The Lake Cumberland Thunder Run Thunders Back

How bad was the debris in the water this weekend for the Lake Cumberland Thunder Run? That is the burning question about the 17th annual event on the popular Kentucky waterway, right? Amplified by know-it-all social media trolls, forest-floor-filled water has been the event’s hot topic for the past few years.

Lake Cumberland was in fine form for the 17th annual Thunder Run. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

The answer, of course, is case by case. Luck plays a big role in your experience in such circumstances. You cannot avoid what you cannot see, and the most evil debris in any water lies just below the surface.

For DCB Performance Marine M37R catamaran owner Greg Scheller, who destroyed a lower unit and reshaped a propeller on one of his Mercury Racing 500R outboards courtesy of some unseen foreign object, the answer would be bad.

As in really, really bad. And rightfully so.

The scene at yesterday’s Conley Bottom Marina lunch stop.

The Kentuckian’s 37-footer wasn’t the only boat to take a beating from debris this weekend, but of the 75 boats registered for the event it certainly took the biggest hit.

Not nearly as bad but far more entertaining was the case of Tim and Cyndee Hill. In from their summer lakefront digs in Indiana, the Cape Coral, Fla., couple hit something in the water on Friday that knocked off the lower-section cowling from the port outboard engine on their Skater 32B catamaran. The cowling could not be snapped back in place, so Tim Hill—the president of the Fort Myers Offshore group in Southwest Florida—got out his duct tape and started rolling.

And rolling.

As Fort Myers Offshore Tim Hill proved, there are few mechanical problems that cannot be resolved with massive amounts of duct tape. Photo by Matt Trulio.

“It happens,” he said with a shrug and smile. “I’m just glad we have enough tape”

Yet for the most part, the fleet returned unscathed from the multi-stop affair.

Kentucky’s Julie Weiss, who organizes the event with her husband, Dan, and their mutual friend Justin Lucas of Tennessee, put it in perspective.

“There was debris in the water,” she said. “But it’s been a lot worse.”

Ohio’s Aaron Aber and Karissa Pryor were among the Sunsation center console faithful in the mix.

On the other hand, yesterday’s weather could not have been better for a day on the water. Knocking on the door of 100 silly-hot and sillier-humid degrees for most of the week, temperatures never crossed the low-90s and humidity, while present, was mild for Kentucky in late June.

Julie and Dan Weiss had more than excellent weather and less-than-log-clogged water to put them in good spirts this weekend. Partnered with Unlimited Marine owners Gary and Traci seeds and John and Kim Stivers, they are opening the first Nor-Tech Hi-Performance boat dealership in Kentucky. A Mercury/Mercury Racing dealer, Unlimited Marine already services high-performance boats of all kinds that traffic the lake.

The owners of a Nor-Tech 390 Sport Center console, Dan and Julie wife are two of the newest members of the Nor-Tech dealer family.

That the Unlimited Marine Nor-Tech dealership is the second new outpost for a major brand in as many years at the lake speaks volumes about its appeal not just in Kentucky, but across several states. Established by Paul and Tiffany Ison a little more than a year, Cigarette Racing Kentucky and Ison Marine, which carries the GSX/Glasstream center console and Hellkats catamaran lines, were sponsors of this weekend’s Thunder Run affair.

The appeal makes sense, because Lake Cumberland is spectacular. It is surrounded by steep hills of largely untouched forest. Development is strictly regulated, as it tends to be with U.S. Army Corp of Engineers-designed waterways on public land. The sightlines of land and water remain unspoiled. Located well above the shoreline and surrounded by trees, homes at Lake Cumberland go mostly unseen. Tranquility reigns.

Enjoy more images from the 2025 Lake Cumberland Thunder Run.

But not so much at Harmon Creek, yesterday’s last stop. On any given summer Saturday, Harmon Creek hosts the largest raft-up—with the exception of the Muscamoot Bay soiree in Michigan—in the country. A conservative estimate put yesterday’s fleet somewhere between 500 and 750 boats. The fleet itself includes different “communities,” from rows of boats filled with hard-partying 20-somethings to families with kids blasting each other with water-toys to retired adults on yachts and cruisers taking it all in, cocktails in hand.

Engaged in December 2024, Jordan Hart and Nikki Mueller treated friends to the day in their 36-foot Statement Marine catamaran.

The common thread among them? Beating the heat and kicking back on the water. The only difference is how they approach it.

Impending rain and lightning in the late afternoon chased out the Thunder Run boats that made it to Harmon Creek. Plus, there were hands to be played and one more night of celebrating to be done back at the event’s State Dock host venue.

By late this morning, most of the participants in the 2025 Lake Cumberland Thunder Run will be on their way home. A few of the wiser, luckier ones with extra free-time won’t leave until tomorrow. Today they will explore Lake Cumberland minus the Thunder Run energy. The vibe will be different, of course, but just as compelling in its own fine way.

And if they’re smart, they’ll be back next year.