Randy's step-father, Bill Mick, had a stock outboard racing boat. As a family they travelled to races, which were mostly in the SW Michigan area. There was one special race which was held in northern Michigan at Topinabee. That race is still a part of the boat racing schedule.
When Randy was 13, they had the boat in the water at his grandparents cottage at Gun Lake. Randy was driving it when he was suddenly thrown from the boat. While the boat continued running, He attempted to get back into it, but was cut by the propeller. He was seriously injurred and was rushed to the hospital by long time family friend, Paul Slobey. He recovered with no lingering affects from the injury.
Much later, during the summer between our junior and senior year we attended the races at Topinabee. Several friends were racing, and the son of a family friend was one of them. There was a boat and trailer for sale. During that winter he bought the equipment and the summer after graduation he raced it. Ray Toppen helped him in the pits occassionally, and we had a blast.
That fall he enlisted in the Army. We were married December 28, 1964. He hadn't completed basic training, but they gave them 2 weeks furlough over the holidays. We were married during that furlough, but before I joined him in Germany I had sold both the Mustang and the racing boat. At least for a while there wouldn't be any racing of any kind. When we were in Germany, we listened to Armed Forces Radio, and every year the Indianapolis 500 was broadcast. Listening to that race was as close as we got to any racing...for a while...
