Poker Run, July 17, 2010, Traverse City, MI

[357Matt]

Thank you Doc (Tracy) for the phone call and tip the other day. Will give you a buzz for sure later this week and hope you can make it to this one as well. Sounds like quite a few of the Boyne people are going to hang out for ours the following Saturday...the boat will already be up here, might as well take the full tour! Our route extends from Traverse City (south end of West Bay) to Northport as the furthest point north.
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We ARE having a poker run in Traverse City, MI, Saturday, July 17th, 2010 called "TC Bay Blast"

http://www.tcbayblast.com

This will be the weekend after Boyne Thunder. Its the "first annual" for us so its been fun getting it off the ground but it will very much be worth it - our original mission was to do an affordable poker run done right - and we are there. $350/hand includes entry, shirts and dinner for two, $50/each additional rider that will be attending the reception, also includes shirt. Sign up sheets are not quite ready but will be soon so watch the website and/or be sure to fill out the "contact us" form - it forwards to my email and I will add you to the list. We are going to have to cut this one off at 50 hands due to the size of our reception area - promises to be one cool reception...will be held at the "Top of the Park" at the top of the Park Place Hotel overlooking downtown and West Bay...and the food is always very good as an added bonus! - see "announcements" page on website for menu items. A link to the Park Place Hotel is on our website, there are some cool pictures on their site showing the view over the Bay. We all look forward to sharing and showing you our waters up here. See the "schedule" page for the activities for Saturday the 17th. We are a fun group of local/boaters putting this thing on - come up, cut loose, have a ton of fun and join us!

[.38Special]

Sounds like a good time Matt. I know we are planning on doing Boyne and your run the next weekend. Does the $350 include a slip for the weekend? Keep us updated!

[Wrinkleface]

Thank you Doc (Tracy) for the phone call and tip the other day. Will give you a buzz for sure later this week and hope you can make it to this one as well. Sounds like quite a few of the Boyne people are going to hang out for ours the following Saturday...the boat will already be up here, might as well take the full tour! Our route extends from Traverse City (south end of West Bay) to Northport as the furthest point north.
*******************************
We ARE having a poker run in Traverse City, MI, Saturday, July 17th, 2010 called "TC Bay Blast"

http://www.tcbayblast.com

This will be the weekend after Boyne Thunder. Its the "first annual" for us so its been fun getting it off the ground but it will very much be worth it - our original mission was to do an affordable poker run done right - and we are there. $350/hand includes entry, shirts and dinner for two, $50/each additional rider that will be attending the reception, also includes shirt. Sign up sheets are not quite ready but will be soon so watch the website and/or be sure to fill out the "contact us" form - it forwards to my email and I will add you to the list. We are going to have to cut this one off at 50 hands due to the size of our reception area - promises to be one cool reception...will be held at the "Top of the Park" at the top of the Park Place Hotel overlooking downtown and West Bay...and the food is always very good as an added bonus! - see "announcements" page on website for menu items. A link to the Park Place Hotel is on our website, there are some cool pictures on their site showing the view over the Bay. We all look forward to sharing and showing you our waters up here. See the "schedule" page for the activities for Saturday the 17th. We are a fun group of local/boaters putting this thing on - come up, cut loose, have a ton of fun and join us!

No prob Matt! good luck w/ your new start up PR!!!! Tracy

[357Matt]

Thats great news! looking forward to seeing you up here, its going to be a great event!

Slip is not included in the entry fee. We would have had to pay for all of the slips up front and nobody wanted to gamble and be on the hook for that - or front the cash that would be "non-refundable". Each person will be responsible for the cost of their own slip - that being said - getting slips in Traverse City is always tough because of supply/demand. We were however able to get a "block" of slips held for us at Clinch Marina and we will do everything we can to get everyone in there, even if it means rafting/stacking in the larger slips - pretty common for us up here and its what we have to do every year especially at Cherry Festival to get everyone in. When you get to Elmwood to launch, we will have someone there to greet/assist/direct you and can even give you a ride from Clinch back to Elmwood for your vehicle. Once you get to Clinch, we will have our own "Dockmaster" (Mark), who will greet you, help you dock/tie-up and get you hooked up with the Harbor Master to check in to your slip for Friday and Saturday night. This may sound like a lot but its really very easy and has taken a ton of work to get it set up. We originally thought we were going to be able to have it at Centerpointe Marina (private) but they sold nearly all of their slips as "seasonals" this year - they still have "overflow" for us and we can get about a dozen boats in there if needed (located right next to the launch and just a few minutes, literally from Clinch). At Clinch I pay for 38 feet on my boat and, if I remember right, its about $46 per night - full hook up(cable, water, power), newer floating docks, pump out & ice at gas dock, very nice/newer boater lounge/bath house with private showers/laundry/etc.

We had many lenghty discussions about including the slip in our entry fee and here's more of our thinking - didn't want everyone paying for two nights if they only wanted one, some people will want to pull their boats at the end of the day Saturday or even put them in early on Saturday instead of having them in Friday night - rare but happens, also, the cost of the slip is set by length of boat so trying to make it fair for the guy with a 28' and the others with a 38' complicated it more. And...quite a few people were able to make reservations for that weekend at Clinch (six months in advance to the minute! - crazy!) to help us gain more slips seperate from our block (including myself), of which had to be paid at the time of reservation......So, that was the justification anyway, we ultimately wanted it fair for all. Other than covering our actual costs, the rest of the entry goes to the purse. Instead of having one huge first prize hand and paying 2nd and 3rd, we are thinking we are going to pay the first five places (TBD) so we can spread it around and give more chances for cash back. We also are gathering additional prizes to be given away for additional "places"...so if you have the 6th best hand, you may win a round of golf on the Bear at the Grand Traverse Resort...something like that(TBD)...We also are considering doing an 8th card wild card - this will be completely seperate from the base 7 card hand - cost would be $100, winner take all! We looked at the numbers and think this would be cool! If we only get 20 to "buy-in", that's $2000!!! Sort of like doing a "side-bet" off from your base hand and at a $100, I'm in!

[Blue Oval]

Might be fun to be in one, and not working it!

[.38Special]

Matt,
There are no slips left for that weekend at Clinch. Tried online and just called the DNR harbor reservation office and she said that the entire marina is full for the weekend. I asked about a block of slips for the poker run and she said that there was no hold put on a block of slips for that weekend. Any ideas?

[Boatfreak]

I'm ready to commit to this run but I'm sure going to need a slip for a few nights.

[357Matt]

Matt,
There are no slips left for that weekend at Clinch. Tried online and just called the DNR harbor reservation office and she said that the entire marina is full for the weekend. I asked about a block of slips for the poker run and she said that there was no hold put on a block of slips for that weekend. Any ideas?

We're all set with the local Harbormaster. We are meeting with him again next week and have had the block of slips held for us since mid-January. They still have some local juristiction and only have a certain percentage of slips that they have to let the DNR reserve on their behalf.

We actually got very lucky - Tiara Boats has a show at Clinch Marina as an annual five day event starting on Sunday the 18th of July so we were able to have all of the same slips that they have reserved - blocked out for us on Friday and Saturday nights prior to their show (July 16th & 17th). We were very fortunate to get this! Our planning as an "annual event", works great with the timing of the annual Tiara Show.

What will happen is - as you guys sign up, we will be meeting with the Harbormaster at Clinch regularly - we literally will put you in slips in the order that we recieve your package - and reserve your name/boat into a slip then send a confirmation back to you with what slip number you will be in. We have spent a great deal of time trying to get this part figured out and the Habormaster has been GREAT to work with and he is excited for our event. You won't have to pay for your slip until you arrive the day before the event - very cool thing for him to do for us! They are not set up to take payment for the slips until the marina opens for the year anyway.

Hope that helps...anyone that has any questions, feel free to call me on my cell at (231)218-9120

[.38Special]

Sounds good Matt. Count me in.

[357Matt]

Be sure to send me an email if you would like to be on our contact list for updates/etc. Had a few people that filled out the Contact Form off from our website that didn't fill in their email address. You can also send me an email direct at "mattsoper@charter.net". As soon as the sign-up sheets are ready, I'll be emailing them direct to everyone on the list...will also post on the website to be downloaded.

I get several calls/emails every week and I appreciate all of everyone's input and am more than happy to answer any of your questions...if nothing else, chatting about boating sure makes the winter go faster!

[Wrinkleface]

Hey Matt, U gunna come up & do Boyne Thunder???

[speedwraps]

matt, if you need any help with your products ie.. t-shirts, cups, hats or any other give aways
as well as trophys, boat numbers, banners, signs. my company handled all promotions & wearables for smoke on the water for 5 years. check with boatme for referance & contact
my name is mark, 989-723-4621

[ILMORdude]

Sounding like a good weekend trip!! Traverse City is one of the nicest cities in Mich IMO.

[Wrinkleface]

Sounding like a good weekend trip!! Traverse City is one of the nicest cities in Mich IMO.

the Ilmor boyz gunna B at BT as usual???

[357Matt]

Hey Matt, U gunna come up & do Boyne Thunder???

I'm not sure yet but would really like to - I'm thinking I may have my hands/schedule full getting the Traverse City run off the ground for the first year out of the box...Blue Angels will be here this year for Cherry Festival so it will be a crazy week!

[ILMORdude]

the Ilmor boyz gunna B at BT as usual???

Im thinkin yeah!!! And hopefully TC!!

[TCEd]

I'm not sure yet but would really like to - I'm thinking I may have my hands/schedule full getting the Traverse City run off the ground for the first year out of the box...Blue Angels will be here this year for Cherry Festival so it will be a crazy week!

PM sent

[Wrinkleface]

Im thinkin yeah!!! And hopefully TC!!

cool!!!

[drpete3]

Sweet! Looks like I may have to attend 2 runs this year

[Wrinkleface]

Sweet! Looks like I may have to attend 2 runs this year

w/ your new boat?????