Hey guys,

Mark your calendars.......September 4th (5:00pm) at the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum.

This is the day the crew and fans all over the country have been anticipating for months..........we are now ready to turn the boat over! Local Seattle media will be on hand for this major milestone, and they will be filming part 3 of a soon to be released special report about the restoration up until this point.

If you want to be on hand for this monumental moment, come on day a see it person yourself. If your unable to stop by.....no worries.........I'll be sure to take video of it and post it here.

Once the hull is turned over, the team will be making rapid progress from this point forward. Systems, fuel tanks, hardware, electrical............you name it, it will be going in soon enough. Brad can finally prove out if the cowlings match up to the deck profile..............and if so, molds will be coming soon.

This is a huge moment for us and the project.......stay tuned!

Gary

It appears as if the team is about 3 weeks away from turning the hull over......a major milestone is on the horizon!

Brad is "plugging" away on the cowlings finishing them up, and most of the aluminum is installed on the underside of the hull now.

Check out the pictures and a few videos showing the progress!

​Until next time...

Take a look at the teams progress from this past Tuesday, not much wood exposed now!

Brad Haskin will be putting on primer to the engine cowling on Saturday, so it should look almost new again once he's done. Of course it takes a lot of fine sanding to get it ready to mold, but were getting close.

Also, the vintage Betamax videos have been transferred over to digital. i just need to edit out the snow and other dead space and then they will be posted online.

​With the restoration project having just reached the summit and is now on the way down the mountain……………..I wanted to take this time to thank everyone who has been involved in this project from the very beginning. I don’t want to go too crazy on here and name every single person who helped out on getting us where we are, but there are a few individuals who I do want to mention.
 
It all begins with my good personal friend Brad Haskin, the man who had the initial idea of obtaining the 1979 Squire Shop hull and introduced it to my family. Brad also contributes as a crew member on the project, and his talents on rebuilding and fabricating the cowlings is truly amazing!
 
Doug Brown has been a huge asset to the project, though most of it out of the public eye. In order for us to buy the hull, we needed somewhere to store it until it could be restored………………and Doug was kind enough to do just that for us.
 
I can’t say enough about the hydroplane & Raceboat Museum folks, namely David Williams (Museum Director). Without Dave’s guidance and support, this project may have never got underway in the first place. Dave believed in us that we would explore every opportunity we could to secure funding, and to his somewhat surprise………we actually pulled it off.
 
The Boeing Company and its leadership group (you know who you are), to whom I have had the pleasure of working with for the past 22 years. Without their valued and continued encouragement in believing in me when nobody else did early on………………thank you so very much!
 
To the original Squire Shop crew……………….where do I even start? Bob Steil, Dave Knowlen, Dan Walters, Chip Hanauer, Cris Ginn, Don Beyer, Kelly Stocklin, and all the rest of you guys…………………you provided us with so much information on the project, words can’t say how grateful the team is for your contributions and support! It is because of you that we now have thousands of vintage photos, videos, original equipment, stories, and most of all……….your experiences to share and pass along to future generations to enjoy.
 
Dave Bartush, Kurt Karch, Jesse Rodocker, Boy Kayona, Scott Raney, Warner Costin, Bryan Mans, Denise Garl, and the late Dan Hoover all played huge roles that just don’t happen much in today’s world. Each of these people donated their time, effort, resources, and incredible dedication and generosity to contribute on this restoration. Because of these people, we were able to obtain original parts to the hull and the means of transporting them to us from all over the country.
 
Lon Ericson, Randy Eng, and Rob Jesselson………thank you for the media coverage. In a time when it’s very hard to get any media coverage of the sport of hydroplanes, you guys have done your part to at least help us promoite this specific project!
 
Of course I can’t not mention my family and friends, who have had to deal with my never ending quest for more knowledge and anything related to promoting this project. Thank you for understanding and making sacrifices of your own!
 
To all you fans out there, thank you for the encouragement and well wishes in our endeavor………….you’ve all helped out in ways you’ll never know!
 
And finally, to the restoration crew volunteers and those who have sacrificed so much of their time away from their families to make this project a reality. This project is every bit as much as yours as it is to our family, and it would not have been as much of a success up to this point without each and every one yours valued contributions. Tim Ramsay, Steve Compton, John Watkins, and all the rest of you who spend your Tuesdays and Saturdays making this dream a reality, words can’t express the appreciation Kristy, Carol, Ed, and myself have for your dedication.
 
We tip our hats off to you guys and may the project be as successful down the home stretch as we have been up to this point!
 
The best is yet to come!
 
Gary

www.swxrightnow.com/story/35205405/as-the-squire-shop-rebuild-is-underway-pieces-of-history-come-together

A few weeks ago during our huge Saturday work party gluing up the aluminum decking panels, Rob Jesselson over at NBC affiliate SWX in Tri-Cities (Washington) stopped by the Hydroplane & Raceboat Museum to check in on the restorations progress. After repeated attempts by myself to persuade the crew to talk on camera, I got no takers....................so I ended up doing it on their behalf.

What you see in the video link above is some of what was going on in the shop that day, and the footage is about a month old from where we are now.

Enjoy!

​Gary

The bottom aluminum panel is nearly complete with drilling and countersinking.

We should be installing it shortly, then come the sponsons!

Hey gang, I apologize for not posting a update in recent weeks. I have a family medical situation going on right now, so my internet time has been limited. The team is currently installing the aluminum sheets to the bottom deck, and the sponsons will be up next.

Until tomorrow, enjoy these pictures I recently rediscovered from The Squire Shop vault. You didn't know our ex-president George Bush was a fan now did you?

After what feels like an eternity, I got the old Betamax working again. I have about 40 videos, and I got around half of them transferred over the weekend. The goal is to get the rest transferred before the unit craps out again............cross your fingers. I have to clean up and edit the videos first, then I'll post them online for you all to enjoy!

Here's just a sample of what's coming.....

1981 Gold Cup coverage
extended footage of the 1979 Squire Shop christening
Shop tour and interviews with Chip Hanauer, Jerry Zuvich, and Dan Walters
1980 Squire Shop fire in Madison coverage, amateur video