It’s a sure sign that Summer is here when you see two crazy youngsters riding their bikes and towing homemade hydroplanes behind them – a true Northwest tradition – as Scott Schaefer photographed late Saturday (July 7) when he caught Greg Dill (celebrating a birthday!) and Kathy Anderson in action in Burien’s Three Tree Point neighborhood (click images to see larger version/slideshow):
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- Young Greg Dill discovered the best way to celebrate your birthday on a sunny day is to tow your homemade “Miss Burien” hydro behind your bike.
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- Greg’s friend and neighbor Kathy Anderson got to tow the “Hawaii Kai” hydro behind her bike.
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- Greg made both the “Miss Burien” and the “Hawaii Kai” hydros by hand. He hadn’t yet finished the lettering on the starboard side and that’s why it reads “Miss Bu.”
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- Closeup of Greg’s “Miss Burien” hydro as it scrapes down SW 172nd Street.
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- Greg and Kathy spent most of their Saturday afternoon racing their hydros up and down SW 172nd.
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My home made hydro was Miss Thriftway. I loved ol’ Bill Muncey. Ah, the ‘good old days…’
I grew up on beacon hill and we made hydros and raced them behind our bikes up and down the street. We also rode our bikes down to the lake to watch the time trials. Those were the days when the hydros came into town early and it seemed like there was at least a week and a half of testing and qualifying. I loved the smell and noise of those old hydros!!!
Wow! those are some pretty fancy hydros, nice job!
I recall sitting atop the banana seat of my Schwinn, grasping tightly to my ‘ape hanger’ handle bars, racing down the road with playing cards clothes pinned to the forks and towing behind me a piece of plywood pulled by a string – roughly cut in a best attempt shape of a hydro plane (but in my mind at the time my imagination led me to believe it was every bit as beautiful as Greg’s!) During those days I was Chip Hanauer piloting the Miss Squire Shop over the waters of Lake Washington… good days indeed. Thanks for helping to bring those memories back to life.
It was a great day of boat racing. Everyone should start building their own boats today and take them out testing next weekend, it’s still lots of fun.