Boyne Thunder Poker Run Day 2—Time To Wake The Sleeping Bear

At 140 miles roundtrip, the trek from Boyne City, Mich., to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and back is just 10 miles shorter than the Boyne Thunder Poker Run itself, which begins today at 10:15 a.m. But with nothing official on the schedule, blue skies overhead and Lake Michigan doing its best impression of Walden Pond, a herd of outboard-powered catamarans, plus a couple Axopar V-bottoms, a couple of center consoles and a sport cruiser made the trip and rafted off the spectacular dunes.

Adam Seraphine and Mike Barnes ran an MTI 390XR to one of the Lake Michigan shoreline’s most spectacular natural features. Photos by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos

“We come here to go boating,” said one of the participants. “So when we have the opportunity, we don’t wait for permission. We go boating.”

In the process, the group put on an impromptu boat show for the ant-like hikers crawling up and careening down the 450-plus vertical of the park’s tallest dune. Just two members of the cat-pack—Devin Wozencraft and Mike Barnes—made the climb and safely descended. They returned to the applause of more than two dozen folks who preferred to relax on the boats and cool off when necessary in the cool, clear water.

Skittles on the water.

Photographer Jeff Helmkamp caught a ride with Wozencraft on his 34-foot Victory and captured the experience. Other catamarans in the mix included a pair of DCB Performance Marine M37R Widebody models, two canopied MTI 390XRs and one 390X, two Outerlimits Offshore Powerboat SC 37s, a pair of Statement Marine 360s and a Wright Performance 360.

The fleet boasted most of the top high-performance catamaran brands on the market—at one of Lake Michigan’s most beautiful settings.

By late afternoon, most of the boats were back in their assigned slips in Boyne City. Starting at 6 p.m., the street party was a couple of hours away. By the time the catamaran owners and their guests buttoned up the boats, the evening fun had started.

Some strolled Main Street. Some went to find food. Some called it a day and kicked backed at their rental digs or hotel rooms for the weekend.

But all returned with memories of running down Lake Michigan’s western shore and spending the day just a short swim from one of the state’s most compelling natural wonders.