Lake Michigan

[donzidaddy60]

Being from Indy there are not a whole lot of places to boat except Lake Michigan and the last few times I went there the water was extremely mucky and limbs from trees were everywhere, not to mention that my wife and I are Christians- we dont drink smoke or curse, we picked a week end during "bail the boat party" women were topless everywhere you looked and the language was horrible and embarassing. Does anyone know if Indy has any good family oriented spots to open up our donzi?

Bill

[Magicallbill]

My son and I go to New Buffalo when we go to L.Michigan.(!st port North of Michigan City,In.)Good ramp,short idle to the open water,and it's a good protected area of Lake Michigan when the wind is out of the SW.
I am from Indianapolis too,and the surrounding resovoirs(Morse,Giest)are busy,expensive to launch,$10.00/weekdays,$25.00/weekends,and there is always drinking&partying goin' on.Plus,they are small,and it's dangerous to get our Donzi's up to speed with the boat wakes rebounding off the seawalls,not to mention the nutcases on waverunners&bowriders everywhere.
Try Brookville out East,near Connersville.Go out SR#52. Lake is pretty clean,fairly deep,and plenty of length.
Monroe,down by Bloomington is big,too,but murky and full of crazy drunk people,especially on the weekends.
We love Lake Michigan. There is no substitute for the clean water,the beaches,and the open area. Pick a weekday,so it isn't as busy. There will always be people on the water who drink and carry on.It's part of the package. They mean no harm for the most part,and Lake Michigan is big,and your Donzi can probably outrun most of them anyway.
Good luck,
Magical Bill

[donzidaddy60]

My son and I go to New Buffalo when we go to L.Michigan.(!st port North of Michigan City,In.)Good ramp,short idle to the open water,and it's a good protected area of Lake Michigan when the wind is out of the SW.
I am from Indianapolis too,and the surrounding resovoirs(Morse,Giest)are busy,expensive to launch,$10.00/weekdays,$25.00/weekends,and there is always drinking&partying goin' on.Plus,they are small,and it's dangerous to get our Donzi's up to speed with the boat wakes rebounding off the seawalls,not to mention the nutcases on waverunners&bowriders everywhere.
Try Brookville out East,near Connersville.Go out SR#52. Lake is pretty clean,fairly deep,and plenty of length.
Monroe,down by Bloomington is big,too,but murky and full of crazy drunk people,especially on the weekends.
We love Lake Michigan. There is no substitute for the clean water,the beaches,and the open area. Pick a weekday,so it isn't as busy. There will always be people on the water who drink and carry on.It's part of the package. They mean no harm for the most part,and Lake Michigan is big,and your Donzi can probably outrun most of them anyway.
Good luck,
Magical Bill

Hey magical,
I live in the southport area of indy on east street and you are right, Geist and Morse are just too much. We went to monroe one time and some nutty gal was driving a wave runner and about run into us when we were idling. Maybe we hit Lake Michigan at a bad time, might try it again. We dont get out too much with our donzi due to scheduling but I sure love it. I own Watsons on Pendleton Pike, ever heard of it? We sell pools and outdoor equipment of all sorts. Have you ever went to Ohio? Are there any good spots over in that area? Thanks!

Sincerely,
Bill Epstein

[Magicallbill]

Absolutley,
I ran into the "Watson'sGirl"(Can't remember her name)Backstage at a private party I was performing at years ago(Played for Henry Lee Summer&The Alligator bros. then)
As to your Ohio Question;
I know I'm touting the Great lakes to you,but Lake Erie in the Island area of Pt.Clinton/Sandusky is great.Spent many a great time there.
Upsides are the marinas,anchorages&places to see&do things.
Downsides,It's rough a lot of the time. The "Infamous" confused,swimming-pool-type chop that Lake Erie is known for.That phenomonon is noticable,especially around the islands.It's caused by lots of big criss-crossing boats everywhere,ferry wakes to-and-from Put-In-Bay&Kelly's,and the wind chop that occurs.
That's when the wind is out of the South....

When it goes NW or NE after the passage of a cold front,your off the water;Gets crazy-rough sometimes.
As far as inland lakes in Ohio, I'm not familiar with any;I've always gone straight to Lake Erie.
What Donzi do you all have?I thought I was the only guy in Indy(Along with my son)that had a Donzi.
By the way, if you do go to Erie,there's a great ramp on Catawba Island..
Take care,
MB

[donzidaddy60]

I have a 1966 Kandy Apple Red Ski Sport, my wife and I purchased it in Connecticut 4 years ago from an old man that had it restored. It has the gel coat.

[Magicallbill]

ReallY???
Would love to see it...
My son and I both have a 66'and a 68' SKi Sporter.Both are currently restoration projects that are taking a maddenlngly long time.
Hopefully they'll show up in late August or Sept. sometime.
Can you put up pics of it?
I can't seem to get it done with this computer, but I'll keep at it.
MB

[donzidaddy60]

my reply didn't show up after writing all that! I will have to start over

[turbo2256]

Used to live right down the street from Watsons. Some of my friends still do will be down in that area soon. Know what you mean by busy and expensive.
Monroe on weekdays is the best. Never got to try the Ohio River.

[Magicallbill]

Do Not Go To The Ohio River...
There is too much of a chance of hitting debris in the water,even when it's in normal pool.
I have hit enough logs down there that I won't go back. To me it isn't worth it.
You probably see better than I do,and may be alright,but it sounds like you have a vintage rig that shouldn't come in contact with foreign objects.
Besides,with the remains of Dennis still down there,the river may be higher than normal anyway nowadays.
Is your Donzi a Holman/Moody Package?

[smokediver]

have you tried brookville lake ?

[Indyblackhawk]

I want to meet the Watson girl!

I didn't relieze that there are so many indiana members - we should get together.

[Magicallbill]

She's really short;
Always excited,just like on TV
I didn't even know it was her when I ran into her backstage;It was dark,and I literally bumped into her inadvertently.
She was real sweet;I felt like I'd bumped into Danica Patrick or something.
My son and I have 2 18's; Shout at me on the board and maybe we can run in August.
Magical B..

[boldts]

Humm..... Bill, I know you've been asking for this, but it looks like maybe you Indy folks would be interested in setting up a Donzi gathering on Lake Cumberland in KY for an end of season run? I've been tossing this 2 gathering a year thing around in my mind, but wasn't sure there was enough interest to support the work involved. You all let me know. I can check on the off-season rates and room availability at Jamestown. It really is the nicest marina and resort that is actually on the lake instead of at the top of a cliff. I'm sure there are a few Ohio and maybe even some Michigan Donzi owners who would love an end of season run for the Midwestern folks before that white stuff returns.

[donzidaddy60]

indy, i have never sent a private message, hope I am doing this correctly.

you asked about Jennifer and honestly, you would not want to meet her, shes a nut. she asked to be paid annually $250,000 a year just for commercials.....then she secretly got pregnant by Reggie Miller and took care of that....

she asked for a raise two years ago to get breast implants, one busted and it caused health problems of all sorts, now she wears inserts in the swim suits, but has become too chubby to wear the suits........

she thinks shes a diva and tries to worm her way into other projects but most of our feedback from people is negative, so we do not follow up with any ideas.....and she has plenty


one time she wanted to be dressed up in a ball gown and lay across a pool table, she insisted on holding up a cue stick(it didnt look right) she wanted to portray a queen of some odd sort, but while trying to get up on the table, she fell and the cue stick ran up the green and ripped it off, she insisted on trying again but was too heavy to get above the edge of the table, she finally got mad and threw the stick towards her stepdad and smacked him in the mouth and cut his lip and said she was the star of the business and she should be treated better. believe me, shes no real true class act or beauty, inside or out!!

[boldts]

So, anyone else interested in a Lake Cumberland gathering at the end of our season? Guys, I'll put it together if there is interest. Won't be like an AOTH gathering at least not the first year. No special shirts or fancy dinners. Just Donzi boats and owners meeting for a long weekend and running the lake.

I've got to look at the dates for the Lake George last gathering for the year in NY. I've made a promise to myself to not overlap other Donzi gatherings if possible. There is also the TX Possum Kingdom gathering happening. I'm thinking middle to late September? The Sarasota gathering happens in early Oct. For best attendance, you need to leave some time between gatherings. The other problem that I've run into with either MWDC gathering is that the kids are in school. While it might be easier for a parent to keep their kids out of one day of school at the beginning of the year, what if your child plays on a sports team? I know that type of thing makes attending Donzi gatherings tuff for a lot of owners. I'll need to come up with a name for the gathering. AOTH stands for "Awakening of the Horses" maybe "Turning off the Horses"? That kind of doesn't work for the warmer state attendees that might attend, but then again, niether does AOTH. :biggrin:

Let me know gang. I'll need to get on this real quick if we're going to do it.

[Magicallbill]

Wow;
Didn't know all the extras about Jennifer...
Anyway,Scott,I would certainly be interested in a Sept. Cumberland run,but for me personally,it would have to be on a Mon,Tues,or Wed,as our band is performing shows Thurs,Fri&Sat. As you said, I've been asking for this for awhile,and completly understand if it has to be a weekend.
My band has made this the best year so far,but it's also keeps me out of Donzi runs. I have E-Mailed Dr. Dan about the possibility of performing at a Donzi Gathering at some point. I haven't heard back yet.
DonziDaddy,this would be great for you. Cumberland is everything Indiana Lakes are not,and the fall is the best time down there, lake-height,and weather-wise.
MB

[boldts]

MB - So, if I book your band for Fri thru Sun., you could come? What do you need cost wise to make that happen? We've not had live music at a Cumberland gathering yet. Could probably talk it up around all the marinas down there and get a nice turn-out for ya.

[Magicallbill]

Scott;
Great thought-However,we are booked all thru Sept. Mostly thru the end of the year.
We might consider performing at AOTH;I'll check with our management to see if there are some holes in May of '06.
Here's the scoop;If I'm off-topic here,I'll make it concise..
I've already mentioned the idea of a Donzi-Gathering performance to my son Jason. He said we'd try to make it work.
We are Donzi nuts...The other band members aren't,and we would have to pay them if we asked that they go to Jamestown(240-odd miles from Indy)and play.They are fun-loving people,and would do their best to contribute to the chemistry of the event,but they do this for a living,and we can't ask them do it for free. There is also the equipment truck,3-person technical crew,and the complication of getting the gear down the ramp from the lodge to the marina.(I'm assuming we'd play in the Yacht Club?)It would actually be better if we could get a banquet room in the lodge to play in.)
How much?
I'll get you the contact info for our management if you want to consider AOTH.I will call in advance of your call,and discuss a realistic figure,as Jason and I would love to play there,and it seems the only way for us to make an event. If we can make it work,we will.
You would dig the band;Wide variety;we do this for a living.This is not a weekend for-fun-type operation.We have pro gear,professional production,and great players.
There are wonderful advantages to being in entertainment;Unfortunately, it means I'm tied up on weekends when the Donzi parties happen.However, it's a great way not to have to grow up,and it's so hard to change late in life.........

Magical Bill