Gallery Of The Week: Hello From Northern Michigan

Arranged as an unofficial fun run for many of the performance boaters who opted to stick with their travel arrangements to Northern Michigan this week for what would have been the 17th annual Boyne Thunder Poker Run, yesterday’s late-morning gathering in front of Boyne City Marina attracted several dozen boats for a fun day on the water that was enhanced with great weather and excellent conditions.

Michigan’s John and Julie Tokar had a blast running Kahuna, their Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats SV 43 V-bottom powered by twin Mercury Racing 1350/1100 engines, on Thursday. Photo by Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix

Between Bob Mathers, a longtime sponsor of the Boyne Thunder Poker Run and the dedicated local behind the Captain Bob’s Boating Club Facebook group, and Michigan residents John and Julie Tokar, who own the well-known Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats SV 43 named Kahuna, the Thursday fun run was tactfully promoted to the boaters who were still coming to town this week despite the event being cancelled a few months back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We kind of kept it on the downlow because we didn’t want it to have any negative effects on the poker run,” said Mathers, who owns Bob Mathers Ford in Boyne City. “We had no idea who was going to show up, we just knew a lot of people still wanted to go boating so we gave them a time and a place to get together.”

Check out the slideshow above for more of Boden’s images from Thursday’s fun run.

The Tokars were joined by their good friends, Burton and Yvette Kirsten, who brought their 46-foot canopied Outerlimits catamaran Jet on the run. Fellow Outerlimits owners, such as Jeremy Tschida, who owns the 46-foot cat Topless, and Justin Bultsma, who owns a 37 Stiletto V-bottom, showed up as well. Several Skater Powerboats catamarans were on hand, too, including Sterling Performance Engines founder Mike D’Anniballe and his wife, Connie Cushing, in their gorgeous 38-footer with twin 1,100-hp Sterling powerplants.

The group left Boyne City Marina a little after 11 a.m., and headed toward the majestic Bay Harbor. Many of the boaters stopped for lunch at places that had room, including Fox & The Rose, Knot Just a Bar and Salvatore’s. Speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden was there to capture the action and he’ll be shooting in and around Lake Charlevoix and Lake Michigan Friday and Saturday as well so be on the lookout for more images from Boden over the weekend.

Gallery Of The Week: Hello From Northern Michigan

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