By Tank Sears

Now that the dust has settled, the water has calmed and the skin is beginning to peel, I’m able to sit down and write my account from the 2010 Desert Storm Poker Run. Somehow, we (my wife and I) survived another one! After missing last year’s event due to our son being born, I was determined to make it out for Desert Storm. Of course, unforeseen events happen and we almost didn’t make it once again—but at the last minute we pulled it together and made the five-hour trek to Lake Havasu on the Arizona-California border.

Instead of me “reporting” on this event, I’m writing about our experience. But let me preface this by saying there is so much to do and see at Desert Storm it’s overwhelming. With the flood of people coming from coast to coast to attend the organized events, plus the “unofficial events” (i.e. raft-ups and various hangouts), it’s hard to be everywhere and see everything. (Check out more Desert Storm Poker Run photos in the Powerboat photo gallery.)

Unfortunately we missed the street party on Thursday. However, from viewing photos online and hearing from many who attended, the amount of hardware and mind-boggling money represented at the affair was staggering. A little rain did not get in the way of those die-hard poker run fans who wanted to see and be seen.

We arrived in town around noon on Friday and immediately hooked up with a buddy (Justin Silvers) who brought his behemoth Donzi 39 ZSC Sport Cruiser. I gotta say, I could get used to this type of boating. It’s wasn’t the fastest on the lake, but the Donzi got us to where we needed to be in a timely manner while sipping cocktails! A/C, toilet, two refrigerators, a bimini top and other creature comforts made the overall experience that much more inviting.

While floating on the lake, Craig Barrie (of Donzi Marine) called and asked if we’d like to go for a ride in the pearl, candy-orange 38 ZR Competition. It didn’t take me but half a second to accept his offer. A short time later we were off and Barrie quickly powered the beautiful V-bottom up to just over 100 mph. The boat absolutely rode like it was on rails.

Friday night we met up with many friends at the Naked Turtle Bar located at the host hotel—the Nautical Resort. Kelly and I shared drinks and stories with Ray Lee and the crew from LaveyCraft Performance Boats, Tom Abraham, who drug his new—to him—36 MTI out from New York, Bill Pyburn, who once again returned with his 388 Skater Pure Platinum all the way from Florida, the crew from Powerboat magazine and many others.

Saturday morning came early (and hard). With help from a bottle of Advil, we ventured back to Silvers’ Donzi 39 ZSC and floated around the perimeter of the Desert Storm Shootout. We were amazed at the fleet of shootout participants and the sea of spectators that lined the course to get a good view of the action.

While there, we ran into Ed Herbst, who brought a fleet of boats including his 19-foot turbocharged Schiada and his 46-foot Skater, all painted in his signature candy red graphics. We also ran into world champion offshore racer Scot Conrad of Hering propeller fame who was enjoying the view of the shootout course as well.

Unfortunately the Donzi wasn’t equipped with an anchor, which proved problematic. After tying up to Dave Anderson (founder of ABD Racingwerks in Riverside, Calif.) we managed to drag his beautiful 28-foot Eliminator and another Eliminator he was anchored with across the spectator fleet. Before upsetting too many people, we left the area and headed for the newly built Naked Pirate Bar, located at Pirate Cove Resort in Park Moabi, upriver from Lake Havasu.

We apparently weren’t the only ones with this in mind—the ride upriver was reminiscent of the 405 freeway. For those of you who have never driven Southern California’s 405, let me just say, it isn’t referred to as the 405 parking lot for no reason.

I’ve followed the trends on Havasu since the days when Copper Canyon was the place to be. Then the “it” place moved to the area upriver known as “The Sandbar,” before making its way to Steamboat Cove, followed by the Channel under the world famous London Bridge becoming the hot spot. I can say, with absolute confidence, that the waterway leading to the Naked Pirate Bar is officially the new “it” spot.

Both sides of the river were packed with virtually every performance boat known to man. Sizes ranged from smaller Hallett and Nordic V-bottoms to giant Skaters and MTIs and everything in between. People stood next to their boats on the sandy shores while watching the seemingly endless supply of eye candy float by.

After finding a perfect spot to beach the Donzi, well-known performance boat fanatic and Washington Redskins defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth beached his stunning 48 MTI Terminator next to us, giving me the perfect opportunity to look closer at this awesome machine. I’m looking forward to the full test of the boat in an upcoming issue of Powerboat magazine, but let me preface the article with the facts—photos of this boat due it no justice!

After enjoying the sights and sounds, we made our way back to the London Bridge Channel, then continued down lake to Havasu Springs for dinner and the perfect ending to a perfect day on the lake.

On Sunday, we were forced to leave early to get back to our 14-month-old son. But before leaving we watched a few laps of the Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Association (POPRA) races. The racing venue has really grown over the past few years and has turned into a great event. The powers that be at POPRA did a terrific job of creating a course that worked well within Thompson Bay and allowed the crowd on the shore at the Nautical Resort and those on their boats to view the racing action with ease.

My hat’s off to Jim Nichols and the whole LakeRacer LLC crew for pulling off another fantastic poker run. The Desert Storm Poker Run extravaganza on Lake Havasu never ceases to amaze me with the amount of events, spectators and participants that flock from across the nation to be apart of what many consider the best boating weekend of the year.

Hope to see you next year for Desert Storm 2011.