A remodeling project at my home in March of 2008 led to cleaning out a little used closet. On the bottom if the pile was an old slide projector that had belonged to my family back in the 1950's. I remember taking it over and using it for the 35mm slides that I took and others with me took at boat races from 1969 through 1976. Inside, lying forgotten, were boxes and magazines containing all of these old pictures. A flood of memories about those "Outboard Days" came back. What should be done with the now, in the digital age, antique slides and projector? I almost thru them away. I contacted Bill VanSteenwyk. I had not talked with him in years but still had a phone number for him. Bill had some good suggestions and put me on to the Boat Racing Facts web site and in contact with Wayne Baldwin. After reading through Wayne's "Amazing Stories" I called him. Wayne remembered me and in particular a race in Ft. Worth where we got tangled up coming down to the start. Not surprisingly Wayne and I have different versions of that story. Wayne's is posted in "Amazing Stories" Wayne put me on to Jeff Lytle a web site administrator at BRF and things began to take off. The solution to the question of what to do with the slides came during a conversation with a friend here in Parkville, MO. He had a sophisticated scanner that would handle the slides. He also supplied me with a program to make a DVD Slide show from them.

In 1964 a friend, Roy Dreiling, and I joined the U.S Navy. I was a Torpedoman & Diver on a fast attack submarine. When I got out in 1968 Butch was racing and he and I became reacquainted and became close friends. My Dad was remarried to someone and our relationship was not what it should have been. In 1969 I bought a new Lowery Hydro from Bob Lowery, an old DeSilva runabout and a "D" AmPro motor from Walter Courtois. My thinking was that Dad would become interested and we would have something in common. It just never happened.

Butch and I were both selling machinery and eventually ended up working at the same place. Stan was still working for my Dad and that is where his pistons were cast. In about 1973 I bought a Konig from Stan and Later a C Service. I also bought, with my brother's help, a couple of Konigs from Jim McKean. Butch and I began running together all of the time. By this time I had a new DeSilva and a Butts Aerowing. Butch was running a DeSilva and a Krier copy of an Aerowing. Over the years I ran "C" & "D" AmPro (Super Stock) Hydro and Runabout and "C", "D", "F" & "C" Service Pro Hydro and Runabout.
In 1977 I sold my rig, two hydros, a runabout, four Konigs and trailer to a guy, whose name I don't remember in State Line, ID. the Coeur D'Alene area and that was about it for me. Jobs and marriage had suffered and gas was too high for me to travel very much.

Some stuff I won:
1970 St. Louis ODA "D" Am Pro Hi Point 2nd place
1973 KCSA "E" SS Hydro Hi Point 1st place
1973 KCSA "D" SS Hydro Hi Point 1st place
1974 KCSA "E" SS Runabout Hi Point 1st place
1976 APBA 850 Hydro Championship at Alexandria
1976 APBA 1100 Runabout 2nd place at Alexandria

There were a number of others but those are the only ones that I can document because I still have those trophies. When I quit I gave a couple boxes full of trophies back to the club to reuse.

Please view and enjoy the slide show clips and the pictures that Jeff Lytle has kindly help me post. Please also jump in here and comment on the pictures. There are some that are not identified and there may be some that are identified in correctly and only your participation here can remedy that.

Tom Berry Y-32
tberry2@kc.rr.com

"Wouldst thou" - so the helmsman answered
"Learn the secret of the sea?
Only those who brave it's dangers
Comprehend it's mystery."