Breaking News – Miss Canada V Secures Victory At Woody Boater Poker Run In Gravenhurst!
Classic boats of all sizes and vintage came out for the Woody Boater Poker Run & Picnic in Gravenhurst on Friday.
This breaking news just came in over the wireless from Woody Boater contributor Cobourg Kid and his assistant Cousin Glen who are in Gravenhurst this weekend covering the 33rd Annual Toronto Chapter ACBS Antique & Classic Boat Show. – Texx
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Breaking News –
Miss Canada V Secures Victory at Woody Boater Poker Run In Gravenhurst!
Early yesterday morning under light drizzle approximately 30 ardent crews of Woody Boaters assembled at Gravenhurst Ontario’s Muskoka Warf to kick off the ACBS Toronto Chapter’s 2013 Boat Show with a brand new event, the Woody Boater Poker Run and Picnic.
The goal was to have each crew safely navigate its way up Ontario’s beautiful Lake Muskoka stopping at four pre-determined locations, where a playing card would be drawn. The final card dealt would be drawn at the final destination and site of a group picnic at historic Morris Island.
For this woody boater the draw was not so much the lure of the prize but the opportunity to photograph a large number of historically significant watercraft as they were put through their paces by proud owners and crew. Helping me on this assignment, I was accompanied by Cousin Glen who is an accomplished DSLR camera wizard. From here we will let the pictures and the scenery tell the story of a magical Muskoka day.
Welcome to Gravenhurst, ok I admit it I shot this at the end of the day when the sun finally came out.
John Adams launching “Glass of 68” in early the morning mist, one of the many non-Muskoka boat’s participating in the run.
Participants beginning to assemble at the Muskoka Warf. Tour-boats RMS Segwun and Wenonah II in the background. More on the Muskoka Steamships can be found at http://realmuskoka.com/muskoka-steamships/
Chris Bullen (Orange WB Shirt) provides a rundown of the routes and rules while Woody Boater Greg Lewandowski looks on.
Brian and Kathy Rhodes load Brian Atkinson’s 1988 Century Coronado, the official Woody Boater chase boat.
“Sandsu” – a beautiful Clive Barnes inspired triple cockpit built by Peter Breen is readied by owners Ron and Susan Coghlin.
The Unsworth crew get ready to board “Wa Chee Wee” a breath-taking 1923 Ditchburn Fisher-Allison Class Race Boat, the raising and reconstruction of which was featured in Woody Boater.
The Lawrence Family prepare their Shepherd “Canadian Club” for the run.
The Grand’s follow “Sandsu” out of the harbor.
The Pawluchyk ‘s load their rare 20 ft 1939 Peterborough Seafarer Deluxe.
Mark Mason points “Impshi” – a very cool 1920s George Crouch designed racer reproduction, up lake.
The Warren family Chris-Craft U-22 gets underway.
“Wa Chee We” blasts past the chase boat on its way to Walkers Point our first card stop.
Scott Dunsmoor and “Falcon” fly by.
Leaving Gravenhurst bay and the narrows behind us we entered Lake Muskoka. Believe it or not the RMS Segwun manages to squeeze itself through that constricted passage many times a day.
The Bullen family’s “King of Harts” (appropriate name for a poker run don’t cha think) saunters past the chase boat.
“Palm Beach Days” leads a gaggle of racers into Walkers Point.
“His Bad Habit” a 62 Shepherd outward bound from first card stop.
Our chase boat begins its approach into Walkers Point with our captain, Brian Atkinson, at the helm.
Heading in for our first card at Walkers Point Marina.
Leaving walkers Point the crew discusses its next destination- a short hop across the lake to Tondern Island.
Traffic Jam at the Cragg Cottage our second card stop.
His “Bad Habit” leads the pack north along the shore of Tondern Island past Millionaires Row
“Slainte” at full bore.
The Unsworth clan throttles up putting “Wa Chee Wee’s” 700 HP V10 engine to good use.
The Lewandowski’s fly by the chase boat.
Woody Boater chase boat calls in for its third card at the Martin Cottage on beautiful Fairhaven Island.
Toronto Chapter ACBS “Classicboat” magazine Editor Kathy Rhodes picks a lucky card.
A quick run across the lake to our next card stop the Getson Cottage , near breezy point , waiting for us is an ultra-cool 1950s Peterborough moulded ply outboard with Cadillac Inspired tail fins!
Arriving at our final destination and anticipating some delicious Lunch at the Bullen Cottage on secluded Morris Island.
Mahogany Heaven…
“Wa Chee Wee” takes a breather.
“Falcon” arrives late with a little overheating issue.
King of Hearts.
With the Poker Run now complete everyone turned their attention to burgers, salads nachos, drinks, camaraderie and conversation, all served up by cottage hosts Julie and Chris Bullen and their family.
Catching Up…
Now that’s what I am talking about – a boat for drinks and ice, how cool.
A selection of the nice people who volunteer to run the Toronto ACBS Chapter, left to right Julie Bullen, Greg Martin, Kathy Rhodes, and Scott Dunsmoor.
Mechanical Jewelry shining amongst the festivities.
The Awards Ceremony on the dock for Best Poker hand, and the Woody Boater prize, as presented by Chris Bowen, Goes to??
Jeff Mitchell and crew for Miss Canada V a 22 foot 1954 Greavette streamliner originally built for E. A Wilson, one time president of Greavette Boats Inc. Mr. Wilson was Jeff’s Grandfather.
With the ceremony over the participants soon departed, fed and watered…
Unfortunately “Miss Canada V” was not able to complete the poker run due to an engine issue, so in order to fulfill Woody Boater’s promise to put the winning hand’s boat on its header for the weekend, our intrepid crew headed over to Jeff’s Cottage on Keewaydin Island.
And the winning hand was 4 fours and a 9 of clubs. Left to right Jeff Mitchell and Crew John Lopez and Michael Ohman a Woody Boater from Stockholm Sweden.
Leaving Keewadin we doubled back to Morris Island to pick up the Rhodes clan (Brian had generously offered to fix Scott Dunsmoor’s overheating problem in Falcon) and then departed back down the lake to our ultimate destination, Gravenhurst Warf.
On behalf of Woody Boater we would like to extend a sincere thank you to the organizers of the event and to all of the participants who made the day fun and occasionally exciting.
Also a special thank you to the Bullen family for their unwavering hospitality and to our captain Brian Atkinson for chauffeuring the Woody Boater crew around all day while doing his very best to help us get some great shots of the action out there on beautiful lake Muskoka.
Cobourg Kid & Assistant / Photographer – Cousin Glen
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Special thanks to Cobourg Kid and Cousin Glen for the great coverage today!
Texx
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All I can say is “WOW!”. Many thanks for the report Cyborg Kid and great pics Cousin Glen.
Great job! I really wish I had been there. Possibly next year.
Four 4’s in a 5 card stud? I think the deck was stacked!
Lots of nice boats and nice people on the cold side of the Great Lakes, but with daily highs in the upper 20’s it seems a bit chilly to me!
Believe it or not we were not cold out there, the humidity was intense, and by the end of the run the sun had come out and we were running around 80 Fahrenheit
So about 27 in your funky units. 27 sounds cold to me!
In my college days I stopped for gas in a small town in Western Ontario well north of where stupid Americans would normally roam. I left my coat in the car and was filling up in just a T shirt despite the cold and snow. A guy says to me “Don’t you think you should wear a coat, its 10 below!” I said “I don’t think it’s quite that cold, more like the mid teens”. He looked at me real funny and told his wife to steer clear of the nutter. Took me a few minutes before it dawned on me I was suggesting the temps were in the upper 50’s Fahrenheit despite the obvious snow!
Metric is a blight I don’t use it ….unless I have to
Miss Canada’s 4 of a kind just beats “Wa Chee We’s” full house of 9 passengers – big launches hold lots of people. Looked like a lot of fun. Nothing like the beauty of Muskoka cottages and their fantastic boats which, unfortunately, won’t be seen at the show.
Keep the reports coming CK, almost better than being their, please pass the Molson’s.
Loved the story Cobourg Kid and Glen. Thank you for covering the event and sharing it with us.
We had a great day exploring Lake Muskoka for the first time on the Poker Run. Cobourg Kid and Glen did a great job of leading the event. Many thanks to them. The only thing missing was participation by our friend Texx. Attended the race boat show in Gravenhurst today and OD’d on georgeous racers. Headed back out on the lake tomorrow for a run to Port Carling for lunch. What a great weekend!
Thanks Greg – Wish I was there, looks like everyone is having a good time in Muskoka.
Thanks for these photos. Looks like the poker people had a great time. We were there and did not. The line-ups to get on the docks to actually see the boats were prohibitive. At least we got to meet the “famous” Carla. Wonderful lady.
Think we’ll give Gravenhurst a rest for a couple of years. Along drive for little show but lots of noise.
We did not take a single photo.
Sounds like it could have been a good opportunity for a 2 day show to spread the “load”. Hindsight after the hype.
We had a great day thanks to Julie and the kids they cooked and cleaned 70 burgers and some dogs but we were so busy we left this in the fridge. CK did a great report as always.
Thanks again Chris and Julie (and everyone involved) for making this a fun day.
Proof again that folks just love to get out on the lake and enjoy their classic boats…
So the burning question: Can you have your cake & eat it too? (Just sayin…)
OOOOOh i am sick of cake!
It would be fun to do a feature story about King of Harts – a very cool boat!
I’m really dissapointed I couldn’t get my Greavette Sea-J out on the poker run Friday.
After hours of stedy work at the shop We had the motor in, the drive hooked up and the wiring sorted but, gremlins kept popping up… first the starter, then the power steering pump add in a few oil line leaks…. well I guess it wasn’t to be. BUT, we took it in stride and had a great day at the show today.
When I saw Miss Canada IV (the Grand attraction for 2013) was also not running for the show after all the recent work she’s seen….I felt a kindrid spirit with the MC IV restoration team and felt if THEY couldn’t please the Greavette Gods in time , how could I do it all by my onesies.
So, in true Toronto (Maple Leafs) tradition I say….”Next Year!”
BTW: I listened to Mark Mason talk about “Impshi” at the dock today…. A colourful character with a delightful gift of storytelling (You’d think he was Irish & kissed the stone). Great boat, great skipper, great story.