Returned Home from Cleveland after attending the Mid America Boat Show and the Lyman Boat Owner's Association Winter Regatta. This is always a fun time and this year's version did not disappoint. The annual LBOA winter party at the Ironwood Tavern in West Lake was well attended and certainly a great way to break up cold weather blues.
Planning Meeting for this year's River Cruise at Dennis & Kathleen Ryan's home in Cincinnati. Meeting was well attended with 14 present to discuss this year's river trip and a proposed name change for our chapter to the Ohio Valley Chapter. It was decided by majority opinion that the river trip would be Warsaw KY to Frankfort KY. This is a 90 mile trip through 1 lock on the Ohio River and 4 Civil War era locks on The Kentucky River. It was also decided that we would offer both a two night and a single night option for the trip to accommodate the desires of many to be able to spend more time in Frankfort. It was also decided that the river cruise will be held at an earlier date due to the poor weather we have been blessed with the last few years on the first weekend in October. The two night trip will depart Friday morning, September 9th. The single night crew will have dinner in Warsaw Friday evening and depart for Frankfort Saturday morning.
Changing the name of our chapter to The Ohio Valley Chapter was discussed. It was unanimously approved that we should request this change be made to better serve our members and the area of the country we serve.
Returned home from The 17 Annual All Classics Festival. This fantastic event is held each year in Huron Ohio and typically draws about 85 classic boats ranging in size from 10' to 55'. Vintage cars are also included in the event. This year there were about 40 cars including an old International Travelall. All it needed was a classic boat behind it and it would have easily won best of show! This year's show was once again a great time with many Cincinnati members including the Lloyd family, Dennis Ryan, Jim Lawson, Ted & Connie Lewis, and Rich Love in attendance. If you have never attended this event, put on your list of "must do" items. It is always a lot of fun!
It is time for our annual River trip! The first group gathered at Dennis & Kathleen Ryan's cottage at Craig's Creek for final preparations and a grill out to get the weekend started off right.
The first group of 5 boats departed this morning for Frankfort about 9:30 AM. 3 additional boats expected to join the group but had travel issues and decided to travel by road straight to Frankfort. One boat and crew travelled directly to Frankfort from Alabama to join in the fun. The Saturday morning departure group gathered at Craig's Creek later in the day for final preparations prior to departing tomorrow morning. The group had a nice evening at the Sunset Grill overlooking the Ohio River.
The second group departed for Frankfort at 9:30 AM. Four gorgeous boats on an absolutely beautiful morning! We arrived at the Markland Dam and were immediately permitted to enter the lock. Everyone found a spot to secure to a floating can that rises and fall with the water level as lock empties or fills. Passage took quite a period of time as the lock is quite large and the drop is about 35 feet. The group exited the lock safely and headed downstream towards Carrollton KY. 16 miles downriver we turned southeast into the Kentucky River and started winding our way towards Frankfort. It was a beautiful journey through 4 Civil War era locks. We were briefly interrupted by a rain storm but finally arrived at about 6:30 PM to a great welcome by a large part of the Friday departure group who had come done to the Frankfort Boat Club to help us in.
The group quickly tied up and headed to the Capitol Plaza Hotel to join the rest of the group for s fun filled evening. There were 37 of us in total! Everyone had a great time. Much of the conversation was centered on the trip and possibilities for next year. It looks like we might do a Cincinnati to Madison Indiana roundtrip. It should be fun!
Departure time was 9:00 am. The group left the dock mostly together but quickly split into small groups depending on travel speed. Everyone made it back to Warsaw without incident.
Departed Cincinnati and headed to Lake Tahoe for the ACBS International Boat Show. What a beautiful place! We stayed in a fantastic house with fellow Cincinnati members Dennis and Kathleen Ryan, Indiana members Jan & Jeff Funk and Lake Tahoe members and our hosts for this year's show, Barb & Herb Hall. The house had spectacular views of the lake from almost every window. The show was held at the world renowned Sierra Boat Company. If you have not ventured out to see this area or this historic Marina/Restoration mecca, I recommend that you add it to your list. The three days flew by way too quickly. I am not sure who had more fun, the men with all the gorgeous boats and terrific excursions out on to the lake, or the ladies with excursions to local points of interest. We are already looking forward to next year's event in Wisconsin.