Recap – Two Rivers 2020
As we drove up to the site of the regatta, I was excited to see everyone. This was my first regatta of the season and I hadn’t seen anyone from CRAW since the Christmas party. We pulled up to the site around 8, and the site looked awesome! It was in a great location, right on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan! Immediately I was met with familiar faces. Half of the group was at one of Robbie Daniel’s famous “chalk talks”, which perplexed me. Why are they still called chalk talks because at this point we are using white boards and PowerPoints. That conversation is for a different article. Anyways, once the group came back, the usual CRAW shenanigans ensued. The rest of the night turned into a party from the old famed CRAW days. Which is crazy because it was Friday night. As our cups kept flowing, one thing led to another. At midnight Clay was playing doctor on Kate’s car, trying to replace the spark plugs. We wiped his brow when needed, and made sure he was not parched during the whole operation. In the words of my dad, “the wheels had come off the bus”.
As the sun rose and the coffee was brewed for the inevitable hangovers that occurred, we stood around contemplating whether or not to sail. We postponed until noon and everyone was off doing something to make the most of the area and the time we had. Some people walked along the beach, a few went hiking in the park nearby, some even crowded in the Korte RV for the unveiling of the LOL Surprise doll. But after a few hours and at least one storm, we decided not to sail. Gusts of wind up to 30 knots and the high rolling waves were deemed unsafe. Liquor started flowing again, and around 4:30 we started getting ready for the potluck. The food was amazing and it was great to be in that type of friendly and warm environment with people I thoroughly enjoy. The night went on and it turned into a wholesome night of music being played and sung, card games, and even some sparklers made an appearance.
Sunday was particularly rough. Not because we had to wake up early after another late night, but because of the waves. It was difficult getting off the shore, and once you got past the surf, it was still super rough. During the day we ended up getting 3 races in, and even had some carnage. We had at least 3 boats that flipped, one of them being Frank who had turtled the boat for the first time in his sailing career. After an eventful day everyone managed to get back safely. The journey back to shore was a lot worse than before, because of the minefield of swimmers littered throughout the water. And after it all, the Selsmeyer’s still managed to snag the win.
After the great experience at this venue, I’m definitely excited to go back. The beach was beautiful, the parking lot was clean, and it had a ton of great places to go around town. We’ll have to wait and see what happens with Two Rivers Regatta 2021.
Cole Korte
