posted 08-29-2007 01:06 PM ET (US)        

At the Torch Lake Owners Event the consensus was the last weekend in September or the first weekend in October.

So, everyone who is interested chime in and let us know your preference of dates.

posted 08-29-2007 04:47 PM ET (US)            

Don, thanks for the gracious offer to host....

posted 08-29-2007 10:24 PM ET (US)            

I can commit to the first weekend on October. 10/5-6.

Would be great to see the gang again! Remember we talked about bringing up a video camera to film everyone up on plane going around the 180 degree turn in the river? I'll have one available, along with the LCD to show that evening.

For those who've considered it and not been able to make it, do come. It's a great event, location and host.

posted 08-30-2007 10:02 PM ET (US)            

-Chris

posted 09-06-2007 07:26 PM ET (US)            

That's good enough for me, October 5-6th is officially the date. Now, the open question is who is coming? So, far we have

beaglescout
Buckda
Cicada
dfmcintyre
HomeAside
jeffs22outrage ?
Jimh & Christinee
and your truely djahncke.

posted 09-07-2007 01:31 PM ET (US)            

We're here to help!

posted 09-07-2007 03:15 PM ET (US)            

When does it start and end? Looks like a great time of year to do this...

posted 09-07-2007 05:58 PM ET (US)            

That's about right from kzoo. There are several options for lodging; camping and boat launch at Aloha SP in Aloha (add 1/2 hour to your trip) is a good option and almost directly across the lake from Don's if you're so inclined. There is a Days Inn in Cheboygan that has docks out back (on the Black river, about 45 mins by boat or you can trailer. There are also some cottage rentals on the Indian River with boat slips out front. That is the best option in my opinion. They have a ramp nearby.

Don's place is on Silver Beach, just south of Dodge point and the town of Mullet lake. The rally point is usually in front of his cottage. I'm on the road, but will givy you GPS coordinates when I get back home.

posted 09-07-2007 06:01 PM ET (US)            

Sorry to hear you can't make that weekend. But a new Rocky is more important anyway!

posted 09-07-2007 08:13 PM ET (US)            

Last year we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Indian River. When we went out to our car, we had to scrape frost from our windshield. Camping could be cold.

Dave,

A new Rocky is pretty important. Just think next summer we will be a Whaler dog. Check out this webcam, www.freedapups.ww.com. Do you have any suggestions for a name? Last weekend we had a great time exploring around Drummond Island.

posted 09-07-2007 10:57 PM ET (US)            

http://www.stargatemotel.com/

It is an older place but clean and good rates. Great big parking lot makes it easy to move the rig around.

posted 09-08-2007 05:17 PM ET (US)            

I think there a launch near the south end of Mullet, but we launched at the DNR launch on the NW corner of Mullet.
Go to the FishWeb website, the launch ramps are marked on the map.

posted 09-09-2007 10:27 PM ET (US)            

Anyhow,
There is a great DNR ramp I used to launch my 22 Outrage from last year. It is on Mullett Lake road just south of M-27. It is just on the south side of http://www.mullettlakemarina.com/ . Aloha State Park has a good ramp as well.

posted 09-09-2007 10:43 PM ET (US)            

I am not surprised that you couldn't find the cottage from the road as it is not visible from the road. We have a long and winding driveway and you don't see the cottage itself until you are half way down the driveway.

posted 09-10-2007 04:36 PM ET (US)            

If that were the case I'd likely stay in a hotel. Aloha adds 30 minutesd to the trip for me.

Plan on lunch in your boat or at a restaurant. We generally have a big dinner or get together on Sat. Sometimes its been at a restaurant othertimes Don has hosted us.

Its a good time and well worth it.

posted 09-11-2007 03:23 PM ET (US)            

We've also stayed at "The Landings" (231-238-9955). Advantage to the Landings is that they have a launch ramp on premises, and you can tie up your boat right infront of your cabin. Downside is that they are a "ways" out of town, and you have to bring your own sheets (maybe blankets too.... don't remember).

I've launched at the Landings, and also from a marina in town, on the west side of the river. Never launched from Burt Lake State Park.

Below is a link to a photobucket site for a map of the area, with Brentwood and Landings marked.

http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a118/dfmcintyre/boats/?action=view& current=IndianRiver.jpg

posted 09-11-2007 03:49 PM ET (US)            

Don - Do you remember how much it is to stay at the Landings?

posted 09-11-2007 09:26 PM ET (US)            

Nope, sorry too many evolutions ago.

posted 09-11-2007 09:40 PM ET (US)            

No worries - I found it online: http://www.thelandingsonindianriver.com/

Looks like $72/day given the 10% discount for late season for the least expensive (smallest) cottage. Dockage is extra, but probably negotiable since you'd need no power.

posted 09-14-2007 05:04 PM ET (US)            

If you're going on this trip, come see the guy with the driveway on the left at the dead end of your road.

I've got the most recent edition of the Inland Route from Mapping Unlimited. If your interested, you're certainly welcome to borrow it. It's not quite a NOAA chart, but full of good information.

Small world, eh?

posted 09-24-2007 06:16 PM ET (US)            

What's the agenda? Will there be any get together Friday night? What time on Saturday and where?

Yesterday was beautifull on Gull Lake in Battle Creek. Got a couple of hours sleep on the hook... Mid 80's..

posted 09-25-2007 11:51 AM ET (US)            

I will be there for the morning meet-up on Saturday, whatever time that is. For now, I don't plan on arriving in the area until very late Friday night or early Saturday morning, based on my schedule.

posted 09-25-2007 12:15 PM ET (US)            

Again, it looks like I will be Solo, I was informed last night by my "At that Age" Boys that it is Home Coming Weekend.....

posted 09-25-2007 12:42 PM ET (US)            

Can I crew on Home Aside? I'll run the camera and get good shots of the action. I'm going to be boatless as I will be departing from Milwaukee on Friday afternoon and driving the shorter route - up and over the top of Lake Michigan.

posted 09-25-2007 01:41 PM ET (US)            

Take a look at the high-speed ferry out of Milwaukee, The Lake Express;
and the vintage ferry, The Badger, out of Manitowoc, I believe.

posted 09-25-2007 04:32 PM ET (US)            

No, I will just have to face those deer and logging trucks on US 2 across the UP on Friday night.

posted 09-25-2007 06:00 PM ET (US)            

Please accept my apologies for not pulling details together sooner. I have been tied up with urgent family matters for the past few weeks and truly didn’t have time to spend on anything else.

Anyway, I propose that we meet on Saturday at my dock around 9:00am. From there we can proceed on our traditional route down Mullett Lake, through the Indian River, across Burt Lake to the Crooked River. At the Crooked River we send a “camera” boat ahead to setup and film our high speed run around the hairpin turn in the river. On the return trip we do the same to catch the action from a different angle. For lunch we can stop at the public docks in Alanson and walk into town to find a restaurant. Dinner will be back at my cottage. I will leave Sunday’s cruising for the group to decide, as I’m sure we will have a wide variety of departure requirements to deal with.

For those that get in early enough on Friday perhaps we can have dinner at the Boat House restaurant in Cheboygan. It has good food reasonable prices and a fun atmosphere as it is literally built in an old boathouse on the river.

posted 09-25-2007 09:17 PM ET (US)            

Dave and Jeff - Sometimes those other things mess with our priorities, don't they?

The Inland Waterway is a nice little cruise in the fall. I'll have to load the charts on the GPS.

posted 10-01-2007 06:23 PM ET (US)            

Only four more days of work ...

posted 10-01-2007 07:38 PM ET (US)            

Check your email...

posted 10-02-2007 11:49 AM ET (US)            

I didn't mean to sound so bitter about the situation, the good thing in all this is no one in my family was with me at the time and no one was hurt.....

posted 10-03-2007 10:26 AM ET (US)            

AtoZ
beaglescout
Buckda
Cicada
dfmcintyre
HomeAside
Jimh
djahncke

The floatila will assemble in front of my cottage (N 45* 32.816' W 084* 31.831') at 0900 hours. For those that might be joining the flotila in route we will be using channel 68 for communications.

Dinner is at my cottage Saturday night.

Weather report for Saturday is partly sunny and in the mid seventies. Buckda reported that the colors are nearing peak so it looks alike it will be another great weekend of fall boating in Michigan.

posted 10-04-2007 02:28 PM ET (US)            

What's the cottage address for Sat night?

posted 10-04-2007 03:04 PM ET (US)            

The address is 5944 Silver Beach Road. Are you and Gail going to make it to the Boat House for dinner on Friday night?

posted 10-07-2007 08:53 AM ET (US)            

Great time and again - wonderful host.

Thanks again. Will post a recap soon when I'm home.

posted 10-07-2007 10:30 PM ET (US)            

For some shots:

http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a118/dfmcintyre/Indian%20River%2007/

posted 10-08-2007 12:29 AM ET (US)            

We had an easy 275-mile drive home. Thanks to a couple hours of lead foot driving by Chris we got in about 9:30 p.m. We both have to go to work tomorrow. I will post some pictures when I get a chance.

posted 10-08-2007 08:13 PM ET (US)            

Saturday was a little dreary in terms of low clouds and limited visibility (with patches of clearing in the afternoon)...but Sunday was absolutely beautiful with flat calm conditions and warm sunshine.

The E-TEC's were hungry as they almost ate another Verado visor...JimH was able to retrieve it from the depths of the Black River before it went down for good.

As we approached Cheboygan, it got quite a bit cooler and after pulling the boats, the fog rolled in. My truck thermometer showed 62 degrees in Cheboygan and 75 degrees about 5 miles south at Don's cottage, in the shade.

Thanks again to Don and Elsa for hosting this wonderful event again.

Next year, we need to spend some more time exploring Burt Lake (translation - earlier departure from Mullet Lake).

Thanks go all - and I'll try to post some of my photos soon.

posted 10-08-2007 08:18 PM ET (US)            

We really enjoyed seeing everybody and just regret that we needed to deal with the blown bearing and missed some beautiful boating. I made up a little adaptation of Jim's suggestion to fashion one from duct tape and added the bottom of a Starbuck's cup.
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/mottpm/Mullet%20Lake%2007/

In our attempt to get home prior to dark we ran into this van at the launch ramp.
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/mottpm/Mullet%20Lake%2007/ ?action=view¤t=Whatswronghere.jpg
We had a bit of a wait while the van got towed out. Then the usual madness at the public launches from the lines that built up during the wait.

The ride was uneventful except for the gentleman that had his truck sitting on top of his tent camper on an exit ramp and a little oversight to bungee the motor support bracket. It has an interesting profile now.

We did manage to get the boat back to the house before dark with about a minute to spare.

Some photos of the trip:
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y108/mottpm/Mullet%20Lake%2007/

All in all it was a beautiful week end. I learned I haven't used my boat enough this year.

posted 10-08-2007 10:47 PM ET (US)            

Thank goodness for 4-WD, otherwise, that might have been you when you launched Cicada!

Michigan needs to put a longer dock at that access site!

posted 10-08-2007 11:11 PM ET (US)            

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v368/HomeAside/ GLBWCC%20Mullet%20Lake%20Fall%202007/

posted 10-09-2007 01:43 AM ET (US)            

We tacked on about 20 miles more on Sunday for a total of about 77-miles. It was a very nice weekend of boating. I did not realize how far away Alanson is by water from Silver Beach.

I burned about 42-gallons of fuel. That is an average MPG of 1.83. Not bad for my boat.

When the warm and relatively humid air from the land reached the lake on that gentle south breeze, it hit the much cooler water and formed fog. That's the meteorology behind that eerie mist on Sunday in Cheboygan.

posted 10-10-2007 06:37 PM ET (US)            

Cheers!

posted 10-14-2007 08:35 PM ET (US)            

I checked my gps for that day.... 47.3 miles, and refueled yesterday, 14.9 for 3.17mpg. Which is about what I usually see.

posted 10-16-2007 06:29 PM ET (US)            

It was the third year of a great weekend. Perfect weather (for Michigan, which can change in minutes, especially in the fall, up north), great food and fun renewing old friendships, and meeting new people (Dave...We hope Kelly will return next year!).

And to think all of this, and other meets and greets around the nation have been the result of one guy who fell in love with Whalers and started a website.....

Way cool.

PS - While Continuouswave is pretty damn unique, from what I've personally experienced and seen on other sites, the meeting / rendezvous aspect is more common then many might realize. About 12 years ago, over on www.avsig.com (an aviation related website), a weekend meet was setup between two pilots from Baton Rouge, LA and Grand Rapids, MI. One had never piloted a ski-equipped plane. They went up to Cadillac, Michigan and flew for the weekend, a SuperCub on ski's.

_That_ little outing started an annual meet, now twice a year in Cadillac with friends meeting other times (mostly in Michigan, but elsewhere too)

And just about everyone with a spouse has had some sort of the following conversation, sometimes while enroute to their first get together:

"Ah, who are we meeting there?" she says while reading a book.

"Um... Walt, Jim and his wife, Nigel and his wife, Doug and Elaine, John and Karen...."

"Have I met them before?", putting book down.

"Ahhhhhh, no", thinking the air conditioning needs to get dialed down a notch.

"Where do you know them from?", a/c down alot.

"The internet........."

I now have her full attention, she's done the dreaded 90 degree left swivel, my right ear is starting to smolder from the stare. Eyes on the road, don't show fear.

"DonaldMac (used rarely) there are crazy people out on the internet.

"Yea, well their probably thinking the same"....

They were!

Don

posted 10-17-2007 11:06 PM ET (US)            

quote:

---

"The internet........."

---

Don, I've had the very same conversation. Now, after 5 or so NorCal Rendezvous, Nancy regards my local ContinuousWave friends as her friends too. That said, when we go to a Rendezvous, we find it easier to just explain to folks that we are going to do some boating with our Boston Whaler Club. Somehow that seems to sit better with folks outside the circle than "We are going to spend a weekend running around in matching boats with a bunch of people we've never actually met".

Funny thing, this Whaler obsession and the internet...

posted 10-18-2007 05:39 PM ET (US)            

...regards my local ContinuousWave friends as her friends too...

Same here. Gail's gotten to know a number of spouses from both forums that I frequent. And, like I previously mentioned, we get together beyond just the few "organized" events throughout the year with friends from both forums.

posted 10-18-2007 09:26 PM ET (US)            

Worse is, they still have a problem with the fact that the skinny guy they met in the NC is the chubby detective in the movie I made them watch ;-)