September Director's Corner
Not sure where the summer has gone, but the weather outside is already turning. We’re not done hydroplaning for the year, however.
On Sunday, August 9th the Museum held its annual fundraiser gala at the Tacoma Yacht Club. The new venue was well-received by everyone in attendance, and everyone loved guest auctioneer John Curley (who himself is a former King Neptune for Seafair, so is well-acquainted with our cause). Specifically, our Fund-a-Need section of our live auction raised over $35,000 to help develop the Museum’s new storage facility in Arlington—specifically fully insulating the Kielheim building to store our boats and engine parts through the cold winter months. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended and bid in our actions. We all enjoyed the Tacoma Yacht Club’s hosting so much that we’ve made plans to return there again next year. If you missed it, you truly missed out…don’t make that mistake again in 2027.
Long-time HARM volunteer/docent Kirk Johnson suddenly passed away on Wednesday, August 19th. Kirk was a life-long hydroplane enthusiast who spent time working for Jim Harvey Motorsports in the 1990s. Anyone who has visited the Museum in the last several years has most likely interacted with Kirk and will know he loved the boats. The family will be hosting a memorial at the Museum on Saturday, October 10th, from 12-4 pm. The event is open to the public.
The memorial for boat racer Paul Casura, originally scheduled for Sept. 19th has been rescheduled for Saturday, October 17th.
Work continues in the Museum daily. Several boats are being prepped for Mahogany & Merlot the first weekend in October, including the return of the “Miss Burien”. For several years this hull was utilized as a display hull for the Oberto company while it has undergone a lengthy re-restoration over the last 5 years. Now that the Oberto contract has been concluded, the decision was made to return the U-4 into her 1960-61 “Miss Burien” colors. Repairs are being made to the U-1 “Pay’n Pak” after the incident at Tri-Cities. An external mold has been made for the right sponson skin and will be laid up in the next couple days. The “Circus Circus” restoration crew has finished installing the sponson battens and are now making templates to install skins. We haven’t talked much lately about it, but KB Marine has also been making progress off-site on Lee Taylor’s “Hustler restoration as well. Externally the hull work is completed and the next step will be installation of the J-46 jet engine.
Remember those old late-night television commercials screaming “WE’VE LOST OUR LEASE!!”? Well, in this case, we actually did. The lease on our annex space expired and we are needing to relocate several truck-loads of engine parts, vintage race boats of all sizes, paper archives, and just about anything else hydroplane-related you can think of to the new storage location in Arlington. If you would like to help us with the move over Labor Day Weekend—if you have trucks that can tow, or haul pallets, or can just organize and load—call the Museum at 206-764-9453.
We are receiving calls and emails every day asking if we are still holding Mahogany & Merlot in Chelan during the first weekend in October. The answer is a resounding YES! We are working with our friends in Chelan several times a week to ensure that the lake will be clear of debris and get updates on the air quality due to the spate of wildfires in the region. Again, the answer is a resounding YES. The Museum is planning on having the “Miss Wahoo”, “Miss Burien”, and “Miss Bardahl”. Thunder Valley Hydroplanes will have their “Notre Dame”. Mitch Evans will be bringing his “Blue Chip” and Jay Armstrong will be bringing the beautiful red “Miss U.S. IV” from the Midwest. We are hoping to add a few more in the coming weeks. “Driving experiences” in the Museum boats will be available for purchase/donation for the event (See the related email coming soon, or call the Museum at 206-764-9453 to inquire). If you’d like to stay with our ‘host’ at Campbells Resort for M&M weekend, there is a special group rate…call Campbells at 509-682-2561 and ask for the “Mahogany & Merlot rate” or use code 690797. Saturday night at M&M the Museum will be having our annual banquet—but instead of in the upper pits like normal, we will be inside the Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall, one block up the street from Campbells. RSVP with Teri at teri@thunderboats.com to make your reservations.
Still lots of hydroplaning to do. Hope you can join us…
Until next month…
Brad Haskin, Executive Director