Bayside Poker Run is Smooth Sailing

The crew of Speed Queen won the Chesapeake Challenge in the 2026 Bayside Poker Run. Pictured from left are Brook Lusby, Mark Lusby, Anna Sexauer, Will Sexauer and Grace Tankard. 

The 2026 Bayside Poker Run held on Saturday July 25 was a great success on a boating day that featured beautiful Chesapeake Bay weather after a brief rainy start. This exciting event involved small boats cruising the Chesapeake Bay in a navigational competition that included Onancock, Pungoteague, and Nandua creeks. Once again this year the Onancock Rotary Club and the Pungoteague Ruritan Club were partners in sponsoring the event.

Following the Blessing of the Fleet and a captains meeting, boaters spent a day on the creeks visiting six checkpoints and locating two mystery locations. A large crowd of crew members gathered at the end of the day’s adventures for an awards celebration at the Eastern Shore Yacht and Country Club on Taylor Creek.

This year’s small boat competition once again included the Chesapeake Challenge in the navigational component of the event. This challenge required the crew of each boat to compete in a lawn game or nautical activity at each checkpoint. When the final points were tabulated the Speed Queen captained by Mark Lusby of the Pocomoke River topped the leaderboard with 193 points and claimed the $500 prize. Following closely were boats captained by Joe Eller and Matthew Freeze whose crews posted 190 points and 188 points respectively.

The best poker hand winning a $500 value weekend vacation trip was revealed at the showdown by Angie Mabalot of Belle Haven. She said she knew very little about poker but felt good about her chances when she drew four jacks among her six cards.

John Pellegrino won the highly prized Blue Crab IV created by Turner Sculpture for the Ruritan raffle.

Thanks to the generosity of the many local businesses which provided sponsorships and donated merchandise, many hundreds of dollars of additional “dock prizes” were won by captains and crew members on the fleet of boats. In addition to thanking the businesses for their contributions, event coordinator Courtney Nottingham also expressed appreciation to East Point Marina, Keith Lilliston State Farm, Bill and Dawn Dougherty, Tom Weeks, the Procter and Shelly families, Cokesberry, and the Eastern Shore Yacht and Country Club for helping to make the event possible.

The generosity of the many donors and supporters will help the Onancock Rotary Club and the Pungoteague Ruritan Club contribute to community service outreach activities and also award several college scholarships to local students.