2021 Crooked River Run

Accounts of trips taken in Boston Whaler boats; organization of rendezvous for Boston Whaler boats
jimh
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2021 Crooked River Run

Postby jimh » Mon Sep 27, 2021 10:17 am

For many years we have been getting together in late September or early October with other Boston Whaler owners in the northern Michigan area for what often tends to be the last cruise of the boating season, in which we embark on Mullet Lake, travel through the Indian River to Burt Lake, and thence to the Crooked River to the village of Alanson, and then return.

We used to call this the "Fall Color Tour", but because the trees on the water shoreline are often the last to change color, we realized that we'd end up boating in very late October if we wanted to see the peak color. And waiting for peak color often resulted in boating in 40-degree weather. Now, perhaps because we are all 15-years older (and wiser) from when this tradition was started, this rendezvous has been moved up to late September.

The Crooked River has some very interesting stretches which are not no-wake zones, and generally, because the weather is usually not particular encouraging for boating, other boats on the waterway are very few to none. This allows our group--this year only five boats--to have the opportunity to make some high-speed runs in the river.

Aerial motion picture recordings were made by Dave (aka BUCKDA) with his very professional drone and high resolution digital camera. At the end of each movie you see a white MISCHIEF 15, where Don was piloting the boat and Dave was piloting the drone. They conceived the idea of using the drone to record the boat runs. Dave was very skilled in piloting the drone as the boats maneuvered through this twisting course.

I have down-sized the recording so it is more reasonable to see on-line. If you have an Apple browser (SAFARI) this link should play the movie directly in the browser.

First run was by a DAUNTLESS 17 powered by an E-TEC 115-HP G2 three-cylinder engine (which was manufactured on the last day of production of that model) running through a stretch of the Crooked River that ends at Burt Lake. The pilot was yours truly, jimh. It was my first time running this boat, and my first chance to run the new E-TEC three-cylinder engine.

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/movie ... less17.mov

If you use Chrome or on another OS, the link may result in downloading the movie and opening it with a player.

I discovered that the hull of the DAUNTLESS 17 likes to slide a bit in turns, which resulted in me getting a bit closer to the outer shoreline in the first turn seen on this run than I intended to be. Because it was not my boat and I was not familiar with its handling, I kept the speed down to a moderate 25-MPH through the turns. In the final straightaway to the finish I moved up the throttle; you can see the boat accelerate and then outrun the drone, as its gets up to about 35-MPH rather quickly.

Jefecinco
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby Jefecinco » Mon Sep 27, 2021 12:10 pm

That was an excellent video, thanks. The run looked like a lot of fun.
Butch

Hoosier
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby Hoosier » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:28 pm

The Crooked River looks a lot narrower when you’re in it doing 25-MPH for more.
1978 Outrage V20 with 2004 Suzuki DF-115. 1992 23 Walkaround with two 2010 Yamaha F-150s.

ConB
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby ConB » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:39 pm

Very cool.
Sorry we missed the party this year.
Con
!987 Outrage 18 / 2011 Yamaha F150
1969 13 / 30hp Johnson tiller

jimh
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby jimh » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:03 pm

PAU HANA, an OUTRAGE V-20 with a Suzuki DF115, with Dave at the helm and Kathy aboard, was the next boat to make the run; her pace was a bit slower:

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/movie ... utrage.mov

jimh
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby jimh » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:15 pm

FULL BOAT, a non-smirk 16-foot hull with twin Mercury 50-HP (44-cubic-inch) two-stroke engines, with Sam at the helm and Bob acting as lateral trim tabs, then took a run at the course:

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/movie ... Boat16.mov

jimh
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby jimh » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:33 pm

OUTLIER, a PURSUIT 235 Offshore with Yamaha F250, made the final run, but Kevin had to jump in a bit early because other boats were coming down the river. The drone had not flown back to the starting point, so we only see the finish:

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/movie ... lier23.mov

K Albus
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby K Albus » Tue Sep 28, 2021 12:38 pm

Dave - Thanks for shooting the video!
Jim - Thanks for posting the video!
Don - Thanks for hosting this event! It was nice seeing everyone.

jimh
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby jimh » Thu Sep 30, 2021 9:02 am

And special thanks to Elsa, who cooked Friday's dinner, Saturday's breakfast and diner, and Sunday's breakfast. The Saturday night dinner was another amazing meal; I know two people went back to the kitchen for a third helping.

jimh
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby jimh » Sat Oct 09, 2021 10:02 am

Dave B took some still images of the boats underway in the river and marsh:

drone1.jpg
Fig. 1. Unusual overhead view from astern by drone camera. The clouds look like we are heading into the Apocalypse, but we're always optimists about better weather ahead on these Fall cruises.
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crookedRiver.jpg
Fig. 2. Looking astern from the MISCHIEF 15 in the Crooked River on the way back. The sun has momentarily appeared.
crookedRiver.jpg (120.15 KiB) Viewed 8063 times


underway.jpg
Fig. 3. Sam and Bob on the customized 16 and Don on the 17 DAUNTLESS underway in the Indian River marsh.
underway.jpg (94.72 KiB) Viewed 8062 times

jimh
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby jimh » Sat Oct 09, 2021 10:23 am

Here are three images I managed to catch:

pauHana.jpg
Fig. 4. PAU HANA underway with David and Kathy. The hull was detailed and new graphics added for the boat name and home port.
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Mischief.jpg
Fig. 5. Dave B at the helm of MISCHIEF, powered by an E-TEC 60 H.O.
Mischief.jpg (81.24 KiB) Viewed 8056 times


As you can see above, the morning skies were overcast and direct sunlight was rare.

Those very nice graphics on PAU HANA were made by Janis at MAGIC BRUSH.

afterDinnerCleanUpCrew.jpg
Fig. 6. The after dinner clean up crew: Patience, Don, David, and Dave. Some amazing meals have come out of that small kitchen.
afterDinnerCleanUpCrew.jpg (99.55 KiB) Viewed 8053 times

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Phil T
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Re: 2021 Crooked River Run

Postby Phil T » Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:52 pm

Fantastic!

Add me to the list for next year and I'll drive up!
1992 Outrage 17
2019 E-TEC 90
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