If you’re wondering where this month has gone, you’re not alone. My two-week road-trip to cover the Boyne Thunder Poker Run in Michigan, the HK Powersports Land and Lake Poker Run in New Hampshire and the 1,000 Islands Charity Poker Run ended Monday evening. Now it’s a pleasant blur in the rearview.
All three events were delightful, just as this weekend back in Southwest Florida will be. There’s no place like home, even a hot and humid one.
The Thunder In the City Poker Run is on tap in Maryland next weekend. Photos by Shane Defries.
But next weekend, I head to Chesapeake City, Md., to join John Wittenberger of Deep Impact Custom Boats for the Thunder In The City Poker Run. On Thursday, Wittenberger, a couple of his friends and I will run from New Jersey to host venue in a Deep Impact 399 Sport center console quad Mercury Racing 500R outboard engines.
That should make for a spirited ride. And no one is looking forward to it more than Wittenberger.
“I enjoy the town, the people who run the event and the group that participates” he said. “And it has some of the best food of any poker run I’ve ever done.”
That’s far from the only noteworthy event happening during the July 31-August 1 weekend, of course. The Borden Light Poker Run in Fall River, Mass., will celebrate its 20th anniversary, while across the country in Northern California the Big Cat Poker Run will turn 25—it Silver Anniversary.
How often can you say there is organized go-fast boating on the East and West coasts on the same weekend? Not very.
The owner of Wozencraft Insurance, Devin Wozencraft will be in the Big Cat Poker Run mix. Last year, he ran his 34-foot Victory catamaran in the Thunder In The City affair.
“I loved Thunder In The City, but it’s been so long since I’ve been to the Big Cat that I’m really looking forward to enjoying it again,” he said.
High-performance marine insurance many Devin Wozencraft had to make a hard event-choice this year, and the Big Cat Poker Run got the nod.
Lest go-fast boating fans in the Midwest feel left out at the end of the month, the reimagined LEOPA Thunderfest affair on Lake Erie is set for the same weekend. Speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden will be there to capture it.
And then comes August. Buckle up.