Hello all you happy M folks. First let me take this opportunity to apologize profusely for the lack of web updates. I have been a bit off the grid Marinette wise, but have not lacked for an active winter. With your assistance, I look forward to ramping up in anticipation of the upcoming boating season. AND, by your help, I mean submissions to share with our club members.

Betsy and I have had an exciting off-season thus far. We got to spend some of our winter break from university traveling west to see two of our sons and then a major jump to 2 weeks in Australia. What an exciting and wonderful experience. We traveled with a colleague of Betsy’s who had previously lived in Sydney for 20 years (and that was 25 years ago!). The trip consisted of reuniting with old and new friends and some great sight sightseeing. Over the course of 13 days, Betsy and I were fortunate enough to hike/walk a total of 115 miles.

A highlight of the trip for me was a sail on Sydney harbor on a new friends 44 Formosa ketch. The only words to describe the port of Sydney is WOW! I have never seen a mix of traffic like that in all my boating days. Cruise ships, fishing boats, ferries, day-sailors, kayaks, every type of craft you can imagine, all vying for the same piece of nautical real estate. My time at the helm was magical but not relaxing. Below is a quick picture of the action (Sydney Harbor Bridge).

Marinette Rendezvous Recap

Everyone had a great time at the Rendezvous last weekend. We had 19 boats in attendance and served 45 people for dinner on Saturday. Although the wind blew hard all weekend we still had all normal club activities including the traditional “Tour the Fleet” and breakfast on Sunday. It was rough ride back with solid 4-5 foot waves. I hope you can make it next year!

Attendance by boat type:
Total: 19 boats
41′ – 2
39′ – 1
37′ – 4
32′ – 10
28′ – 1
26′ Bayliner – 1

Just a few days left to sign up for the 2017 rendezvous at Kelleys Island. You don’t want to miss this event. What better chance to get together and speak M.

Below is today’s where am I. This is an easy one. Send your guesses to captainscott32@gmail.com. You might even win a prize! See you at the rendezvous.

Hello M Family!

Hopefully a busy May means that you are all in the water and ready for some summer fun. From our family, May was hectic and awesome all at the same time. We had 2 sons graduate from college, closed the sale of our house, ended a long spring semester for Betsy and got the boat wet, WHEW!

Remember the get your rendezvous reservations in by June 15! This is always a great time. While it’s great to see a bunch of M’s together, you don’t even need too bring a boat to join in the fun. See the details from Craig’s previous post for more information.

One of our new members asked me to post this information. If you know the history of his boat, he would love to hear from you.

Hi, it’s Jim Kenney, one of the club’s newest members.

I’m not sure if anyone in Ohio might remember my boat when it was named “Bang”. I recently purchased “Surf Rider” from a gentleman who brought it over to the Windsor Yacht Club in 2009 from Ohio.

She hasn’t travelled much over the past few years and has accumulated approx. 665 hours to date. A couple years back we made some changes to improve handling and seaworthiness.

Modifications were performed by Hyke Metal out of Wheatley Ontario. This was our best choice because of their extensive experience in building aluminum Coast Guard, Fire boats and expedition yachts primarily out of aluminum.

We had the following enhancements performed on Surf Rider.

These include-

¾ inch aluminum keel to reduce roll and sliding off waves.

Forward through hull Zeus bow thruster

Transom mounted below swim platform Zeus Stern Thruster.

Both thrusters are powered by gel batteries managed by a dedicated charging system

We also installed forward sonar while at Hyke’s.

These modifications completely changed the boat’s performance. It handles great.

If any members in Ohio might remember “Bang”, I would appreciate if they could share some History.

Thanks Jim Kenney

jkenney9@cogeco.ca

EDIT: “Bang” was docked at Venetian Marina in Sandusky, Ohio in the 2000-2005 timeframe. We don’t know where it went when it was sold. 

-Craig