Not trying to steal your thread.... great question and nice boat. I’m a formula fan as well. Have an older 311 that I restored a little.

I’m new to Ohio and was curious as well of the local hot spots. Let me ask this.... is the area of LE around the islands and the bay got a lot of unmarked rocks, etc? I’m use to boating in upstate NY my whole life and did not have to worry about much being familiar with it.

Also.... are there any fun runs or poker run gatherings in the area as well.

Thanks,
Chris
Thaanks,
Chris

Every day running in the west basin is a fun run.....never a bad time or a shortage of boats or places to go. There is always people running around. And about rocks i have never had any issues.

long as you understand your navigation markers you'll be good, there is a sandy shoal around the Sandusky Sand Bar (that moves) and a few shallow areas not super clearly marked (Gibralter island coming into PIB for example)....long as you got a GPS or peak at some NOAA charts you'll be good. if you boat on weekends the the western Basin is full of boat traffic so if you feel uneasy just follow the crowd and if a short cut through a harbor looks too good to be true it probably is. water is at record high level this year so even less to worry about.
not much in the way of organized fun/poker runs that I know of just one run by LEOPA but it's pretty high dollar stuff thats out of my league so I couldn't tell you much about it.

For Fun Runs: LEOPA Thunderfest (Large run based out of Put In Bay), LEOPA also has 2 small 1 day runs 1 in the Spring and Fall, The Go Fast Gang on Facebook looks like they are planning a run for this summer. The annual Mentor Poker Run has been cancelled, no race so no run.

I miss the days of the small fun runs we used to do, cheap and fun, no big show, normal guys with fun boats, not a show off fest. some of the runs have become a lot of $

^how come there aren't any more small fun runs? I'd help organize one but as I've never been on a single run I don't think I'd be of much help. lol.
I always thought it'd be cool to have a Radwood themed fun run (80s/90s theme). although at this point it'd just be cool to have any kind of run for us normal guys.

We can throw one together for this summer maybe start at say lymans to heron to vermilion for lunch to hbb to casino for the night. Everyone covers own dockage, food and drinks. I could make some phone calls if we hammer out a date. I know we would be good for sure at lymans and the casino with no problems just would have to tuch base with Quaker heron and hbb. Dont think hbb would be a problem. As long as the restaurant is open this year lymans has a good breakfast menu to start the day off right or even make that the lunch stop

Could even throw a raft up in there for a few hours after lunch stop at either cp beach if the lake is flat or Sandusky bay sandbar on the bay side.

I like those ideas. Keep me in the loop.