I can taste it to! oh wait....that's cuz i'm drinking one! see everyone tomorrow night!

I love the Mesa, We have a cottage on Walloon Lake. Up every weekend :)

We ran our Cobalt 343 with twin Merc 525's in the poker run last year. We keep it at bay harbor, so it works out nice.

Have fun boys, won't be there this year..

PS- try the Brazilian Skirt Steak at the Mesa.. Can't beat it! great with a Patron Margarita!

Tom

Hey freeyd....that boat looks good man. Now its time to do a lil partying.

Photos I took this morning. I looked UGLY at the start...but cleared up nicely. How was it out on the Big Lake?

Beautiful boats...the people from the town really get into it...

A few shots at the docks...

More...

Couple more I found. I'm sure there will be some interesting stories from this run. This was really a first class event - the folks up there really know how to put on a good show.

Thanks for the Great pics!!
That's my PQ in post #147. This was my first PR like this. I agree they put on a nice show.

The rest is a Long read- fair warning.

As for the big lake OMG!!
Going to beaver wasn't too bad. I think there were honest 3-4 footers with a couple of 6's. We still managed to keep running with the pack around 40-50mph. Plenty of air and a few tough hits. We veered south of the course line trying to stay in the troughs a little bit, catching the island about mid way up.

Leaving Beaver was the worst. Waves were hitting hard on the SB side. couldn't get on plane. Every time we almost on plane the entire boat would come completely out of the water over the top of a 6 or 8 footer and then slam drop on one side or the other. I coulda swore I felt a side walk down there. Couldn't find a pattern to save my azz, waves were coming from every direction. we ended up with drives full down - full tabs, 2900 rpm resulted in 20-22 mph all the way to Harbor. aka cruiser mode. A few miles off Beaver the wave pattern settled down a bit. we were staying in the 6-8 foot troughs. pretty smooth ride, but slow. The Red saber offshore was running hard ahead of us. going to the main land. It was about there, we seemed to lose alot of boats around us. We came past the big Orange Outerlimits (I think) that lost a trans. They were under power but had trouble gettin on plane. They pulled out at Bay Harbor. As we came back from Beaver the wind seemed to change from S-SW to West, building right in the Little Traverse Bay. When we entered the bay we were going with the waves but they were big. The high Bow of the PQ came in handy. we had water shooting right up the sides all the way to the bow cleats. we never stuffed it throughout the entire day.

Harbor to Petoskey was easy as we stayed in the troughs.

Petoskey to Bay harbor was ok we got it up 35-45 going straight in to the 4-6's the boat seemed to have a great entry when she's square on to them. We made it to Bay Harbor at 1:30, last boat or two. there were white caps in bay harbor Lake. Docking was a bltch with the cross wind. Lunch was well deserved & tasted great. As we ate, they loaded up Outerlimits and we watched a 10-12' sailboat flip over. Guy in the water. Drifting right into some multi million dollar yachts. A lil' boston Whaler savin the day by throwing a line to tow it back. kinda funny.

Back to Lake Charlevoix was break down Alley. Again Waves were 4-6 strait on the bow. Back to the 35-45mph. First we came along the red saber being towed. Then a fountain lost both batteries dead in the water. My brother inlaw stopped by and Gave him one of his batteries. That was an interesting exchange in those waves. got him going though. Then a small cat was gettin a tow. We all kinda banded together and made sure every one made it back in. I think it was a Fountain pulling the red Saber. we were in front of them, And I tell ya Fountains don't make good Tug Boats. We saw every inch of the bottom of that boat coming over the waves. All I could think about was the water coming in over the motor hatch. The driver was apparently thinking the same thing as he just had to turn the Saber loose. my uncle has a 330 SS dual prop right there. He was one of the marshal boats and picked up the line the rest of the way. Freeryd- Bill and the other marshall boats did a GREAT JOB that Last stretch.
At one point we were going 35-45 skipping waves then we rounded 9 mile point and they turned into 8' rollers. WHERE WAS the CAMERA PLANE THEN!! The bottom dropped out a couple times before we resumed Cruiser mode. Some where out there i lost control of the port drive trim. Back in Round Lake we pulled the switch panel to find a wire spade connector came off the switch - easy

We Made every Card Stop. But we were the last boat in. We had A great time.
JB4Boyne, Bill, Wrink Thanks for the great time & Great Job

Shawn-
Glad you enjoyed it man...besides the stains i think i left on my seat when my boat went vertical enough to have things literally TUMBLE out of my cup holders, it was a great time! The Baja took a hard beating that day! Took water over the bow twice in some of those that rolled to the true 10' mark, but that's about it.
The way you, me, kevin, Bob, and those other 4 or so boats banded together for that last 4-5 mile push is why i love boatin...it's a brotherhood! No man left behind!
Everyone did a great job and i'm super happy with all of the rescue and marshal boats! Especially those at the end, it takes heart to stick it out in waves like that and ride it out with your buddy's and not tuck tail to shore.
Hope everyone else had as good a time as i did, and i can't wait for the pics and videos to start popping up!

GREAT job JB gettin things organized! You'll be impossible to replace for that position! ;)

More later, but i'm still tired from partyin with JB, Shawn, Bob and the rest of the BC crew!