Boyne Thunder feedback!!!!
 

Hope everbody had a great X!!!!! Weather was great, awesome bunch of hardware! Anyway, did U Like the new course????? I have got some feedback that lunch was slow 4 alot of people!! new lunch stop & Charlevoix was packed from us & an art fair go'n on!! fire away!! Thanx

It was a little rough for lunch but you're dealing with a lot more people now. I also think the run is too long. I just think anything over 100 miles is just burning gas and it's hard on equipment. It is a great run that is VERY well run. Well other than that one punk with the new Nortech.:evilb:

Great party for the Marshall Boats!!!! Missed the Poker dinner, but we made up for it!!!

I think its a great idea that you're asking for feedback! Other poker run organizers, take note! Nice work!:ernaehrung004::ernaehrung004:

Had a great time! No real big complaints. A few minor things, I agree it could be a touch shorter, liked the route though. The parade lap was a bit out of whack, I think a lot of guys didn't get what was going on. Just a thought, if there are going to be this many boats every year the pack ought to be broken up into 3 groups and the start staggered a bit more. When we left the channel at Charlevoix the second group had already caught the first group and pretty much the whole pack tried to get up on plane at the same time, the back of the pack caught a lot of nasty wake action. Lunch was a bit slow but that is a lot of people to get through the local pubs at lunch rush on a busy weekend, hardly unexpected. You guys did a great job, nothing is ever as planned, and this was the best run I have been involved in to date.

agreed on the parade lap, normally in the past we have done 2 groups, thought we would try sump'n dif & add 2 that 20 + more boats than our highest count from the past & it did not go as expected!! Glad ya made it up Bud!!!

I had a great time, and the parade lap actually helped us bc we had a late launch (deckhand under the weather after a LONG night... Haha) so we got underway as everyone was curving back around. I enjoyed the long run. The marina bar could have stayed open a little later, but oh well, we didn't need anymore anyway :D
Great looking boat by the way

All good had a great time above commits have merit dinner was the best. Need to revisit stereo wars

We also had a great time. If I could pick one thing to complain about it would be the start. Part of the reason we come to this event is to see the "big dogs" and in years past being in the slow group allowed us to get a few miles in front of them and then watch them race by. This year they all blew past us on lake charlevoix and hit the big lake before anybody. So we never got to see them run at all. So apparently the 3 person speech about going 55mph on lake charlevoix did not pertain to them. If I had a boat like that I would be wound up and ready to race as well, but at least the staggered start helps us little boats. Lunch was also interesting, everywhere we went had a 45 minute wait or more, which we did not have time for. But overall we still had a ton of fun and the locals really do embrace the event.

We will have improvements next year. Your comments are welcome as no event is perfect but we learn and improve next time around. Thank you everyone.

Lunch was great! I was the first one to the stop. No lines!

You guys shoulda left the boats in Boyne city and went by car like me....

Maybe my boat will be fixed for next year.

Still had a decent time despite the circumstances.

Had a great time. As stated the start was a little confusing, but all in all couldn't ask for a better weekend.

I still want to know what type of guy hi-jacks someone else's flip flops.

Just sayin' thanks!
 

To all the volunteers and working staff on the event, our team just wanted to say thanks! I def think the god size wave pool we made on our warm up lap was a little clusterf***** but wheres the fun if it doesnt get a little squirrelly, right?! Some of those diehard fans in Lk. Char had some balls! LOL

Again thank you all for making it the biggest turn out yet and setting it off without a hitch! Well done!

I need a nap!!!Next year can you get my boss to give me monday off!!!

Kathy and I had a wonderfull time! As for feedback, Thats some major connections to schedule the free boatwash after the run while everybody was back at the hotels changing. We stayed at Boyne Mtn, and I noticed a lot of others did too. So my only real suggestion is to set up a late running regular shuttle. Im overly sensitive to driving even after a couple cocktails, so a shuttle would probably be a little better. Im slowly getting piks up here, http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...nder-12-a.html so if anyone wants higher resolution or untweaked piks pm me. Thanks again to Bob, Tracy, Pete and everyone else for the hard work and hospitality!! Its no easy feat for these guys as this is I believe only their second year dong this and to do it on such a grand scale is really quite impressive! and Thanks again to Ryan Stafford and his wife for a great day on the water.

There seems to be a flip-flop theft ring in Boyne City, because we also lost a pair. We need to start checking Craigslist and get to the bottom of this.

What color are they Scott, I will keep a eye open for them!

We enjoyed it, thoroughly..
.. skip the Charlevoix lunch, go to Bay Harbor for lunch like in the past.

What is everyones opinion about more boats next year?

My first visit to Boyne, and wow! What an incredibly beautiful and clean place. This run was by far the best I've ever done. Top notch and classy. The parade was neat. The lunch stop at Charlevoix was long as the restaurants seemed to be overwhelmed with the number of people in town. The lunch tickets was an excellent idea. We seemed to miss the communication about turning in our hand at one more stop, but that wasn't a big deal as we were able to turn them in at the reception. The catered food was incredible and I'm not a big foodie person. The scheduling of the reception was excellent as it allowed us to get back to the condo, clean up and get back to the reception in plenty of time. My only critique comment would be to not over emphasize the larger boats so much. I get that folks are impressed by all that power and hardware, but it's not just the larger boats that make this event such a success. So perhaps photo coverage posted could be more evenly distributed by the official photographer. To that end, I must say I was extremely impressed by this event. Kudos to all those who have made it such a successful one.

We REALLY had a blast. This was the first Poker Run I've attended outside of Key West that the ENTIRE town was excited to have us there.

Same comments on Lunch. The restaurants had no idea what they were in for. The food was good, but the service/wait was terrible.

The catered food was RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME!!!!

As an out of towner/first timer, we were a little unfamiliar with stops; but it wasn't that big of a deal. A little more guidance would have been great. We were not aware that the "last stop" was different than the marina where we started at. Definitely not upset about it, as we put it on the trailer early an avoided the storm; all so we could get on the road the next morning--just a little more guidance would have been great as the places/names/maps are all Greek for first timers.

I liked the length of the run, but part of the fun of a long run is running in a group. Everyone was so spaced out; that many folks ended up running solo following wakes.

And last, if we are going to use the far dock across the way for overflow boats; a couple of golf carts running back and forth would have been great. It was quite a trek over and back when carrying gear/tools/coolers etc.

One of my favorite poker runs ever!

Had a great time as well. Deffinitely agree lunch was a mess and would have liked to see some of the bigger boats run but oh well, still had fun! shuttle woulda been nice too for those of us that were stuck in a different zip code... just sayin.. lol

Let's not forget Jay Nichols he is the best with the lens. if I was on the Boyne Thunder committee I would have his plane ticket booked for 2013 already. Jay your the Man !!!!!!!!!!

This you?

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...%202012/23.jpg

Just want to thank all the Marshall Boats that helped me by showing up!! I said the party was great , but just want those guys to know how much they mean to the run. Could not pull it off without all of the support on the water!!! One of these year I hope to get to talk to more of the people, but I had a great time!

Had a blast! My first time running a poker run and I thought everything was very well organized, the people helping docking and at the launch ramp was an excellent touch, my wife didnt have to chase a 3 year old and docklines at the same time. The volunteers and folks who put this on A+
The food and drinks superb.

Everybody we met and talked to really made this event spectacular and an awesome thing to be apart of.

Like acouple others said......what happened to the 55 thing?

The lunch in char was a little mixed up but when I heard from a few others about the waits, and seen a few others pull out, I took off and used that to get a jump on the group........which was awesome because I then got the chance to see alot of the boats pass by in smaller groups, compared to the half that passed on charlevoix and packed in and around. It just made the first leg pretty rough with all the cross wakes all the way.

Dont take anything negative too bad, once again its my first time, my boat NEEDS hydro steering, and its slow, so I gotta complain about something:lolhit:

For me, the second leg was awesome, Not so many cross wakes, a couple nice rollers in the mix and getting to watch the other boats coming and going between the stops.

Either way cant wait for next year

Awesome Poker Run! Looking forward to next year.

Good people, sweet hardware, clear water, the list goes on!

I have no problem with more boats, just spread them out in 3 groups with a staggerd start.

The length of the coarse was fun. I do miss beaver island though. If you had to shorten it you could put the card stop boat at the tip of Old Mission.

Charlevoix lunch tasted great and our service was good. Yeah the wait could have been shorter but I was not surprised.

Even though most the participants were confused on the parade lap it was much safer and better then the old way.

Stereo wars needs a 3 person judge panel that is blindfolded and rates each boat by clarity/sound/etc from standing at the dock behind the boat. (inside the boat would be better but they might fall being blind folded!)

Food was great

Dock hands were great

Town support was AWESOME

Jays pics are the best!

Overall the event was one to remember. Obviously nothing is perfect in life but if everything turns out as great as Boyne Thunder life would be nice! Thanks!

Hope all had a great time, the wife and myself were planing on showing up with the kids on Friday to see all the bling!!! but unfortunately her grandfather passed away and we had a change of plans. (Pete) give me a call I heard about the bad news, and I might have a solution.

Yea, thats me.

X 2 & a big Thanx 2 Shaun & Angie 4 help'n the Iceman out!!!

Talk to you soon

x1000

Your checkmate is probably one of my favorites I saw outta all the boats their, clean,classic, cool, sounded great and shocked the hell outta me when ya shot by about 8 miles outta char.

Thanks!! Must be on the way to northport your talking about cuz I took it kinda easy after that lol...Weren't u on the dock next to me?

yeah i was next to you at the docks. I wish I would have had a camera with, both you and the 28 saber were impressive to watch running next to.

Thanks! You too. We had a minor breakdown early but made most of the course. Was a lot of fun, just got enough chop to get a few nice airs

Had a great time! Rode with the fish in the power play, the run seemed to be just the right distance for us. First leg seemed to go by quick for us, lunch was packed but had a lot of time to eat, so it worked out well. Had a great time and would sure do again, thanks for all the hard work involved to run this event.

See Ya's next year!

I forgot to mention a plug for the widest V hull on the course... at lunch some were needing gas to finish the the second half of the run, and the the big girl's fuel gauges were just under full!
Nice hull Reggie!
Carder