this plume of heat,” he said. Class C and D raced together, where Lorna R. sailed past Underdog. Problems after the Wooden Boat race vs. Merganser shut Galen and Rocky Alley down for the day. NESN’s Eric Frede covered Harpswell. Lorna R. took home the hardware for the Wooden Boat (44.8 mph), Gas Class D (47.8 mph. uncontested) and Gasoline Free For All (43.5). Jim Minott wrapped up Diesel Class F (28.7 mph), the Diesel Free For All (40.2 mph) and Fastest Lobster Boat (43.8 mph) in Hooked Up. It was like NASCAR—only wetter. “Last winter, NESN contacted several towns in the [lobster boat racing] circuit,” said Deborah Knight, wife of Harpswell’s coordinator. “I heard about it and pursued it,” she said, hoping NESN will return for Harpswell’s 20th Season.
“Osgood saidwith Starlight Express, he copied Uncle’s UFO’s lines, putting more power in.” Gove approves. Instead of his signature hat with a well-stuffed bikini clad lady, Gove wore a sharp black racing jacket won at Stonington. He has a few of those jackets. The first year Andy bought diesel fuel was 1963. “Sixteen cents a gallon, then,” he recalls. Uncle’s UFO was named by his nephew. “Why don’t you call it UFO?” The name stuck. Gove had no idea “whether it would be an unidentified flying or floating object” but lengthened the bow up, straightened the sheer, changed the house. He tried her out at Boothbay in 1997. Peter Buxton raced with him. “It’s a lot of work after hauling traps to race. We’d go night before so the engine would be cool, then steam the whole way back without stopping,” Gove said. Gove flew spotter planes for herring seining from 1977 -1987. “When I was 67, I quit. (Gove is 76) Still got my license.” Andy mentioned flight instructor Russ Treadwell. “Real good with an airplane. He used to fly in the Black Sheep Squadron in the Pacific.” Andy drove Uncle’s UFO down to Searsport to watch the races. Billy Bob Faulkingham handed over the wheel to Linda Elliott of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust for the lady skipper’s race at Winter Harbor, dedicated to Bill Crowe. Elliott hopped onto 51 from Ashley Dawn. Petite, she stood on the engine cover to see. “I’ve never steered a boat,” she laughed. “You just gotta go straight,” Faulkingham assured her. Last on the line, she gunned it for a strong start, winning second. Views from Budda Byers’s E-Z Rider were excellent without the traditional shroud of fog encompassing the harbor. A nearby boat boasted a cooler full of (150) Jell-o shots. A dragger full of crew in bikinis buzzed by. Work Hard, Play Hard!
“You racing tomorrow?” I asked. “Gotta work,” he smiled.Years ago, Calvin Beal, Jr. raced against the late Dick Alley’s Lorna R., which arrived by trailerat Searsport. Before she went in, Beal was under the hull inspecting the prop. As Rocky Alley dry fired the engine, Calvin yelled at Archie Alley standing by the exhaust. “That where you got your tan, Arch?”It was Calvin who told Galen Alley that Lorna R. was fixable after the Alley Bay trials where she blew 6 planks. Ernest Libby, Jr., designer of Young Brothers hulls and builder of top contender Underdog agreed. Beal started work last winter on a wooden boat he plans to race. “Got her planked,” he says. “In cedar - it’s light.” Little Girl may be ready July 4, 2007 for Moosabec. It’s based upon one of Calvin’s earlier designs that was launched in 1981.Richard Hildings showed up at Pemaquid. with the What’s Left The name on his stem suggests what was left after a divorce. Take a closer look— that’s right, two sets of airbrushed g-strings bracket the vessel’s name. Hildings cut the song “You Don’t Really Know AWoman Till You Meet Her In Court” and opened What’s Left Lobster, a Vinalhaven Restaurant that serves his award winning chowder. Underdog arrived early. Docked, you got a good look at the raked exhaust pipes, blue barrels of VP C-12 racing fuel, and Libby’s hull design. Alley took firsts in Class C, the Gas Free for All and Fastest Lobster Boat Afloat Races. Donnie Drisko lent events some class, racing in a hunting jacket. Saturday night, Ellery “Underdog” Merchant had trouble finding a hotel room. Drisko handed him his house keys. Butch Hackney from Bucksport wore a cap that Steve “Wild One” Johnson gave him. At Pemaquid, Hackney had a hat for Steve. A set of batwings extended from the crown. Right instinct — Wild One flies like a bat out of hell. At Searsport, we stepped off Wad-Oac for Johnson’s race. Crystal Burch raced with Johnson. She’s 13, lobsters with her Dad on Crystal Ann. Crystal introduced herself to Johnson at Winter Harbor when she was 10. There were huge trophies, taller than her. “My Grandfather promised me a trophy, but he never wins.” Johnson laughed, handing over the prize. She made a friend. Steve and Lynn bring her to Racing Events. Johnson lobstered, but “got kind of burnt out on it.” In 1994, he opened Johnson’s Boat Yard on Long Island. Will there be changes to Wild One during the winter? “Oh, the Wild One might get wilder,” teased Steve. Terry Luan steamed home to Beals chased by Brent Davis’ Hee Haw, pirate flag flying. There’s a lot on the line in this circuit. It takes “a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of everything,” said Glen “Red Baron” Holland. What about a comeback? “Not right away. My engine cost more than the boat did.” Before Holland put Red Baron in the barn, he took the wife for a ride. “I can see why you like this,” she said. Holland, raised in Stonington, owns Holland’s Boat Shop in Belfast. Glen lent Underdog some gear. “They had 1 or 2 of my racing wheels from Red Baron,” says Holland, “though I didn’t give them my A-number-1 top notch wheel. I held onto it.” Ellery “Underdog” Merchant of Main Street Auto, Jonesport, is beside himself, now the racing’s done. He wants to see some post season racing. So do Lorna R. and Starlight Express. An off season speed run might happen. It was Alfred “Starlight Express” Osgood’s brother Lee who bought Lorna R. from Dick. Another guy sold it to Galen, who’s already thinking of bringing a new block to Richard Weaver. Was Underdog’s engine from a 1955 Chevy? “Actually, it’s a ‘79. Stoked up to a 496, special set of heads.” Faulty work by a machine shop required correction. “Doing the dyno test was like peelin’ potatoes, took the bearings right out of her.” Underdog’s a new kind of boat, sort of a prototype. Nerny (Ernest Libby, Jr.) wanted to take a mold off it, then if we cut the keel down, smoothed it up a bit...” Stay tuned. |
