Following the action going on across the country this weekend on social media, I noticed this morning that most of the boaters entered in the Boyne Thunder Poker Run in Boyne City, Mich., were opting not to head into Lake Michigan due to windy and rough conditions.

The lunch raft-up in Charlevoix during the Boyne Thunder Poker Run is an awesome sight. Photo by Ryan Johnson/Speedonthewater.com

After enduring rain most of the day Friday, most (not all) of the participants opted to make the first part of the run on Lake Charlevoix and then enjoy the lake a little more before meeting up for lunch at the City of Charlevoix Marina. Fortunately the rain wasn’t a factor and the weather was pretty nice besides being a little gloomy to start the day—but Lake Michigan can be as big or bigger than most oceans on a rough day.

Speedonthewater.com’s Ryan Johnson was on hand for the poker run and caught a ride in one of the half dozen or so boats to leave the protected waters of Lake Charlevoix and make it all the way to the card stops in Elk Rapids and Northport before returning for lunch.

Johnson and his friend, Paul Christenson, and Paul’s son, Tyler, were lucky enough to get a ride in a Mystic Powerboats M4200 powered by triple Mercury Racing Verado 400R engines and piloted by none other than Shogren Performance Marine’s Greg Weber.

Check out a few more images from Ryan Johnson’s ride in the Mystic M4200 luxury performance center console.

“We were in the first group to head out and after making it across Lake Charlevoix Greg asked all of us if we wanted to try to make the first part of the run,” Johnson said. “We all said yes so we made our way through the channel with people lined up on both sides and all across the bridge—that was awesome. On our way out, Greg estimated we went through some 8- to 10-footers. We definitely got wet on our way to the first stop. It was big out there, but the Mystic handled it well.

“We got to the first stop and we saw two Cigarettes, an Outerlimits—the kilo record boat—and a Nor-Tech center console,” he added. “I don’t know if many, if any, other boats did that part of the run.”

Johnson, who checked in while he was enjoying lunch, said he was looking forward to meeting more people and checking out all of the awesome boats at the reception that concludes the poker run at beautiful Sommerset Pointe.

Editor’s note: Stay tuned for more Boyne Thunder coverage and photos from Speedonthewater.com photographer Pete Boden of Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.