For the second fundraising happening of its 2017 season, the Performance Boat Club of Canada headed to Georgian Bay for its “Blast Around The Bay Fun Run.” The event, which attracted 14 boats, reportedly raised $6,000 for the Georgian Bay Hospital Association “Boaters for Best Care” charity designated for the purchase of a new CT machine for the facility.

Georgian Bay showed its best side for last weekend’s Performance Boat Club of Canada event. Photos courtesy/copyright Carl McBride/Performance Boat Club of Canada.

“As most boaters in the area know, weather has made for some challenging boating this season,” said Meghan Brousseau, the president of the nonprofit club. “But Mother Nature decided to smile on us and keep the rain away.

“Georgian Bay can be tricky boating at the best of times, but thankfully there are two routes—inside channels or the deep water of the bay—boaters can take to reach their destinations,” she added. “Since waves on the outside were three to four feet, most of the group opted for the inside channel.”

The boats left Midland on Saturday morning and stopped at Henry’s fish restaurant on Frying Pan Island in Sans Souci for lunch. Although a storm knocked out power to the restaurant the night before, said Brousseau, the restaurant’s back-up generator “did the trick.” After lunch, the group made its way through the inside channels to Parry Sound for an overnight stay.

“This event was not an official ‘poker run’ and cards were not dealt at each stop, but to raise funds for the charity the group held a silent auction on Friday night and dealt $100 captain’s poker hands on Saturday night,” said Brousseau. “We raised more than $6,000 for the charity.”

Though event turnout was relatively light at 14 boat, the participants raised funds for a worthy cause.

The club’s next official fundraising event is the Priestly Demolition Simcoe Charity Poker Run Aug. 25-27 in Orillia, Ontario. According to Brousseau, several members are informally planning to gather July 22 on Lake Ontario for “casual day of boating.”

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