Wolverine Chapter Meet in South Haven, Michigan on August 23rd, 2014
Wolverine Chapter Meet in South Haven, Michigan on
August 23rd, 2014
South Haven Michigan Maritime Museum Meet in downtown South Haven
Weather/Attendance
The weather for our 2014 meet in South Haven, Michigan was great... sunny with a nice cool breeze off the lake. Most of us arrived to find somewhat foggy conditions but that soon burned off and the balance of the day was perfect. There were 30 registered attendees including new members Dave Dekker and Joe Kaczmar. Please welcome then to the Chapter when you get a chance.
Peoples' Choice Show Motor Competition
There was a somewhat modest turnout of show motors (twelve) but the collective group of interesting and great looking motors drew a lot of attention. he ribbon recipients can be found in the image under Meet_Results.
Running Motor Events in the Test Tank
There were two events run in the test tank. The first was a "How Slow Can You Go?" contest that drew two entries. Ribbon winners were as follows (note the incredibly low speeds):
Place Name Motor Lowest Sustained RPM
1st Noel Harrington 1940 Elto Handitwin 180
2nd Rog Dykehouse 1947 Champion 4.2HP 266
Since the first event went so quickly with only two contestants, they decided to add another challenge and see which of these great running motors would start with the least number of rope pulls with only 1/4-turn of rope wrap. The results were as seen below.
Place Name Motor
1st Rog Dykehouse 1947 Champion 4.2HP
2nd Noel Harrington 1940 Elto Handitwin
The competition was very close and that made it fun to watch. Congrats to the winners.
Auction
One of the traditional events at this meet is an auction of items donated by Chapter members and by people from the greater South Haven area with the proceeds going to the Museum to help offset operating costs (one of their latest fund raising projects is to help fund a new building for their small watercraft collection). While the collective donated items did not look like they would bring in all that much, the results were quite surprising. The bidding was quite competitive and brought in a total of $420. Our auctioneer, Frank James, obviously did his job well but the "generous" crowd really helped. Thanks to all that participated... the proceeds really pleased the Museum personnel.
What many attendees might not know is that there was one more donated item that was not sold in the auction. It was a Peterborough canoe that was donated by new member, Dave Dekker. I am told that in canoe collector circles, Peterborough canoes are typically valued above Old Town canoes. Although the donated canoe is in need of a restoration, it still should be worth a considerable sum to "the right auction attendees" (i.e., interested canoe collectors). Because we likely didn't have the right audience at our auction, it was felt that auctioning the canoe at our meet would risk selling it an undervalued price. As such, the decision was made to have the Museum hold the canoe until their yearly boat auction (usually around Father's Day) and to make sure the inclusion of the canoe in that sale is adequately publicized to canoe collector clubs. Whatever the canoe ultimately brings in that future auction will have to be added to the $420 to get a true perspective on what total funds were raised for the Museum at our meet, largely through the generosity of our WC members. Thank you so much to those members that contributed items and/or bought items and, in particular, for the generosity of Dave Dekker.
Special Treat
Since so many of our attendees are "motor-heads", the Museum offered to let us gather around the Jensen "Fish Tug", a boat they now use for harbor tours, and let us witness the start-up of its in-line, three cylinder Kannenburg diesel engine. This old critter (from the 1940's?) starts with glow plugs and by spinning the motor over with timed air injection into the cylinders. Some of our members got to stand close to the inboard motor and some of us, because of limited space around the engine, were relegated to standing on the dock adjacent to the boat (I was in the latter group). After going through the check list to make sure the proper starting procedure was followed, the engineer (a member of the Jensen family) finally started the air injection and it wasn't long until the engine was cranking fast enough and the exhaust pipe belched a big black cloud of diesel exhaust signifying the started up was successful. It was truly fun to witness this event... a long as you were NOT standing downwind of the exhaust pipe. Two of our attendees opted to take the ensuing cruise in the boat.
Lunch/Finances/Wrap-up
Judy and Frank James, our meet Co-chairpersons again offered a wonderful lunch of bratwurst (with sauerkraut, chopped onions and relish), baked beans, corn on the cob, sautéed vegetables and peppers, potato chips, watermelon, beverage and cookie for a $5 donation. And, as usual, the meal was absolutely delicious and was enjoyed by all. The total proceeds from lunch ($250) were donated directly to the Museum. Thank you Judy and Frank for the great job on both orchestrating this meet and for donating and preparing the yummy food. The aforementioned donations and revenues were the only reportable items. For the record, this meet was financially a break even situation (neither profit nor loss). As always, the Museum offered to write letters upon request as proof of donations to the Museum for WC member tax preparation purposes. This meet was a big success and was thoroughly enjoyed by all attendees.
You can view individual pictures taken at the meet below. Click on any picture to bring up a larger version.
Meet_Results
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