Orlando’s Lake Sheen
AKA Hank Wendt’s Meet
September 2011

So what do you do when you outgrow a site?---You move to a better one! Hank did his research and found the Sportsman’s Club on beautiful Lake Sheen. We tried it, we liked it and we’ll be going back to it!

Lake Sheen is one of the many lakes on the Windmere Chain all connected by small, cypress tree lined passageways and filled with crystal clear spring-fed water. It is also home to some of Florida’s most expensive waterfront, massive multimillion dollar celebrity homes. We took it all in!

Friday night was spent with Mike Hodes and his family and we took our time enjoying each other’s company. We made an attempt to do some cruising Friday before by launching at the eastern end of the chain. With all the preparations we do before a meet Mike and I always seem to get into frustrating boating. His Big Four had problems with the primer pump and took a while to start---my S-65 decided it didn’t want the fuel to flow. So after spending 30 minutes or so solving the problems we were off—or so we thought. We started and idled through a canal into Lake Tibet and were off and running, that is until we decided to stop and enjoy lunch. The Big Four wouldn’t re-start! No matter what Mike tried, there was no blue smoke. So I towed him back to the ramp and we headed home. At his house the problem was rectified with a new pump and we looked forward to the next day.

Saturday we arrived at the meet just as lunch was being served---what a beautiful site! The Sportsman’s Club has large pavilions and we were privileged to have the one nearest the ramp and the water. At the water, large cypress trees provided shade and their exposed roots kept the boats separated. There was a slight breeze and almost clear skies and the lake was perfect. Ernie Arena was pulling his gorgeous Seafarer out after a run and Steve Wood was giving folks rides in his newly acquired ’29 Johnson V-45. Tom Goepfrich brought his big Elgin and boy does it go! Al Gammon drove down from Ohio and had his Spanish Raveau and Bob and Donna Walwork along with Bill King had their Raveaus. Jim Dunn opted to bring his Larson Falls Flyer and that gathered a lot of attention. New to the Florida Chapter, Terry Garbig and his wife joined us on the cruise with their beautiful new AristoCraft. What also caught my eye was the original Austin Mini that Terry’s wife drove. Tom Goepfrich this time decided to go faster. He brought his BIG ELGIN 16 and it ran beautifully as all of Tom’s engines do. Ted Marston was boogieing across the lake with his Chris Craft Commander. Neat folks with neat stuff! After lunch, our flotilla went cruising. Besides all the un-named mansions on the water we saw Shaquill O’Neil’s mansion. It’s hard to believe people really live in those places but they are fabulous! They don’t however have neat old outboards like we do.

Ray Holly, Joe Fisher and Pete Suskinsky kept the peanut gallery (spectators) entertained all day with their hydros and Joe again remained horizontal while running. That’s two meets in a row where he’s done that! Congratulations Joe! Hahahahaha

John Gauci, after a couple of years absence, has returned in full force and won the 50/50 pot of $52. I’ll bet he’ll be back! During the meeting John Timmons announced the coming Ponce Inlet boat show and nautical flea market on September 30th through October 2nd. The chapter will have a table there. This newsletter won’t reach the membership in time but Paul Adams has forwarded an e-mail announcing the gathering. Which leads me to this point-----------

We are facing changes in the AOMCI and within chapters. There is a push to publish newsletters on line. There is no doubt there are considerable cost advantages but those without internet capabilities will be left out---we don’t want that to happen! From a national standpoint it’s a huge expense for a few advertisers. The September AOMCI newsletter featured only 20 ads and the cost of printing and postage was just under $2000. Our own chapter is facing changes because Charlie and Jeanne Cundiff are retiring after many years in the printing business. We have been the benefactors of their generosity as they have published our newsletter at almost no cost to the chapter and we are so grateful for their dedication. We wish them well in retirement and hope to see them more often. Their new Raveau should see some quality running time!

We now need others (YOU) to step up to the plate. If you have a talent for anything related to our newsletter, please get in touch with Paul Adams. We need writers, people willing to do the layout, people willing to fold and stamp---people who are just willing to help! John Timmons in the last newsletter set an example of what 1 member can do to enhance our publication---you can do it also!

I am in the process of interviewing companies who will do the layout and publish the newsletter. Costs will certainly be higher. We might have to go to a quarterly publishing to stay within our budget. Our goal is to keep the Florida Chapter members informed, see them participate and maintain our standard of performance all at an annual dues rate of $20. If you know of someone or a company that can publish, please let Paul Adams know.

So, what can we expect and what can we do? For one, if you are internet capable and you have an e-mail account, please e-mail Paul Adams supersilent60@gmail.com and send him your e-mail address so we can keep you up to date with information between newsletters. If publishing and postage costs are too far out of our reach, a change in the frequency might be in order with e-mails filling in the gaps. It might be that we (volunteers) do the sorting, folding, labeling and stamping---that would require a huge amount of people (YOU). Perhaps we might solicit advertising to offset our costs. If so, members will be asked to help out. So the question now becomes, “Are you having a great time being a Florida Chapter member?----If so, it’s because someone else has stepped up to the plate and devoted their time. Now it’s your turn to serve”!

Our day came to a conclusion late in the afternoon. The weather and the location were just too good to not take full advantage of and we thank Hank and Margaret Wendt for being our hosts. Now we look forward to Trimble Park and some cruising.