Thread: Wayne Baldwin's Amazing Story: Baldy's Eual Eldred Baldwin

  1. #81
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    Dan didn't quit in 1970 Stan. He just didn't maintain a high profile, but he always was there at the Lone Star Races. Dan didn't travel any further than Beaumont that I can recall. I am not sure, but I think he may have gotten a new looper and runabout around the time you mention Stan.

    I kind of knew a little bit about the Henderson's beginnings, but thanks for telling us how all that came about Stan. I first remember Joe and Denny at Garza Little Elm in Dallas on July 3rd 1966. Denny spun out in A or B hydro and got a serious slice from the prop on his ankle. I have posted in by scrapbook the Dallas Morning News story of that.

    This is a scan from a contact sheet instead of the negative I took of Dan at the APBA/Lone Star Western Divisionals in San Antonio in May 1976. My darkroom has been a total mess for more than a year. I have cabinets halfway complete to file magazine holders in order to try to get some semblance of order. I have a number of unanswered E mails or PM's because I haven't had enough time to get to what I'm looking for, scan, post, then refile. I never thought when I posted my first comment on BRF that I would get so tied up with boat racing again. I'm rambling now....but thanks to all you boat racers out there that have contributed so much to our precious and dwindling history.

    So here is the pic of Dan

    ADD: Stan...I hope you can find that picture of Denny. Priceless.
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  2. #82
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    We got our runabout fiberglassed and rigged out. I don't know why we chose white. It could have been at the suggestion of Sam Savage who did the work. It will last longer and look better weathering the south texas sun. So we had the Mishey also repainted white, but with a black canvas cowling. I never did make a start with boats of that paint scheme though. A couple of photos of the runabout at Baldy's. The last view was taken from the upper porch and we were about to do some practice runs with the Mishey. Behind the willow trees in the background is where turn two was in that first race Mark and I ran.
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  3. #83
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    I'm not exactly sure when I sunk the Mishey, but it was more than likely before the new paint job. Mark and I had been practicing to get some seat time before we went to another race. It was my time in the boat and I was just making laps while Baldy watched from our twin engine Thompson idling in the cove. The Mishey didn't fly like our subsequent hydros. It pit patted the sponsons as we ran along. As I got used to the speed, I went faster and faster. The center fin did not hold the boat into a turn like a side fin, and so the faster I went through the turns, the wider my arc. Coming off a turn near a point of land opposite Fiesta Marina, I tapped a rock on a peninsula just below the surface of the water. The peninsula was very narrow and steep, but it stuck out about 70 yards from the shoreline. I didn't realize I was that close, and I didn't even feel the rock crunch through the right sponson. It wasn't a gaping hole, but it allowed water to start coming in every time the sponson dipped, and all through the left hand turns.

    I made a complete lap, but after coming through turn one again the boat was visibly slowing and I didn't know why. I made it about halfway down the backstraight when I felt the water. I immediately shut off the Merc and jumped out of the boat and into the water. Baldy got over to me just about the time it went under. I had enough presence of mind to hold on to the bow handle and between my life jacket and the bouyancy of the wood and padding, I was able to get a line on it and we towed the little hydro back to shore.

    I don't know how we got the motor restarted, but we were able to do so after dumping all the water out. We knew that we needed to run it some to dry the motor out and protect the crank, bearings, etc. The only way we could do that was to rig it up on the runabout, which at that time had never had a motor on it.

    We got it rigged up, fired off and I got back out on the lake. I found out right away I couldn't go very fast. With the eight foot length, a 48 " bottom and all that lift on the deck, it was light as a goose feather underway. My flight training kicked in and I could feel it lifting at half the speed I was running that Mishey. I backed way off the throttle and was just making time around the cove to dry out the engine. As I came around to head into turn two, I was going straight into a steady southeast wind. In the turn it started lifting and was about 30 degrees before I got it settled back down. I went through that turn three or four times, and each time the boat would start to lift, and the transom would rock side to side while spilling air. It was almost like riding a kite. And I don't think I was even going over 35 miles per hour. That ride did give me an everlasting memory though and we were able to get the motor all cleared out.



  4. #84
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    It was a fun summer, but now it was time to go back to school. One of my favorite all time groups the Lovin' Spoonful released "Do You Believe in Magic". I pretty much quit finding time to fly. Between looking around for an old gasoline deflector, and finding one, to fix up to put on the runabout, doing schoolwork and having to drive to the lake everyday to take care of the horses, I just didn't have time. To this day I have $90.00 on account for my lessons I didn't finish. Baldy kept on me about either finishing up the lessons or get the money back. I never did either.

    I signed up for photography class, and if I could fit anything into a lesson to do with boat racing I would. Baldy was checking things out behind the scenes and had learned of an uncoming race in Mexico south of Zapata,Texas. So we got the Mishey repaired and everything ready for that race.

    The first photo was to learn studio lighting and seamless white backgrounds, the magazine ad was to learn close ups with a cheap, not very good screw on close up filter attachment . I don't know the assigments of the life jacket and helmet or boat and trailer. I took these in Baldy's front yard and driveway at the house in Alice. You can my white GMC pickup in the carport.

    ADD:This was the favorite place for me and my friends to eat lunch in high school. It was K&N Root Beer stand. That was back in the days when root beer was real, and not the artificial flavored root beer of today. The waitresses name was Elmira, but we always called her "Elvira", I guess after the song she always gave us as hard a time as we gave her. It was one of the photos I took in my photography class. Check out the prices.
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    Last edited by Master Oil Racing Team; 07-13-2010 at 07:04 AM. Reason: add photos



  5. #85
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    Wayne:

    Is that a "BUCO" helmet in the picture. If so I had one very similar as my first boat racing helmet in the 50's. Later wore it while spraying and dusting cotton in Arkansas.

  6. #86
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    Really enjoying the stories, Wayne. I love seeing those old pictures of the Baytown club.

  7. #87
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    I don't really know Bill Van. Could be. Here is more of a close up. The bottom half was soft black leather.

    Glad you are enjoying this Joe. Got more Baytown pictures coming up.
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  8. #88
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    It was at this time I wanted to learn all I could about outboard racing. I even leaned into the tight left and right hand switchbacks on the road to Sam Savage's shop. I quizzed Dan about other racers around Corpus Christi. I do not remember him telling me about current racers but I do remember Red Coburn. He had a place on the north side of Lexington Avenue that led to the causeway across the Laguna Madre and on to Padre Island via two swing bridges in between that allowed traffic ffrom Hunble Channel and the Intracoastal Canal to pass through. The boat traffic had the right of way. That road is now a four lane highway, with no toll roads, no swing barges and is now officially called South Padre Island Drive (not to be confused with South Padre).

    Red Coburn had a lot of trophies on the northern wall of his shop. His showroom was expansive, and he had a lot of boats and motors, but the atmosphere seemed dead. All I remember was looking at the trophies and talking a little bit about Dan Waggoner, who he knew, and that I was going to start racing. I don't recall anything more other than he was tired...did not talk about his trophies....they were just there.,,,,and.......that's it!.

    I nevr went back to talk to him although he was considered a top driver at least in South Texas.



  9. #89
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    Talking to Dan or maybe Red....or someone...who knows, because I don't. I wanted to buy a junk motor to practice on to learn the ins and outs of Mercury's. I had no clue, but Baldy let us buy everything the Snap on Tool man thought he could get away with. We filled out our tool chest mostly with one fell swoop.

    In the meantime, somewhere, I found a motor that had been burnt up. As I remember, it had gotten very hot. Water pump or plugged intake or something. Not lack of oil. It may have been run without a good water pump for awhile because I remember everything was black. The pistons, the rings, the crankcase...it was a pain to pull it apart. I cannot remember what Merc it was. Seems like KG7, but I think it was 15cc or an A motor. The name Hurricane comes to mind with one of the motors we had.

    Dan told me about one of the most excellent tools I have ever purchased. Its been years, so I don't exactly remember the size, but what I recall was 7/16 socket with a swivel end, and a 7/16 open end. This was a simple and easy tool to remove the power head from the tower housing.

    On the particular motor in question, I think I twisted off all the bolts except the two in front. I was able to pull the cylinders apart from the crankshaft housing with much difficulty. However.....since I had never done that before....it was making progress. All was black, gritty and sticky. But all was good until I got to the crank. I was able to remove the rods O.K., although I seem to remember having some trouble with the big end.

    After that, I thought it would be easy going...but not to be. I thought the crank would come right out of the housing, even though the cylinders had been pretty well coked up. So I hammered on the top a little after having replace the nut. Master Oil was about 6 months away from becoming a reality, so I had no clue about that. ( We used WD 40 back then , and even though they were a competitor, I am still a big fan of that oil.)

    As a neophyte mechanic, I thought the crank was just as hard to get out as pulling the cylinders, and the dirty black pistons. So I had a brand new puller. It fit around the upper bosses of the crank and I lined everything up so I could push the crank our through the bottom of the crankcase. I thoght it would come right out with pressure, but it didn't. I left the pressure on overnight and found the next morning that I could take another turn. That's what I did for several weeks. After I came home from school, I would turn the puller as far as I could then hit the top with a hammer.. One day I came home.....turned the T handle and when I whopped the top....the crank fell down.. Boy was I happy! It was after I picked up the crankshaft and was trying to find what the obstruction was...I saw an iron bolt about 3/8" diameter that held the brass reed block in place. I didn't know about stuff like that then...and I did not ever see it...or understand what it was. But I never forgot that lesson



  10. #90
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    The race in Mexico was held near the town of Nuevo Guerrero on Falcon Lake I think in Septiembre of 1965. It was part of an annual celebration of moving of the town. Guerrero was flooded when the dam closed on the Rio Grande river to provide water for Texas and Mexico. In 1953 the federales had to go in and forcibly remove the last few residents before flooding of the town of Guerrero. It is now a ghost town, sometimes under water and during long droughts a resurrected dry ghost town. I always wanted to go there and look around, but never have.

    Nuevo Guerrero is southwest of the dam. We didn't go into the town for any of the panchanga, but a lot of the residents came out to watch us race. Zapata was about two and a half hours from Baldy's house in Alice, and I guess it was another hour to cross the border and get to the pits by the time we got through all the border stuff. I do not remember that part of it at all.....nor coming back home. We didn't stay overnight.



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