Last fall, WRC President Gary Orloff asked our members to think about possible new locations for our 2024 meets. Marty Belfi suggested the Portage River; over the winter he checked out the area and thought it would work well for a “river run” meet. 17 of us who showed up June 8 in nine boats think he picked a great spot, and we had a picture-perfect day

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Paul Wood was first to arrive with his 1954 Feathercraft Penguin powered by a 1957 Scott 10. Rex Jackson and his Lone Star/Wizard SuperPower 25 combo and Scott Wimbush with his 1916 Whitehall were right behind him. Just after 9 AM, John Hagerman, Bill Jatzek and his family, Brian Klima with friends Eli and Ken, and Marty and Tom Belfi arrived.

Bill Jatzek, his son Lennie and grandson Freddie brought their 1956 Lyman 16 with a 1956 Sea Horse 30, and a 1955 Johnson 5 as a spare. Eli, Ken and Brian had a Feathercraft Ranger and a 1957 Johnson 35. The Feathercraft, which Eli bought from Brian, is painted a good-looking black with a black deck. Marty and Tom brought Marty’s “Gar Wood” aluminum with a beautiful ’56 Evinrude Lark. John Hagerman had his dependable ’54 Evinrude Fastwin on a 1953 Peterborough Lakeside.

Bob Davidson arrived to meet Scott Wimbush; Bob is the former owner of Scott’s Whitehall boat and they had a day of river touring mapped out. Domenic Durda and Mary Ann Elliott were right behind with Dom’s 1995 Logic/Triumph 120 12-footer and 1995 Johnson 25. Ryan and Kelly Hollingsworth arrived with their 1956 Lone Star and Mercury Mark 55, and that completed our 9-boat group.

Soon we were lined up at the ramp, all boats were launched and our WRC flotilla was ready to cruise. As we headed up the river, we were surprised by the large open areas of water, which encouraged higher speeds, popular with this group. Can’t tell how far up the river we were, but after about 50 minutes of cruising at various speeds, one of our group had a motor issue and needed a tow back to the ramp. My Peterborough has been used as a tow boat a couple of times, and I was happy to help. After getting my boat back on the trailer and packing up, I hooked up with Dom, Mary Ann, Ryan, Kelly and Paul for lunch in Port Clinton – right on the water. While eating our lunch we spotted the Belfi brothers cruising by, and a little later we saw the Jatzek clan heading toward the lake.

Nine of our group in four boats completed the 12-mile run all the way to Oak Harbor; they were Marty and Tom, Rex, the Jatzek family and Eli, Ken and Brian. Marty said they were surprised by the number of eagles they saw nesting in the trees along the way, even stopping a couple of times to bird watch, truly an amazing sight. This group had lunch at Oak Harbor before departing to explore more of the river.

Scott told me later that he and Bob had some issues with the Whitehall, and spent some time going over the ignition system. The trouble was soon fixed and they went on to tour more of the river, cruising along in comfort at about 5 MPH.

By all accounts, the river run was a success; everyone had a great time. The Portage River is great for boating at many different speeds and nature and beautiful scenery is all around you. If Marty hosts a river run meet next year, I know I’ll be there. Please consider joining us if you missed this one, and thanks to Marty and Tom for hosting a day to remember. Check out the pictures in the Meet Photos section of the WRC website.

Respectfully submitted by John Hagerman —- and as Gary says “Keep the blue smoke flowing”.