You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

[Lee Stewart]

Knafel Pontiacs 1970 Tempest Magnum 400. This is what The Judge was supposed to be to take on the Road Runner - cheap and fast.

[Lee Stewart]

Built to replicate one of the original four Bud Moore team cars that have not survived

https://www.mecum.com/lots/1103808/1967-mercury-cougar/

[Lee Stewart]

A maelstrom is, in essence, a very powerful whirlpool or ‘crushing current’. But that doesn’t quite do justice to the sheer force of the maelstrom that swirls and spins at high speeds in the Saltstraumen sound in Norway. It’s officially the world’s strongest tidal current, reaching speeds up to 23 miles per hour (37kmph), or 20 knots in nautical terms.

The whirlpool is fed by waters flowing fast and heavily in and out of a narrow strait that connects two fjords. It’s hard to imagine that any creatures could survive in or even close to waters throttling at such speeds, yet Saltstraumen is teeming with marine creatures from monkfish to huge blue Atlantic wolffish.

[Lee Stewart]

My day at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Key Largo, Florida

When I was younger - MUCH younger - I was an avid scuba diver. I really wanted to have my son join me in my hobby. We went on vacation to visit my mother in Ft. Lauderdale during school break and I suggested we go to Key Largo for the day as a day trip.

I had made inquires and found a dive shop right next to a motel that offered "learn to dive in one day" for $250. So we rented a room at the motel so my mom had a place to sit if she wanted to get out of the sun and for us to change clothes.

I sat by the pool watching the dive instructor work with Alex. He's about 13 at the time. He's a good swimmer so I'm hopeful he likes being under water for more than just a breath hold.

Two hours later we are sitting on the back of the dive boat in about 25 feet of water. Alex is going to make his first dive - an ocean dive with me. I can't tell you the excitement I am feeling. I have 5 and 7 day boat trips all over the Carribean planning in my head. I do "the big step" into the ocean and come right up to wait for Alex. He was supposed to go down the short ladder and ease into the ocean. Nope! Over confidence took over and he does the big step just like his dad. Only he didn't see me put my hand on my face mask to prevent it from getting knocked off by the maneuver. And sure enough his mask gets dislodged, fills up with water taking him by surprise.

He immediately come to the surface snorting sea water, crying and I am thinking - there goes my dive buddy. "Alex you can do this! Focus" He responds; "OK Dad." He clears his mask of water and we submerge. And for the next 45 minutes we had a blast. There were so many fish we didn't do any moving around. Just sat on the sandy bottom and watched the show. This way he wouldn't use up his air too soon.

He enjoyed it but swimming in a pool or riding the waves on a beach is totally different than diving in 60 to 100 feet of water. There is a fear factor that he couldn't shake off.

So the day was a success . . . well almost. Between paying for the motel, dive course, lunch and dinner and gas - about $500. Which became $35,000. That's how much that one day trip cost me.

I had been given an inside stock tip from a very good client of mine. It was so good, I told my mother to get in on it for $5000 which should grow to about $8000 in less than a week. I guaranteed her investment and I invested $12,500.

I had never bought stock before. We used my partners stock broker who recommended putting a Stop Limit just in case something went wrong. Well something did. The stock dropped just enough to engage my SL and my stock was sold. The very next day it doubled in price as the news of the takeover hit the Wall Street Journal.

You definitely can't win them all. As an old friend of mine said: "you win some, you lose some, some get rained out and some end in a tie - but you have to get dressed for all of them."

[Lee Stewart]

Deep-dwelling glass sponges may look soft, squidgy and, in the case of this Euplectella species, as pretty as spun sugar. But they’re also known as ‘venus flower baskets’ because they are, to the tiny shrimp that live inside them, prisons. While the crustaceans’ offspring leave to find their own sponges, their parents eventually grow too large to escape and remain there for the rest of their lives.

[Lee Stewart]

Can you guess the name of these Starfish? Come on - you can do it! See answer after the next post.

[Lee Stewart]

Sea Snakes are a relatively new species - about 6 to 8 million years old. Why they left land to live in the sea is a mystery. They are air breathers meaning like whales, they have to surface. to take a breath. Highly venomous.

[Lee Stewart]

Chocolate Chip Starfish. Did you guess right?

[Lee Stewart]

Talk about a success story! The 1961 421 Catalina Super Duty ruled! It won 30 out of 52 races during the Grand National series in 1961. The terror of NASCAR! Pontiac rated the engine at 405HP. Its real output was 465HP making it the most powerful engine at the time. Only around 177 Catalina Super Duty models were fitted with the 421, with some sources stating that number is closer to 130. That's for all 3 years: 61, 62 & 63.

[muscle_collector]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

Knafel Pontiacs 1970 Tempest Magnum 400. This is what The Judge was supposed to be to take on the Road Runner - cheap and fast.

im not sure any actual documented examples of these have been found. they definitely made them. bill knafel told me that they made around 50 of them and a few of them had ra4 engines in them. i tried for years to locate one with no luck. i know that i have seen newspaper ads in the akron area back in the day with people selling them. just strange some havent surfaced.