1998 Event Notes
Coal Creek, November 1998
A short battling day. Note to phill: refill to big CO2 tank!
We had two long drawn out battles with the Warspite and the
Montcalm making life challenging for the Lutzow and the Invincible.
We have had long battles before but this is the first time we
have had two in one day! At that point there was no CO2 left
(see note above!) and Tom and the Graff Spee showed up. We had
lucked out on weather so the light rain was gone by the time all
the gear was at the pond and by the time the second battle was
over the sun was quite warm. With the pond deep in the ravine
and surrounded with tall trees, the wind is not a factor.
Coal Creek, October 18th 1998
Grand Central Station! After lots of effort to get interest in
the sport we kind of gave up and decided to just battle for a
few months. We had far more people watching than actually on
the water. One group drove up from portland and was there quite
early, paitently waiting. The battle was so so. The Montcalm's
radio problems have been progressing and it is becomming less
and less relaible on the water.
Coal Creek, September 1998
The city brought in a huge scoop and a parade of dump trucks
and the pond that had lots of shallows and
sand bars is now at least 3 to 5 feet deep. The sides are a
bit loose but it is proving to be a very good place to battle
and is quite close!.
Cle Elum, August 8th, 1998
Just two boats on Hanson Pond. Very warm weather and the entire
families made for a very relaxed day.
The day saw both the Montcalm and the Warspite on bottom once.
Both sinkings were due to faulty equipment.......
(usually the captain.....)
Cle Elum, May 17th, 1998
Hanson Pond wasn't as easy to find as we thought......
Four ships showed up a bit late and another quite a bit later,
having toured the country for many miles. Better directions are
promised for the next event! Strong wind and cool conditions did a
bit to dampen enthusiam but after much delay all five ships were in the
water and ready for battle! This was the most aggressive battle the club
has seen and wasn't called until all bb's were spent. Due to the wind
driven waves, many shots ended up high. The top mast of the Montcalm was
shot off even though it starts about five inches above water level.
The Montcalm also lost a smokestack due to a very close range shot
from the Lutzow. The second sortie started with an attempt at a
Kodak moment. One of the three people who braved the weather to watch
was given command of the Montcalm and I tried to get all the ships
close enough for a picture. After about five minutes of trying to
coax all five ships into a small area while battling high waves
and strong wind, the Montcalm sank. Looking at the pictures later,
this was not a suprise as she was drifting sideways to the wind taking
on water and pumping hard for some time. The other ships were
retrieved and the Montcalm was dryed out and prepared for battle again.
Some time later the ships were returned to the water, the video handed
to an onlooker and battle started. This battle saw Al's Invincible
and the "novice" Warspite paired as the dull green team. Lots of
good hits were exchanged but the majority of the damage was inflicted
by ram's between team members. The video turned out better than
expected. The third battle was shorted and less intense as the
Warspite was running with only two functioning guns and basically
tried to stay out of the way. (very successfully!) The Montcalm
had helm damage from the prior sink and could only turn one direction.
All BB's were expended fairly quickly with much less damage than
previous battles. Intra-team ram damage caused more damage than
all bb's. The fourth sortie turned out to be the last. Delays
for major repairs slowed everything down. The Warspite's pump died
so she called it a day. Our friend from Portland had to get back on
the road for the drive home so the three remaining ships went on
a free for all. With the strong wind and heavy waves continuing
it was rough going and the hull's took limited damage.
The Montcalm's forward gun was hit and disabled but no more
significant damage was done before the BB's ran out. Cold and tired,
we all piled the ships, gear and ourselves back into the cars
and headed home. As a club, we have started to mature and there
was as much damage to ships on this day as we have caused in
all the previous battles!
Bellevue, February 17th, 1998
Tuesday morning found three warships and two other ships in the
settling pond on Coal Creek. The Warspite was out for sea trials
after additional drydock time and a fast unarmed racer was being
run by Captain Dan (5 years old). The combat started out very
intense and well matched. The first sortie dragged on as all ships
kept milling around to prevent anyone from gaining the advantage and
very few close in shots were exchanged. It took a long time to run out
all the ammo and declare the battle at an end.
The next sortie was more frustrating with the guns on the Montcalm
working very haphasardly and the Invincible having power problems.
The next sortie found the Montcalm without guns and the Lutzow
without CO2 and the Invincible with power problems. The last sortie
found the Lutzow back in shape, the Invincible running at about 18
seconds (too fast to control that hull) after the damaged speed
resistor was removed, and the Montcalm still without guns. It was
amusing to watch the high speed Invincible chase the Montcalm onto
the sand bar but the Invincible had enough power to get free and
actually catch and sink the Montcalm by riding up on her stern and
forcing her under water. A serious delay occured as we waited for
the local Police to come and take a report about the broken window
on the car and the missing camera system. (no pictures of this event
are available......)