July 8, 2017
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| This was the first year that we drove a couple miles from our house to see the beginning of the Boyne Thurnder boat races. We can see them from our house when they travel going northwest on the other side of the lake, but the boats are very small, (even with our binoculars). We parked down at a park along the lake, as the boats got into their 4 groups of categories. In the video below, the first group was just getting started, heading toward Boyne City where they make a tour past the down town city park, then turn northwest to go back the other direction. Most of the crowd was down town at the park. (Video's are best viewed by enlarging them by clicking on the square in the lower right hand corner). |
We drove down the road a bit hoping to catch the boats at more speed.
The people who live on the opposite side of the lake from us have the best views, because the boats are spread out by then and going much faster. The home on the other side of the lake have no road in front of them, so you have to own the property to get those views. The boaters go through Round Lake in the city of Charlevoix, and out to Lake Michigan. From there, they go north to Harbor Springs in Little Traverse Bay. At each stop, they get a poker card. Next they go back toward Charlevoix and south on Lake Michigan to Elk Rapids. From Elk Rapids they head back the town of Charlevoix, into Round Lake and Lake Charlevoix and end in Boyne City. The events ends around late afternoon. Next year we will go down town to see if the views are better. Blogger does not allow long video's so I have to cut them down under 30 seconds to upload them to this blog. When entries for one of the 120 spots are open each year, they are filled in a day. Boaters complain there needs to be more entries. Unfortunately, our town can not accommodate the influx of more people. We don't have enough police, restaurant, hotels, and etc for any more boaters or spectators!