did not know that, good info. i have never had to leave anything over night there. I dont think i am doing the fireworks but i will be over at the Minke ramp area. I have a house on the water there and i think i may throw the Donzi in and stick around Anchor point area for the weekend. I think LEOPA is going to meet in the area for the opening of the new bar at anchor point.

YA, I know what 30 miles in rough water with a hangover can do. The only time we can stay is come over Friday and back on Sunday and Sunday we need to leave kind of early to get back home at a decent time. So, is there a good chance that if we run to Kellys Saturday afternoon we would be able to get a spot again at the dock?

rules
1. dont dtink on the dock
2.dont passout or puke in the park
3. dont pile 15 drunken jackasses in a golfcart

follows those rules and you wont worry about the police.

Axels is decent food and a break from the madness

and last but not least..always remember..."friends dont let friends wear buckets"

:D

has anyone mentioned Frostys pizza yet? Best on the island . . . or the lake for that matter.

where do you plan on launching at????

:cool-smiley-026:

Thats kind of what i am trying to figure out. I have never benn down in that area before, do most people come out of Port Clinton? We dont mind a little bit of a ride, anything closer to MI is good. What would you recommend. We are leaving Bay City MI area that Friday and would like to get to the Island before noon so we have a good chance at being able to raft up together. Bay City is about 3 hours from Port Clinton.

Unless the weather is really bad (weather meaning wind direction and wave height, screw rain.) I think that Dave's suggestion of Bolles Harbor is a good one. It is a straight shot and you come in kind of north of Camp Perry and the range. I think that it is almost due east, with a slight south. But you can make a straight line from Bolles Harbor to PIB. 30 minutes at 60mph in decent conditions. If the weather is nice at all... Bolles Harbor is a great launching spot. It will be quicker than dragging the boats to Port Clinton too, unless the lake is whipped up. Just don't make any sharp turns out of their channel. Have a good time and be safe.

Dont forget the jello shots at the Beer Barrel and the hot dogs around the corner aint too shabby either :D

Love their pizza....especially at 2AM! :ernaehrung004:

I guess the only problem is that putting the boats in on Friday when it is nice and having the wind pick up on Sunday are two different things, but i like waves anyways :D:D. I almost forgot about jello shots, THANKS RaceGirl

Cameo actually has really good pizza, and they deliver it to your boat in the wee hours of the morning.

My bet is this 4th weekend will be one of the busiest ever. People have been putting off boating and spending money, but come the holiday they will be out in full force. Come the following weekend it will probably be one of the slowest weekends at the bay. I can't wait for next weekend to avoid all the crazy people.

You must be hauling ass because from what I remember Bay City was 3 hours from Toledo, and PC is about another 45 mins to an hour from Toledo.


And say you do drop in at Bolles and go over, and things do kick up Sunday, it just gives you an excuse to stay and extra day and call in sick to work on Monday!

Caddyshacks pizza on Kelleys is pretty amazing too!

This time of year you stand a decent chance of a good 48 hour forecast. It's not like Memorial Day when the weather and the jet stream are still in transition. There are more pop-up storms this time of year, but they have less of an overall effect. A passing shower will not turn the western basin from 2 footers to 8 footers for the rest of the day. It takes more time and a wind shift this time of year.
They post updated weather reports and wind and wave information on the big shower/bathroom kiosk. You should be able to stay informed, and if necessary, change departure times.

YA,

I am set on going out of Bolles if the weather is nice/ok and will play it by ear while there. I have to come through DTW and pick a guy up on the way to Monroe is right on the way and it gives a chance to get some running in before bargin up for the weekend. The more i read the more excited i get!!

can they leave the trailers overnight????

Bolles Harbor or Lake Erie Metro Park boat launch are both good.
Both about the same distance to PIB.
Lake Erie will have better security and have never had a problem leaving my truck and trailer for the weekend.
I have used both.

...and public urination is severely frowned upon.

But if you corral a couple of skanks from the Roundhouse and do them both in the Miller Ferry pavillion, you'll probably get a pass.

http://www.greatmich.com/boat_launch...oat_launch.htm

This is about the best links I found for Bolles Harbor. The DNR site is useless, do a search for boat launch and you can't even get a list. I spoke to the gal at the contact number for Bolles she did not know about overnight parking. She said a man was coming in later that would call me. Bolles is easy to get to and very close to the LasPlasisant exit off of I 75, it really is a good place to launch and they have over 300 parking spaces, so not being able to leave a trailer is ridiculous. I argued with them last year and got no where, they said that they have to make the rules the same for all DNR ramps not matter how large or small. I don't think that rule has changed but I am just wondering and a little worried what the consequences are if you do it anyway. I will investigate more since we want to use it tomorrow, and let you know.

What part of Detroit will you be driving from, if you mean you are going to be by the Detroit Metro Airport, then Erie Metro Park would not be a bad drive, and it is definately better to keep your rig there.

Go to trouts accross the canal. He'll let you keep it there all weekend.

I see vehicles parked at the bolles harbor launch 24/7hell it was kinda busy last weekend at 3:30 am.....

[QUOTE=jmackin;2611116]Go to trouts accross the canal. He'll let you keep it there all weekend.[/QUOTE


Do you mean launch at trouts, can you launch a Black Thunder there? We used to belong to Monroe boat club which I believe is by Trouts. We would launch at Bolles and then because I can not dock a 43" boat or park that long of a trailer, we would either have to hike around or get someone at the club to give us a ride and would park everything there. Even when we used to have the LEOPA Poker Run out of Monroe, they would have park by the club.

I just got a call back from the guy at the Sterling Park, he works for the launch sites and is not even sure about overnight parking, he radioed some one and they said it closes at 11, but then the guy says to me just leave it I don't think they will tow it or anything:D We will probably just chance it, what about people that plan on pulling out and then break down.

if you need to park your truck and boat,i can do,, that for you,,,i can even let you take a shuttle up to the terminal,to pick your friend up,,,,or he can take our shuttle,and ill bring him to you,,,24 seven parkngo.com all free of charge,,,,you know how uptimely flights can be:cool-smiley-011:

Mike,
This is going to be a good weekend. I can't wait.

No trip to PIB would be complete without eating a freshly plucked seagull from the Patio beside the Roundhouse.


OH, and take the keys out of your boat if you leave it at the city docks;)

if its 4am and the police tell you to be quite and if they say"if i have to come back one more time, someones going to jail" well they wont be lieing, someone will goto jail, and you have to wait till monday to get them out, other than that, all the basics have been covered, last time i was there the police were really cool, they didnt mind drinking on the docks, as long as you were in front of where your boat was rafted and not wondering the entire dock with a live cocktail

You dont want to step foot off of your boat with a drink in your hand. TRUST ME!

^^^ have they clamped down on it again??

And you don't even want a couple seeds from your Mexican dirtweed that are there from last summer.

The locals are happy to have as many law abiding citizens visit their island and spend money in their businesses. They're also quite pleased to fine you and seize your property for later auction if that's how you want to do it.

I've only been arrested at PIB once, and it wasn't for illegal substances or booze on the docks/public.
I still have the ticket framed.
I was young and obnoxious then.
At least one of those traits has evolved.

We are actually going over tonight to stay for the night. (weather permitting). I anyone wants to join us. I would rather get it out of the way now to avoid all of the July 4th crazies.

Hey TSpin's are you Larry from Park and Go??? i

I'm headed over tonight. Plan is Adam is putting me off a 50ft something with a big swim platform, then Rob Judge, so if you want you could between rob and I or off the big boat and me, either way it gives us the big boat to block our boats from easy access from the dock, and easy to walk across platforms, I'll be there by 4 or 5

OK...whose shoes did you pee on? :D:D:D

Jeremy- Sounds good. We need room for Scott too. will probably get over there around 6-6:30 or so. Looked at the weather ad I think the rain is done today around 4 or so.


RAF:ernaehrung004:

Have fun guys, drink a few for me.

[QUOTE=Ms PatriYacht;2611195]


Donna, did you talk to someone at sterling state park or the dnr launch at bolles harbor?

The dnr launch at bolles does close at 11:00 and I know people who were issued tickets for leaving their vehicles there, don't waste your time trying to reasoning with them I've tried and it won't help.

The last couple years I've been using Sterling State Park, the launch ramps were re-done a couple years ago and the channel was dredged last year. Technically the park closes but you won't get a ticket for leaving your vehicle so it's probably your best bet. The main issue with sterling is there's no long stall parking spots so you’re going to have to angle across two or three spaces, I parked along the entrance road one weekend to try to be courteous and not clog up the parking lot, I received a warning for not being in a parking space :rolleyes: , if you’re going this weekend I'll be in the back of the lot with you.


I use to launch at trout’s 4 or 5 years ago (you could launch the black thunder there) the only problem i had was the ramp is steep and no matter how tight I winched up the boat it would always slide back on the trailer when retrieving it. I was launching and leaving my truck there then driving around to bolles harbor to pull the boat out but for some reason mr. trout (I forget his name) wanted me to retrieve the boat at his ramp, i have no idea why. FYI if you use trout’s marina mr. trout doesn't like loud boats so you would probably want to walk your boat to the end of the dock and back it out so in the future we can keep using his ramp.

Speaking of Erie as of today the wave forecast for the next five days is 1-2 foot waves so it'll be a nice ride to PIB or Toledo for the fireworks.