Tom Gouldstone

[Michele G]

I am starting this thread to tell the stories of my dad.....and to relive the memories I have shared with him....I don't think I will be able to put everything into one post, as whoever will be reading this will be here forever and a day reading....But I think it will be composed of lots of little remeberences.....I know there are people in this forum that knew my dad well and even raced with him when he was a younger in Southern California.....I just hope that I bring a chuckle to some that remember him.....and bring a chuckle to those of you who didn't.....You also might notice that I my posting's might be sporadic and few and far between but hopefully not, I am work full time as a nurse, have a two year old and am going to school full time at night 4 days a week......

[Master Oil Racing Team]

A great introduction Michele G. And a good approach too. We're looking forward to your continuation.

[geodavid]

I too am looking forward to hearing about both your father and experiences with Dr. Collins. I am not sure if I knew your Dad, but I sure had great times with the Doctor. He was also my late Mother's physician. Not only that, but his father, R.V. Collins was the best friend I ever had. Both taught me lessons that helped me immensely in my life. Can't wait to read your words.

[J-Dub]

I remember one huge trailer that Rucker drove to the races for a few years full of 500, 700, 1100 hydros in the early 90's.

J-Dub

[mercmack]

If This Is The Same Tom Gouldstone That Lived In Napa, Ca And Later In Reno...i Knew Him Well While Working At J & G Auto Marine.
Your Mother Ran The Mini Grand Prix Boats And Here Nickmame Was "jaws"...great People To Race With And Tell Stories.

[Bunker Hill]

Michelle,
I grew up hearing stories about your dad from my dad Russ hill Jr. They were very close, I am sure that my dad will offer more than a few great words about your father!!

Bunker Hill

[Jeff Akers]

I bought my first racing outboard from your dad in the 80's..I would hang around the J&G shop in Napa as a kid and watch and listen to your dad..He allways had very fast and nice looking stuff. ( always loved the yellow on his boats )My brother "Will" did some driving for your dad in the 80's and has told me many great stories about your mom and dad.:D

If I remember correctly your mom raced sport-C ,and you raced in J class....?

I may have a photo to or two of one of his boats, I will have to look.

also remember your mother being a great photographer, you must have some great photos from back then .:cool:

[russhill]

Michael,

Thank you for posting about you father. I'm not sure I knew you existed, it's been that long.

Old Tom "Gould Rocks" was one of my best friends. Tom, John Drake and I were best of friends and closest of buddies for more than 20 years. I'll bet I could fill more pages here about your father than you could, but most of it wouldn't be appropriate for this thread.

I was devestated when I, belatedly, heard of his death. We had sort of lost contact when he moved to Napa. I know about his southern California racing, but I'd love to read your accounts of his Northern California racing.

Russ Hill

[Roy Hodges]

More on Tom .................................................. ..........................He & the rest at J&G SURE liked their COORS .And talkin about the "POO_POO lagoon ". (Napa River)

[Ron Hill]

http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39&highlight=Barbara+Gouldstone

I posted a picture of Tom, somewhere here on BRF. He was running 20SS RUnabout on a DeSilva using a Bunker Hill Propeller. Tom and John Drake were my brother's friends for about 20 years, then when Tom moved to NAPA and Russ quit racing, he lost track of Tom but I didn't.

I made most of Barbara Gouldstone's Mini Gran Prix props. Tom and Barabara built quit a few Mini Gran Prix boats.

Tom's favorite 20 SS Runabout wheel was a copy of my DU wheel that Bunker usually ran on 20 SS Runabout. I must have made Tom about 10 or 15 of them.

I remember when Tom got in a bad car accident going to Salton Sea, about 1952. He was riding with Bob Marvick the F Runabout driver, they were in a construction zone near Whitewater. Tom's head was broken in several places and at first he wasn't expected to live.

Tom raced BU first, then got a B "ALKY" Hydro. I was watching Tom test one time behind Seaboard Equipment Company (Mercury Distributor) and Tom few out of his DeSilva BU. My dad said, "Why weren't you looking where you were going when you hit that wave?" Tom said, "I was looking out the side of the boat WATCHING the water like you told me..." He was WATCHING the water OK, but he wasn't WATCHING where he was going...

Last time I recall seeing Tom was at Stockton's Deep Water Channel...I was running MOD VP on a 21 Eliminator.....Maybe 1979...

[Bunker Hill]

C'mon Urse you can do a hell of a lot better than that!!!!

[mercmack]

I Worked At J & G Auto Marine From 1969 To 1972 And Again From 1981 To The Flood Of 1986...it Was The Only Place You Could Work On Your Own Race Boat And Get Paid To Do It...when I Was Getting My C-nod Boat Ready From The Race At Susin, I Can Remember Bob And Old Gouldstone (he Was In His Good Cloths) Help Me Sand And Paint The Bottom Of It..lot Of Stories And Good Old Coors For Lubercation..he Was That Kind Of Guy..there Was Always More Race Boats Than Ones To Make Money Wth,,..there Was One Boat I Always Wanted And That Was A Opc D Tunnel That Belong To Brat Kramer It Was Built By De Silva (one Of A Kind) When De Silva Was Still In Northern Cal..

[Michele G]

OH MY GOD!!!! J&G Marine....I spent sooooo many nights and weekends down there with my dad, walking around the corner to that little store next to the catholic school getting the best sandwiches made in Napa or playing in there playground because the back of the playground backed right up to shop and I could see my dad through the fence.....

Watching my dad with a coors or michelob light in his hand or sitting on the bench which I would sneak a sip from every now and then while he sanded and stripped some boat and then painting it YELLOW AND BLACK....and then waiting for the guy to come pinstripe it and paint names on it....or playing with the guard dog....I can't remember his name.....and Bob Biagio and his son.....I used to climb all over the trailors and play in the boats stored there and act like I was racing them......

I asked my dad to race boats long before I was old enough too and back then he just raced 20R with "Old Yeller" I think the boat was a DeSilva design, if not it was one that Darrell Sorenson built.....he caught me sitting in it on the trailer and I was winning the race!!!! I was leaning and turning, and then jumping back and trying to get as low and as far back as I could and he snuck up on me and scared me half to death with "What are you doing" and my reply to him was "winning the race". He laughed and just walked away chuckling....

I remember coming home from J&G so filthy and my mom so mad because my clothes were ruined from the grease, gas and other sludge that covered the floors there and my dad just saying oh well she was having fun.....I LOVED THAT PLACE!!!! it was mine and my dads place to go, I knew when I got older and started driving, I could find my dad 3 places....at the office, under the tree on the side of Hwy 29 taking a nap or and the boat shop doing something or shooting the preverbial "sh%t" with everyone there....

[Michele G]

and Dwayne I remember you.....I remember bugging you all the time, what ya doing, and you would tell me, and then I would ask the next question, but why....do you remember the flood we had in Napa in I think '86 or '87...I remember my dad taking a rubber dingy in the shop when the water was over waist deep and bringing out our engines on the raft....saving them from the nasty "poo poo" river.....

[Michele G]

Ron I remember you, I met you when I was really really young at Indio, we went down there for a race for my dad, I think I was 7 or 8 because not long after that I got my first JSR....My dad used to tell me now this is the man you want to get your props from, he is the best in the business....and they are fast.....and I know he sent you some of the props I raced with to fix, once after the kilos in Modesto....and once after my throttle stuck and I forgot to pull the kill switch and hit the shore going full tilt with my dad trying to catch me and the boat before I did too much damage.....
I set the one and only record for J Pro Hydro there after running through shallow water that was clearly marked, and taking chunks out of my prop and lower end unit.....

[Michele G]

OK here is a story for everyone.....Took place in '89 in Depue Illinois....My first Nationals......

Paul Kern "PK" as my dad called him, and Todd Anderson had driven the the trailer out there and my dad and I flew in and Sandra Paul's wife flew in too, they picked us up at the airport and I remember Paul telling my dad that he was lucky they were allowed back in the terminal because Paul and Todd had gotten a hold a couple of rentable wheelchairs they had at the airport and were racing them around the terminal.....
well they picked us up and took us back to the motel were staying at and my dad seeing a sign on the interstate saying "Bitrthplace of Ronald Regan". My dad saw that sign and was like "I WANT THAT SIGN".....one night we went to the Red Door Inn, and we were getting smashed.....there was a bunch of other racers there that night, like Tim Smith ( I think he raced 700 or 1100 hydro), Steve Litzel, Brinkman Racing Team, the Whyhoski's, Howard Anderson and his family, Larry ( I can't remember his last name, but he drove a laydown hydro and it was all black and he had a son that we called "Dirk", and a few others that I can see the faces of but can't recall the names....But I remember my dad ordering Strawberry Daquiris for me and the waitress would kind of pass them in front of my dad and then set them in between us, but we were on our way back the "Roach Motel" as my dad called it, and we were in a rent a car a tiny little four door thing, Paul and my Dad in the front seat and me Sandra, and Todd in the back....we pulled up to the sign on highway , and they were really going to steal it, right there off the side of the highway, and they got out popped the trunk and grabbed the tools and then realized that the sign was bigger then the car we were in.....So we got back in and drove off laughing.....

Does anyone remember that Motel we stayed in, it was where all the drivers and teams stayed, and do you remember the bugs doing the single file line marches down the hall, and then scatter under a door.....

[mercmack]

Brandy...always Had More Dirt And Flee's Than 200 Dogs..
Can't Remember The Dob's Name Tho..

[Michele G]

and man did she smell, god she needed a bath!!!!!

[Michele G]

Do any of you "old timers" :p :eek: remember my grandpa Jack?

[russhill]

Do any of you "old timers" :p :eek: remember my grandpa Jack?


Of course, I remember your Grandpa Jack, back when he was on the LAPD. I also remember your Grandmother Louise. Good people.

And Bunker, yes, I could say more about Gouldrocks--about 3 volumes more, but as I said this is a GP rated site. And most of what I'd say would bore people and much of it, "you had to be there."

I did love old Gouldrocks.

Michelle, I'd sure appreciate if you could give us here or by phone to me a short chronological bio of you dad, your mom and yourself. (714) 374-1366.

Russ Hill

[Michele G]

I thought you might like this Ron...This is my daughter Samantha....

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y68/VelvetRain/IMG_1929-1.jpg

[Allen J. Lang]

Has your daughter been vaccinated against the racing bug yet? :D
Ye Olde Desert Geezer :cool:

[mercmack]

Its A Awsome Picture, Your Where Not To Much Older Than That When You Where Down At The Shop...well My Be A Few More Years!!!!!
But To Me Since I Have Not Seen You Since Say 1988 Or So..the Old Brain Still Thinks Your The Same And I Am Sure You Have Grown Into A Very Beautiful Woman By Now...
Be For You Know It, Your Daughter Will Be Ready For That Old "j" Jacket.. Just Like Rons Grandaught Is Wareing At The Racies This Weekend At Parker..

[Donziboats]

Michelle,
from reading this thread I am sure I would have enjoyed hanging out with your father and his racing crew! I recently found a 14 foot hydro in Woodstock, GA. My father rebuilds old wooden Chriscrafts and Lymans and I thought that this would be a fun project for him! Attached is a picture. I was hoping you could give me some information on the boat as well as some pictures of it running. I posted the picture on Hydroracer yesterday and have gotten some detailed information. From what I was told it is a laydown and was driven by Bill Rucker in 3 different classes and won nationals in one of them. I will also send you pictures of the finished product, althought it won't be for a year or so, my father lives in New York and unless I find a trailor to get it up there he won't have it until the fall. It is in great shape with no real damage, only a few heavy dings on the top right of the hull. The bottom is in great shape and I have moved it since the purchase inside of a barn where it won't get wet at all. Thanks for your time, I look forward to hearing from you.

Jason

[Doug Hall Y51]

I think the hotel was named the Riviera. It sat right off the highway at exit 70. Never stayed there but that is what I remember it being called.

[Michele G]

You would be right about a Rucker driving it, but I can't remember if it was Bill or Billy.....and you are correct it won a few Nationals....I can tell you who made it if you can tell me the wood used.....My dad favored one or two builders and they both use different technique and wood....If I knew the number on the boat I would be able to tell you more....

but I can tell you that I have touched every single one of the boats that were a part of TBM racing....I remember when my dad first got into lay down hydros.....PK had been racing with us for a few seasons, paul was running 20 runabout, or Novice 350, and was deck riding for my dad in 1100 runabout, my dad went through a lot of deck riders, until PK......I think he might have scared a few of them.....He liked it fast, he liked it challenging, and he did it till he mastered it.....I remember on a trip to Santa Rosa to see my godfather Ray he looked at me and asked if I wanted to have some fun, I just laughed and he told me to put on my seatbelt....The ride of my life.....You only have so many of those moments.....

I remember every laydown that came into the shop at biagios, at the office, I used to sit and watch him carefully sand them down.....until they were so smooth it felt like glass......I used to come with him from the shop and we would both be covered in the fine dust.....and then he would seal it......I remember how mad he got one day when a big gust of wind came along on a the hot and still day and blew up metal dust, dirt, leaves and landed them all over the still wet boat....I have never heard him cuss so much in his life....he was so mad because his boat had to be started all over again.....

I think that PK raced a few in it too, and if it's the one I am thinking about, Billy rolled it in the 1st turn at Shadow Cliffs, at the International event Region 11 hosted....

and Mr. Hill I will gladly call you this weekend if that is alright.....

off to hit the books!!

[Donziboats]

Michelle,
thanks for the reply, it has been very interesting finding out about the hull. I couldn't find any numbers on it but then I wasn't really looking for any. Is there anyplace in particular I should look? Also, the wood looks to me mahogany. Thanks again for the info!


J

[Ron Hill]

When I was a kid, I remember Tom's boats always having nice BLUE and White paint jobs...Tom, Too was one of his boats..I'm having some 8 MM films made into DVD's and on one film it said, John Drake, Tom G, rock rolling at Elsinore..

Tom would wear his helmet and life jacket and smoke a big cigar, and stick his head out the window of either John Drake's car or my brother's car and yell things like, "I'm a looking...or I'm a hiding and bag on the door and scare hell out of people, just for fun." Tom was always a barrel of laughs for me we I was a kid...Tom, my brother, Johnny Craven, John Drake and a few others had long red night shirts, and they'd wear them into restaurants...(In the day light...) They thought they were SO COOL...and they were!!!!

Here's Tom driving his 20 SS Runabout, a DeSilva with a "BUNKER HILL" 20 wheel....I never really had the heart to tell Tom that "BUNKER" never really got my good propellers....then, again, I never told Bunker either...

We were at Salton Sea one year...My dad asked Tom where his boats were... Tom said, "My dad rolled them out of the garage, but we forgot to hook them up...We left them in the driveway...." Sure enough, when they got home the boats were in the driveway...

Tom would call me a lot, actually...we'd talk about various boats and stuff...Then, one day, I got a call that Tom had died in the shower from a heart attack.. I had a hard time breathing when I heard the news, as I could only think that my brother and Tom were the same age....Tom was good for boat racing. AND Tom was the kind of person that made boat racing good!!!!

ADD:
Tom's Grandaughter: Sure can see she is related to TOM!!!!Looks just like TOM.....

[Michele G]

I am so sorry I didn't call this weekend Mr. Hill, my inlaws came into town and my house was overrun with screaming children and happy grandparents.....

[russhill]

Call me anytime--if you want to. And my name is NOT MR. HILL. That was my father and he's dead, or my brother or Chad when they are in school.

And I know more Gouldrocks stories than I ever told Ron.

Russ Hill

[Michele G]

WOW.....it's been ages since I have posted here.....but I have some pics for everyone.....lmao.....You guys should get a kick out of these.....

[Michele G]

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss28/Chelesstuff/boat%20racings%20pics/Micheleyoung001.jpg

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss28/Chelesstuff/boat%20racings%20pics/JSR-ShadowCliffs002.jpg

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss28/Chelesstuff/boat%20racings%20pics/JSR-ShadowCliffs001.jpg

http://i558.photobucket.com/albums/ss28/Chelesstuff/boat%20racings%20pics/Grandpajackandme001.jpg

[Roy Hodges]

Are these pics taken at the SUISUN SLOUGH ?

[mercmack]

jUST LAST WEEK I BET???? TO ME THAT THE WAY YOU'LL ALWAYS LOOK TO ME...WHEN I WAS WORKING A JACK'S...OR BOBS...
COURSE I'M 71 NOW...DWAYNE..(MERCMACK)

[Jeff Akers]

Are these pics taken at the SUISUN SLOUGH ?


Looks like Shadow Cliff's to me Roy.................. on second look , maybe not :confused:


Keep posting pics Michele......Please:cool:

[mercguy]

Looks like Shadow Cliff's to me Roy.................. on second look , maybe not :confused:


Keep posting pics Michele......Please:cool:

your right Jeff...............gotta be Shadow Cliffs...............sure do miss that place!

[Ron Hill]

When people talk about new motors and all...Look at the J class when we had the 60 J.......

Tom Gouldstone, aka Gould Rocks, was a child hood hero of mine..He was always so full of life!!!

[Michele G]

Those pics are of the original JSR Class taken at Shadow Cliffs, CA

[Mark75H]

Those are fantastic, Michele!

[Roy Hodges]

[QUOTE=Michele G;66776]Those pics are of the original JSR Class taken at Shadow Cliffs, CA................................................ .................................................. ....................
.................................................. .................................................. .................................
.................................................. .................................................. ..................................
I'm guessing your MOTHER. I know she was quite a photographer, I talked to her about cameras &picture taking at several races , years ago. At the time, she was proud of her Pentax LX camera . ( that kind of dates us back many years ! )