MI Black Thunders
 

Hi, we pick up our 43 BT this Saturday (used), just curious
who else is riding the MI waters in a BT

Which one did you buy???

Ms PatriYacht,

Welcome to the Black Thunder Family. There are a number of MI based Black Thunders. Horseplay, one of the newest 46's is based out of Bloomfield Hills.

Call Tom Rieck at the Black Thunder factory and he can give you names and #s of others.

Have a ball with your Black Thunder, we've had ours almost 4 years now and have truly enjoyed her. If I can ever help you with anything on your boat, feel free to call or e mail.

Steve

Here's the scoop on the "New Boat": It is a 94 43 SC with slightly beefed up 450's, we hear the top speed is in low 70's. My husband and I compromised and went for the "Mondo Condo".
The previous owner John, was a part time rep for BT in the Great Lakes area. The boat was kept on a hoist in Muskegon and is immaculate inside and out, to an uneducated eye it looks almost new. It's red, white, and blue with stars on the top of the bow. Very timely to be PatriYachtic!!
I had a nice email from the owner of Horseplay, maybe one day we will take a run with them, or should I say follow their wake.
Do you guys know Don, AKA Junior ( boat name Jump Start) he's a long time BT owner and I know he spends a lot of time in FL in the winter. We used to boat with him but lost touch, the last time we saw him was about 4 years ago, he launched his 43 on this small lake we live on. By the time he got on plane he was at the end of the lake. He made quite a scene, and a lot of noise. After 4 years the homeowners still talk about it, so we can't wait to see their faces when we pull up in our driveway with our 43, although I doubt we will be pulling a Jr. My husband and I have been landlocked all winter, not like you southern boys, so we are itching to get out, I'll send a post to let you know how our first ride went, keep your fingers crossed that she runs well. Later.............

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

There has been a nice one on burt lake for 4 years now,ive talked to the guy several times,i think he's a excavator from waterford. Boat has 850 sc's,owner claims 88 mph,Smitty

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

Interesting I don't know much about Burt Lake, but I can't believe it would be a fun place for an 88 mph 43'-46' boat.

We live Waterford, do you know the name of the boat, the model or the owners name? you have my curiosity peaked

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

I have my wife looking for a pic,i know the boat is a tall deck 43 ft,has gmc emblems on it near engine vents. The owner is a short guy in his mid 50's,keeps the boat on indian river all summer across from the marina (between burt and mullet lk). The boat has reworked merc 800sc's and barely idles in gear. The boat is kept up in that area in winter too,if i can find a pic i'll post it,we have taken several over several years,just can't find them right now,Smitty

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

Thank's how big is that lake, I am not familiar with it.

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

I'm surprised you haven't heard of burt lake/mullet lake/indian river,burt lake is about 10 miles long,its connected to mullet lake (which is about 16 miles long) by the indian river. You can also go north on mullet lk to the cheboygan river,thru the locks and out into lk huron to mackinaw island or wherever. I have seen 46 ft sea ray cruisers on mullet before and 42 ft baja's etc. This guy with the black thunder told me he used to go out to mackinaw island from burt lk thru the intercoastal water way but he had a place in fla freshen his motors a few years ago and they talked him into some big womping cams and his boat won't idle thru the 2 hours of no wake zone without loading up the plugs and stalling 500 times. If i don't find the pics of that boat,i will stop and talk to him this summer when we go up there boating and take a couple for you and get some more detailed info,Smitty

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

I heard of the lakes just did not know much about them. I am still trying to understand this, are you saying that you can get to lake Huron from Burt or Mullet but it takes a two hour no wake ride to get there? Is that what you are refering to as the intercoastal waterway. We haven't boated on the MI side of Lake Huron so I am not familiar with that area. It sounds like a great boat but if it takes two hours to get to lake Huron and the other lakes are not that big I still can't understand why he would want to boat there. I am really curious who he is since we live in Waterford and know a lot of excavators. I think I will PM Terry from Boatme, he did some sales for BT and owned one.

Do you guys have a place up there? I bet it is real pretty. Will you be in GH for SOTW Donna

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

Donna the trip from burt lake to lk huron is quite a jaunt,it takes about 2 hours to get from burt lk to mullet lake on indian river,20 minutes to cross mullet lk(give or take a little depending on if you go directly acrossed and how fast you drive),about 2 hours to get from mullet down the cheboygan river to the locks plus the time to ford the locks and another 10-20 minutes to get out to the big water. We usually stay at the best western or days inn in downtown cheboygan,they both have hotel rooms with slips and sea wall parking (plus your ground floor rooms have sliding glas doors that open facing the docks). We go once or twice a year,1 day we go up river acrossed mullet lake,up indian river and acrossed burt lake,stop for lunch or dinner at one of the restaurants along the water,seems like we put about 65-100 miles on the gps for that trip and it is about 8-10 hours depending on how long we play/race on each lake and how long we stop for lunch or dinner.The second day we usually go down river thru the locks and out into lk huron,around bois blanc island,out to mackinaw bridge and pull into mackinaw island and spend the night on boat at the state docks or get a hotel room if we bring guest with us. the 3 rd day we go to st ignace from mackinaw island for lunch and play in the big water and head back. We usually log 70-120 miles on gps doing that unless water is real rough(our boat is only a 27 ft!). Alot of other boaters make the same trip,mackinaw island is a blast at night once all the tourist leave,we hit a nice restaurant and a few bars,alot of them have live bands or singers. We have seen the black thunder on indian river or out on burt lk for past 4 or 5 years,2 years ago we stood around in the water talking to the other boaters parked in front of burt lk state campground and the guy with the black thunder was anchored there,we b.s'd with him for about 1/2 hour,he showed us the motors in his boat and let us check out his cabin in the boat. Thats when he was telling us it was a major pita for him to go up the river because his boat barely idles and there are ALOT of turns on indian river that were a pita with a boat as big as his. He also told us he launches at burt lk state park and when he wants to go to Mackinaw island he puts boat on the trailer and launches at mouth of the cheboygan river. I remember him telling us he was from waterford or pontiac,somewhere in that vicinity and i thought he said he owned a excavating company but jennifer say's i'm wrong that he said he was a Dr or dentist but it was 2 yrs ago. We asked him why he didn't boat on Lk St clair,he said he doesn't like hauling boat home and didn't have a place to keep it at home,plus he has a beautiful waterfront home up there (looks like a million $ plus place). We go up there usually in july,i will take some good pics and talk to him if he's around and post them for you.We have never been to SOTW in GH but have been to GH about a dozen times boating with our boat,1/2 the time we have went the water has been 3-5's and we weren't able to go out on lk Mi. One of our best trips out there we cruised the shoreline,pulled into the safety harbor going into saugatuck and partied/cooked out on the beach with a few of our friends. Me and Jennifer love those 43 ft black thunders,our next boat is going to be a 35-38 ft,probably a fountain or AT,we will probably never have a 43 ft bt mainly because we like to tow our boat all over(wev'e been to every lk and river in mich you can enjoyably boat on,plus the gulf of mexico,ohio river,fla intercoastal,tennesee river,lk pickwick etc) and can only imagine what a pita it must be towing your boat long distances and finding launches big enough!Smitty

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

sorry to make you type so much :D it can be a pain towing it but we keep it in our driveway and trailer it everywhere.
We have a one ton dually and it pulls it with no problem. We go all over Lake Erie, Lake MI and Lake St Clair.

If you have any interest on riding on our BT we have two spots open for SOTW, we have divided up the costs among 8 of us. Each person is chipping in $250.00 a piece which includes gas. We have some rooms reserved at a small motel I think they are $69.00 a night.
We have done 8 on Poker runs before and doesn't change the speed a bit, we are only mid 70's this year my husband thinks we his engine work it might see 80, does not matter to me.

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

Smitty, I second what Donna said. Towing a BT isn't a problem. We pull and launch our 46 with no problem. Lake Huron, Michigan, Ontario. Cape Cod. The boat is in Florida for the winter. If you can you should go for a ride at SOTW, you'll be impressed.

Regarding the owner you spoke about. Any high performance engine could give you problems having to idle as much as you say. There engines might be out of tune or running too rich at idle. This would not necessarily be a BT problem. Also, while I know nothing about the Indian River, I've had our boat in some very tight quarters in the mangroves and it handles fine.

Donna, I think we're going to try the Boyne City run. Something different.

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

Tim I hear that the Boyne City run is very nice and first class all the way. I believe the lunch stop is in Bay Harbor. I have been tempted, but everyother weekend in July is booked so I think we should sit out. We are setting up a Lake St Clair Fun Poker Run in August, it sounds like it is shaping up nicely.

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

Horseplay,i never mean't to imply the idling problem had anything to do with the boat being a BT,what i got out of this guys story was he didn't know a whole lot about motors and he let a motor builder talk him into cams that were too radical and ended up with a pair of unruly idling motors. They started out as 800sc's and have twin dominator carbs,his main complaint was he had to shift it in and out of gear constantly to keep it idling at no wake speed which made it difficult to control.I showed the guy my fuel injected blown 540 in my boat,he couldn't believe it could idle at 675 in gear and still put out 750 hp! He said the next time his motors were freshened he was taming them down. I am absolutley impressed with the BT 43's and 46's!!!!
Last summer we boated in all the lakes around boyne(lk charlevoix,lk michigan,torch lk,Elk rapids,grand traverse,suttons bay etc)-Absoloutly a beautiful,scenic area!!

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

When is SOTW,we are definately interested in your offer,we have plans to go to New Hampshire to lk winnapasaukee (i think thats how its spelled) the 3rd wk in july. Pm me with details and we'll make plans,thanks,Smitty

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

I just looked at the map,i misspoke when i said we have been to grand haven about a dozen times,we have always launched at public launch on lk Macatawa at Holland and went out on big water from there (had to look at the map,i always mix up the places next to each other),Smitty

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

Smitty nice to talk with you, glad you will be joining us on the run :D I forgot to ask what size SOTW tee shirts you want. Plus you will be getting red PatriYacht shirts to wear on the run, we will not be the fastest but we will be well dressed :D
Call us when you want to get together for a :drink:

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

They keep their boat up at Port Sanalic (sp) right. We have a cottage in Lexington and see their boat quite a bit if this is the same one. Tripple with the beefed up bravos???
Hunter

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

If you mean Horseplay yes, they have a summer home there.
The paint job is pretty discriptive as well :D It's for sale though :(

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

U seem to be everywhere you punk kid! HeHe!!!!!! Had a long talk w/ your Dad today about you, he had some very interesting things to say!! So I would be real careful what you say on this here forum boy! Enjoy, Wrink :evilb: :evilb: :D :D :drink: :drink:

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

39NAS-T
Donna is correct, we do have a place in Port Sanilac. The boat will be returning there this weekend after spending the winter in Florida. If you're going to be up that way please PM me. By the way Donna, I think we've decided to keep the boat. We ran down to Key West last week, and had WAY too much fun to let her go.
Tim

Re: MI Black Thunders
 

Tim that is good news, I hope your wife's back is doing better.
Are you still doing the Boyne Thuder run? We have a poker run planned every other weekend in July so I am having trouble talking Mr P into that one. Perhaps if we were able to bum a ride on another boat I could talk him into being a passenger for a change. See ya Donna

The boats name is insatiable. This guy does own an excavating company. He actually does know quite a bit about motors. Both of the motors are supercharged, and with different props he can hit 98 mph.

Ms PatriYacht,
Welcome to the Black Thunder Family. Black Thunder is putting together the annual Miami to Key West Poker run in Nov. I received my invite. If your interested you should call Black Thunder and let them know your a new owner and get the details

In your question about Indian River I'm the one with the black
thunder upnorth next to Howe marine. It's a 96 XT430. I boat more on Lake St. Clair then Burt lake now that my x-wife has the house up there, but we are still good friends I show up there at least twice a year. I am a contractor in New Hudson. See you on the lake
Dennis

46 Ec
 

Just picked ours up this past week. We boat up at Winthrop Harbor.

Dennis,I drank a beer few times with you out in front of burt lake state campground,I'm the guy who had the (at the time 85 mph baja,it goes 98 now). Always liked seeing your boat and talking to you,maybe we'll see you on lk st clair this year but we usually take off from port huron and run the length of the river down and back with a lunch stop on the shore were you can watch the freighters go by and see the tall buildings in detroit,Smitty

heres the bt we seen at mackinaw island and at tawas before

Heres the bt we have seen at hardy pond at the hot boat weekend/hardy party,Smitty

Heres a BT we saw on our local river in bay city/saginaw area,never saw it again anywhere in the state.
and of course the second pic is Ian and Donna out cruising lk MI,Smitty

Smitty how doing, that's my BT on indian river, looking good
Don't know when I'll be on lake st clair, working down south
this summer.