Monster bash 2015 obituary/review
MONSTER BASH 2015 OBITUARY/REVIEW
It all started late at night when I attended the SCOPE Poker Run in September. I bumped into Gary Smith and he asked if I was going to Monster Bash? I said “No! I was not” . . . nor had I any plans to do so. I explained it usually occurs on the same weekend as Halloween which was a primary deterrent in my attending the event. Mr. Smith informed me the organizer’s Lake Racer LLC. have moved it to October 16̀-17th, 2015. This was well before the trick or treating festivities of the Halloween holiday. This opened the door for me to explore multiple possibilities on how I might attend the event with my family.
For those that do not know about this event, Monster Bash is organized by the Nichol’s family. The patriarch Jim Nichols is the very same person who also organizes the premiere event Desert Storm Poker Run in April. This event has it’s headquarters at the Nautical Hotel and Resort in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The event spans two days of events if you pre-registered. If you did not then it is only a one day [Saturday] event. The first day of the event is the Friday meet and greet...social/happy hour lunch run to Havasu Springs Resort restaurant and bar. On Saturday the Poker Run, Helo photos and Halloween costumed dinner and dancing are the scheduled events.
Our thoughts and motives were we should attend and tune up our costumes and have a great couple days of boating in Lake Havasu as a family. We typically like to close the boating year out with an event or special location and this would be the closer for us. The participants from our household included my wife and three kids and we were all enthusiastic about this event. This was my first time attending this event in any capacity. The family was excited about boating and having the ability to wear their costume’s was a major selling point and hit with my kids. It is important to note that many poker runs are adult oriented and this event afforded us a family environment so everyone could participate. The Nautical has everything from pool to beaches, launch ramps and limited cove parking. The hotel also has the world famous Turtle Bar all within walking distance of your room. The main hotel pool also has adult and children’s beverages with a spectacular view of the lake all on hotel grounds. This is important for many families that need to stay close to their children yet can still have a relaxing adult area within close proximity and also negates the need to drive anywhere.
We preregistered early for the event and we obtained wrist bands by mail for the lunch run to the springs on Friday. The lunch run is only for those that preregistered early. It is a way of saying thank you to those who committed early. If you register late or last minute you will not get a wrist band. In addition, the Nautical Resort and Hotel is very popular and I strongly urge anyone contemplating this event to book their room early. I know of several well-known people in the boating community that could not get rooms at the Nautical because they waited too long. Another tip for the first time attendee would be to secure cove parking or a slip with the hotel. The Lake Havasu Marina has rental slips if you want to take a short drive to your boat. It is much nicer when you can actually see your boat at the Nautical and also important as I later learned. In the past I know of several performance boaters who dislike the Nautical hotel but it is the place to be for this poker run. The rooms are not the best but the location and amenities are difficult to overlook or discount. You can mention the event and get the group rate as well when you book your room.
This year Monster Bash had a record number of registered boats. The last count had a total of registered participants . . . at ninety-three [93] boats. Note: This is the number listed as participating the true number of boats in attendance may be less. During the event I overheard Jim Nichols tell some guests “this poker run was almost going to be dropped but for title sponsor Teague Custom Marine” and many other primary sponsors who stepped up at the last minute to make it happen. If this is true, I would like to extend my thanks to those that made the event possible through their sponsorship.
The pre-registration lunch run on Friday was well worth the effort. If you launched at the Nautical, it was about a 20 mile run down to Havasu Springs. Slips were plentiful but if you want to be in a slip close you had to get there early. At the lunch run having attended many poker runs throughout the year, I observed a different trend out West. The west coast boaters rarely if ever like to side tie to other boaters nor do they encourage it. In addition, west coast boaters are brand oriented and like to stick together based on brand almost like a fraternity. The DCB boaters all came into the area together as well as the Eliminator group. In other areas of the country at different events you will see it based on friendships had or gained rather than brand of boat. This is not to say the groups were not friendly far from it just an interesting observation worth mentioning. This topic of east vs. west coast could go on for pages yet segues into the brand topic about Monster Bash which was also the Eliminator Custom boat owners group regatta. Manufacturers usually do an owner regatta with their boat owners. The Eliminator boat owners had their regatta annual get together as part of Monster Bash. This may be a great idea for other manufacturer’s to get in line and be a part of next years’ events. I found the Eliminator owners to be extremely friendly and was a bonus to the event.
The lunch run featured a complimentary buffet style lunch of chicken or hamburger sandwiches with all the condiments including bacon and avocado which also included a no host bar. The bonding feature of the weekend turned out to be the weather. While running down to the lunch stop we encountered rain and at speeds in excess of a hundred miles per hour . . . rain can become rather painful. Once you arrived, everyone was in no hurry to get back on the water due to the rain and this made for a great social scene as people had no choice but to go outside of their comfort zones and talk to other boaters. Staff members from Speedboat Magazine were on hand as well as Hotboat.com and Riverdavesplace.com. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone in a casual laid back atmosphere. The emphasis of this event according to Jim Nichols is to keep it small and more friendly and they clearly had that covered.
Once the lunch run weather cleared up everyone headed out on their own. The weather on this event played a critical role for attendees including myself. I had set my boat anchored off the shore line of the cove as it is very rocky. I anchored into the wind with a box anchor and had the stern tied off with a sand spike. I believed it to be a very secure anchorage in the Nautical cove a relatively sheltered and protected cove area. I could have secured a slip at the Lake Havasu Marina but really wanted to see my boat from the balcony of our room. I made friends with a lot of the Eliminator boat owners and we socialized outside of our rooms.
During this time the weather rapidly escalated into a full-blown desert monsoon. The boat was being battered with 25+mph winds and was holding strong. However, as fate would have it, the wind changed direction and pounded the profile of the boat until it finally broke anchorage. This caused the boat to head for the rip rap of rocks. I had just gone up stairs and looked out to see this happening. Lucky for me two of the boaters in the other building also observed this and waded out into the water and kept the boat from hitting anything. I immediately jumped into the boat and released the anchor lines and motored over to a sandy beach area and beached the boat. Having secured the boat with anchors many other boat owners wisely decided to trailer up their boats as the high winds, rain and storm lasted well into the morning. As a boat owner you must watch and check things every hour to ensure everything is ship shape. At about 3:00A.M. the storm subsided as fast as it came in and everything was calm and tranquil.
It is important to note that not every poker run will be done in perfect conditions you must be vigilant and prepared for the worst. In hind sight it would have been better for me to simply put the boat on the trailer and had a great night sleep. These are lessons learned and really parts of the journey and adventures boaters endure.
As the sun was peaking out over the horizon, attendees proceeded to the drivers meeting which was a packed house on Saturday morning. It was a mandatory meeting and you had to attend it in order to obtain your number decals for the poker run. It went smoothly and efficiently and the staff at Lake Racer LLC did a wonderful job of making sure everyone was well-taken care of and happy. The start of the poker run is just by time no groups or classes you go as you please. All card stops were relatively close to one another and there was a helicopter taking photos upon your departure from Thompson Bay. The rain started again when start time occurred but it made for some amazing photos. We headed down to Havasu Springs for the first card stop.
Unfortunately, for us as soon as we came off plane for the first card stop we discovered our lower unit had lost a gear set. We then idled over to the first card stop and picked up our hands. Once we finished the card stop I headed over to the fuel dock to figure out the plan for recovery. As we tied up we observed participant Bob Teague and company departing the docking area and we caught their attention. I asked if they could give my wife a ride back to the Nautical so she could drive the truck and trailer down to the Springs to retrieve the boat . . . which they agreed was not a problem. I then proceeded to the nearest launch ramp to await for the trailer. As boaters we all know the feeling of mechanical failures and sometimes things don’t go as planned. The goal then becomes how to make the best out of the situation we are faced with and help one another out if possible. Once docked up the kids all found the nearest play ground and had a blast in the rain. I was a bit disappointed for their sake but they were still smiling and having a good time.
Thus, our first time attending Monster Bash we were able to finish the poker run. However, we did manage one stop in the interest of keeping things positive. The card turn in was very fast with lots of stations to pick cards. What I found to be interesting was the computer generated your exact hand and you were required to sign the sheet that displayed the hands you turn over. This was done to prevent anyone from later claiming they had a certain hand when they really did not. Once cards were turned over our family was excited about dressing up in costume and socializing with everyone at the dinner. We arrived in costume and everyone was having a great time with the majority of people in costume. The conference room was nicely decorated and they had an awesome band playing.
Normally, most people do not show up in costume but Monster Bash was different. The majority of crews were in costume including staff members of the organizer. We were witnesses to some amazing, original and creative costumes worthy of praise and admiration. The organizers gave sizable cash prizes to the best costumes and best crew outfits upon conclusion of the dinner. If you plan on attending this event you should be in costume . . . if that is not your personality type. I would tell you to drop your guard and just pick a subtle costume and try it for this event. It is so much fun to socialize while in costume some people you had to guess on who was under the mask. In addition, it also allows you tune up for other Halloween events and/or get ideas for costumes you may want to imitate.
The dinner time commentary regarding raffle prizes and gifts was painful and very nineteen eighties in format. I would suggest a blind draw based on registration numbers and give them to attendees’ when they pick up numbers. The poker hands I can understand but to go through the process of people selected not being present was annoying. A minor detail that could be improved. The food at the dinner was acceptable but doing a taco bar at the nautical hotel was not their strong suit. A pasta or something similar to hotel type food would be far better and still remain within the budget. I would also add another bar station with perhaps beer and wine only as the line to the one station was always long and some people went outside to obtain drinks.
Overall, this run will become a year end run for our family. I give everything high marks and urge prospective attendees to put this one on their calendars. It is a very family oriented run with a laid back atmosphere and the idea of incorporating a manufacturer regatta was a great idea. We had a wonderful time thank you to all the boaters, organizers and most of all the sponsors.
Additional Photos Courtesy of Tanah Kinsey.
About the Author: He resides in San Diego California as a performance boater for years. He is passionate about boating and travels to many boating destinations including poker runs and Shootout’s annually. He is an independent writer and has published numerous reviews. The goal for this author is to provide information to other performance boaters about specific events and areas from a participants perspective versus general commentary. Questions and comments can be directed to him at kap328@cox.net
