boldts
09-09-2001, 10:05 PM
First and foremost, I'd like to thank David Hicks and Tammi again for all their HOSPITALITY! When we hold a poker run at AOTH II next May, I'll be one of the volunteers who hand the card envelopes to the boaters as they come through the marina. David owns a 30' Black Widow Donzi and I was glad to have all of those feet under my feet during the run. I hope my luck with the weather at Lake Cumberland continues next May also. We had a chance for thunderstorms over the weekend, but not a drop fell while I was in attendance. I took my 18' Classic with me so I could ride around the lake in my spare time and believe it or not after doing 140 miles in David's boat, I hopped in my boat to take a ride up to the 76 falls before the unvailing of the card hands. I longed for the view of the falls and I wasn't disappointed when I arrived there. It was just as beautiful as I remembered from last May.
I was surprised actually at how many Donzi boats were at the poker run. They were only out-numbered by Baja, and Fountain of which there were more than I could keep track of. I spoke to most of the Donzi owners to see if they had any interest in returning to the lake next May for our Donzi gathering. A 28 ZX owner that I spoke to had bought his Donzi from Mike Doyle of Sandollar Marine so he got to hear first hand about the gathering from Mike. A 33' Crossbow owner said that if he had known about the event, he would have attended. Did you know that Donzi has their own Poker Run team? I really need a spare time job like that! These guys will be at the Sarasota gathering in a 38' black ZX. The driver of the team boat actually said he had heard of our gathering and said that he would like to come back up to Cumberland next May for the Awakening. Jerry Fitzgerald who attended the Awakening from KY was there with his 22 ZX. I also met a Donzi dealer named Bill Wehrs from upstate IL. He said he was on vacation with his wife at the lake and didn't know about the poker run going on. Since he had a 22 Z with him, he entered the poker run. Bill was very interested in finding out more about future Donzi gatherings.
To all of the Donzi owners that I was meeting for the first time, I passed on both the Midwest Donzi Club's web site along with the web site that got everything at Lake Cumberland started. Donzi.net. This weekend was a vast learning experience for me. I had one of the smallest boats docked in the poker run area, yet more people were interested in talking to me about my 18' Classic it seemed than all of the 42' Fountains. Everytime I was ready to go back to where I stayed for the weekend, there was a group of fellow boaters gathered around my Donzi wanting to know the year and model of the boat. I hated to tell them it only has a 302 Ford engine when their boats had me sloppering all over myself with the performance engines in them. By the way, the winner of the poker run was in a 16' Glastron with a outboard engine on the back of it. Luck of the draw.
The most impressive boat in attendance was a forty something NorTech catamaran. The boat had twin jet engines in it and was just awesume. I resided at the Cumberland State Park lodge and rented a covered slip at the State Dock located at the State Park. This catamaran happened to be docked there also. I got to experience the smell of jet fumes at 08:30 Saturday morning as the Drambuie On Ice team fired the boat up for the days activities. I hope the picture of the boat shooting flames into the air out of the exhaust ports comes out. As soon as I get the pictures developed, I'll post them for you all to see.
My goal until May 9th, 2002 is to get the word out! Harbormaster posted a post about 50 new registrants since August 20th. That means that we are starting to get the word out to Donzi owners both old and new. I believe the up-coming news media from the Sarasota gathering will also aid in this area. This past year has been the best boating summer of my life and that is because I have been able to meet Donzi owners who share the passion of a boat company started by Don Aronow named Donzi.
I was surprised actually at how many Donzi boats were at the poker run. They were only out-numbered by Baja, and Fountain of which there were more than I could keep track of. I spoke to most of the Donzi owners to see if they had any interest in returning to the lake next May for our Donzi gathering. A 28 ZX owner that I spoke to had bought his Donzi from Mike Doyle of Sandollar Marine so he got to hear first hand about the gathering from Mike. A 33' Crossbow owner said that if he had known about the event, he would have attended. Did you know that Donzi has their own Poker Run team? I really need a spare time job like that! These guys will be at the Sarasota gathering in a 38' black ZX. The driver of the team boat actually said he had heard of our gathering and said that he would like to come back up to Cumberland next May for the Awakening. Jerry Fitzgerald who attended the Awakening from KY was there with his 22 ZX. I also met a Donzi dealer named Bill Wehrs from upstate IL. He said he was on vacation with his wife at the lake and didn't know about the poker run going on. Since he had a 22 Z with him, he entered the poker run. Bill was very interested in finding out more about future Donzi gatherings.
To all of the Donzi owners that I was meeting for the first time, I passed on both the Midwest Donzi Club's web site along with the web site that got everything at Lake Cumberland started. Donzi.net. This weekend was a vast learning experience for me. I had one of the smallest boats docked in the poker run area, yet more people were interested in talking to me about my 18' Classic it seemed than all of the 42' Fountains. Everytime I was ready to go back to where I stayed for the weekend, there was a group of fellow boaters gathered around my Donzi wanting to know the year and model of the boat. I hated to tell them it only has a 302 Ford engine when their boats had me sloppering all over myself with the performance engines in them. By the way, the winner of the poker run was in a 16' Glastron with a outboard engine on the back of it. Luck of the draw.
The most impressive boat in attendance was a forty something NorTech catamaran. The boat had twin jet engines in it and was just awesume. I resided at the Cumberland State Park lodge and rented a covered slip at the State Dock located at the State Park. This catamaran happened to be docked there also. I got to experience the smell of jet fumes at 08:30 Saturday morning as the Drambuie On Ice team fired the boat up for the days activities. I hope the picture of the boat shooting flames into the air out of the exhaust ports comes out. As soon as I get the pictures developed, I'll post them for you all to see.
My goal until May 9th, 2002 is to get the word out! Harbormaster posted a post about 50 new registrants since August 20th. That means that we are starting to get the word out to Donzi owners both old and new. I believe the up-coming news media from the Sarasota gathering will also aid in this area. This past year has been the best boating summer of my life and that is because I have been able to meet Donzi owners who share the passion of a boat company started by Don Aronow named Donzi.