It’s Water Follies Time Again

Gofirstclass

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,670
Tri Cities, WA
Boat Info
Boatless in WA
Engines
No motor
Every year on the last weekend in July our local Water Follies Commission hosts the Unlimited Hydroplane races and an airshow. This has gone on for about 50 years or so and draws crowds from all over the PNW.

For the past 3 years the neighbors across the street have hosted one of the hydros. As part of that they get a bunch of free pit passes for their friends. They have been very generous and have given us passes. This year they also hosted a party for all of the hydro drivers on Wednesday evening and invited us. Food and drink were plentiful and the low key party was enjoyed by all.

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Each year our yacht club hosts a cruise on the Columbia River for the pilots and crews of the airplanes that are in the airshow. We had about a dozen guests on board including the pilot of the only jet that will be there, his ground crew and several other pilots and crews. One of the local restaurants provides the food for each of the boats and a local microbrewery supplies the beer. All we have to do is provide the boat, paper plates and silverware. Again, a good time was had by all.

A friend from the club came along on our boat to drive so I could spend more time with the guests and again, a good time was had by all.

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We stayed out until just after sunset then headed back to the dock. Where I had to park, I had to come into the area, spin the boat about 190* clockwise, then back it in to the dock to side tie the boat. And I had a boat in front and behind of where I had to put it with little room to spare. There was not a bit of a breeze and I nailed it, bringing the boat gently to the dock centered between the two boats.

That got me a rousing ovation for the parking job.

Tomorrow we have some things to do so we won’t be able to get down to the races but we will be there Sunday. Count on more good food, good drinks and good pictures.
 
Well we just got back from the races and it was a fun day as you would expect. Got a later start this a.m. than we'd planned but GW was delayed an hour or two by a severe dose of white wine last night.

Some neighbors (did I tell you what a great community/subdivision we live in?) hosted a lobster feed for about 30 friends. Cocktails at 5, hors d'ouvres were supposed to be at 6, but the cocktail hour kept getting extended. Horse doovers consisted of fried wontons, all hand made, with a crab and sour crème center and served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. I'd hate to think how many of those I ate. Oh, and fresh caught shrimp all cooked and served with a spicy cocktail sauce. Yup, I had a few of those also.

The lobsters were brought in live from Maine for this party and were cooked on the spot in a huge pot of water. One guy was allergic to shell fish and lobster so they prepared a huge steak for him.

Then the cocktails continued. My phone got so intoxicated it couldn't find its way home last night so I had to go retrieve it this morning.

So by the time we got down to the races it was lunch time. Yup, I ate a roast beef sandwich with baked beans and other assorted goodies.

The races were great, we watched from the roof top viewing platform on top of the team truck that tows the hydro. Because my phone didn't make it home last night it didn't get charged so I don't have as many photos and videos to share as I would have.

We are headed out for a Mexican food feast (Are you getting the idea that all I do is eat???) then back home for a good night's rest. I'll post the pics and videos as soon as I have some time.

Hasta La Vista, Baby!
 
Sounds (and looks) like ...a good time was had by all! :)

Thanks for sharing Mike, and great pics. Weather looks perfect for the festivities.
 
Well I got home a bit ago and started to upload several videos to my 3rd party site. The first started and said it was going to take 32 minutes to load. Well that Sucked so I decided to upload one and do the rest later tonight.

This video was taken from our viewing platform atop the truck that tows the Payne-West hydroplane. I don't know what the capacity of the truck roof is, but it seemed to do OK with the dozen or so of us up there.

We were near the downstream end of the line of hydros along the shoreline. Here's the video, it's about a minute long. More to follow....maybe.

 

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