There will be a Putt-Putt Boat gathering on Belle River this Sunday 3-22-2015. Should start around 10:00 am. A little more info on Putt-Putt Boats. This is a write-up from a few years back...... Baja St. Martin Fri, 2011-04-08 13:17 admin By: Linda Cooke Sunday, April 3, was a busy day on Belle River. As if the sight and presence of the Mississippi Queen riverboat at the Argosy Boat Company dock wasn’t exciting enough, there was the annual gathering of the antique boat and motor aficianados at the camp of J.B. Castagnos on Belle River. The ‘putt-putt’ boat owners came from North Carolina, Maryland, Mississippi, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New York, plus a few came from Houma and New Iberia. Many trailered their boats hundreds of miles to reach the Castagnos camp. Others came to learn, look and meet up with old friends. The owner of a dory type of boat with a Lockwood Asch engine had towed his boat and motor all the way from New York, but spent most of Sunday on the bank with flywheel problems. His wife seemed pretty cheerful under the circumstances. People who collect, refurbish and use these vintage motors surely are used to problems and take them in stride. I talked to one man, Ory Mendoza, who had built many of the beautiful boats bobbing at the dock. He said they were long, over 20 feet, and narrow, so they could get in the woods easily. In the north, the engines were likely put on different shaped boats, depending on their use. All were beautiful – cypress strips gleaming under multiple coats of shellac – with the engine with brass shining like gold in the sun. There was a strong south wind on that Sunday, so the distinctive putt-putt sound could be heard miles north of the bridge. With the Mississippi Queen just down the river and the putt-putt boats traveling back and forth taking guests for rides, Belle River was almost crowded and scarcely a modern boat or party barge passed that didn’t have at least one camera pointed. I had company from out-of-state and we were invited to ride the beautiful houseboat of friends from their home dock in Belle River to Four Mile Bayou and back. It was a lovely trip and such a generous thing of them to do. Gros’ Marina was booming with business and pretty noisy when we arrived, so we visited a bit and headed back home. Altogether, it was a memorable Sunday.
I did get to visit the Putt-Putt Folks today and got to talk with Mr Mendoza, the man who started this craze. I also found out my cousin has the first ever built Putt-Putt Boat. I saw one today that had a Ford Flat Head V-8 in it. Enjoyable day with the people on Belle River.
