Exclusive Interview: BUD BASH PHIL Talks About: His 4-Boat Armada, Bud Bash on Houghton Lake and the Fascinating World of Michigan Boat Parties!

Added Bonus – Photo Album of images that are too hot for this article (sorry, need to be a crew subscriber or deckhand to view)

The doorbell is buzzing periodically here at the Polish Sea League in Hamtramck as a steady stream of colorful characters (ie: woman with two dogs on leashes; another female Hamtramck City Councilmember whom we literally just watched five minutes ago on live-TV is now at the bar eating a salad), enter and sit at the bar.

The PSL is a cool private dues-paying bar (ie: cost $10.00/yr for membership) where anyone can join, it’s not just for Polish boaters. As the bartender Nicole pointed out, one advantage of being a PSL member is you can schedule a private party and your friends are able to attend with no additional membership fees. Opened in the 1940’s and currently owned by Joe Karpinski, the PSL is a laidback, no-frills spot with a bar in the front room and pool table and dart boards in the back room. It is fun community of regulars who all know each other.

The Captain and I are sitting here with BUD BASH PHIL discussing the finer points of Bud Bash, Michigan boating parties and Phil’s growing armada of seaworthy vessels. Phil is from Saint Clair Shores and is well known at Michigan boating parties for “Blowin’ titty glitter all over the chests of stellarly hot chicks. They’re not all stellarly hot… A group of grandmas jump up on the boat I’ll blow it on their chest also! The grandmas show up to Raft-Off. I show love. “

Traditionally held the first Saturday in August, BUD BASH takes place on the South Shore of Houghton Lake in Houghton Lake, Michigan. It was started in 1985 by the owner of the Limberlost Bar and sponsored by Budweiser beer. Budweiser brought in female models, promotional gear and materials, etc, but pulled their sponsorship after only a few years because the party became so raunchy and the models complained nonstop. But the party rages on.

Phil talks about the wild annual Bud Bash boat party on Houghton Lake

31st Annual Bud Bash takes place Saturday, August 6th, 2016

“Let’s see, I started going to Bud Bash on Houghton Lake in 2003. Growing up, I summered on Lake James at my Grandparents house in Prudenville. I would stay the full summer, every summer, at their place. I got my boaters certificate in middle school when I was 12-years old; it was actually required at school. My Grandpa hooked me up with a 9.9 Evinrude and 12ft aluminum minnow. I was on Lake James constantly, daily, fishing and cruising around, all summer long for several summers. My friend a few doors down had a pontoon so we would take that out, too. It was then that we first heard about Bud Bash.”

“My friend’s Dad would drink from the balcony of a cottage on Houghton Lake and watch the Bud Bash party going on down on the water. It was 2002, I was 20-years old and we were wakeboarding on Houghton Lake. We saw Bud Bash for the first time and were mystified. We came back in 2003, prepared, and were ready to rock. We had a wakeboard boat with a tower up top. The Bud Bash party at that time wasn’t really on social media. The only photos were on the Bar’s website. It had a few cheesy outdated photos from inside their bar. We had a blast! So, we came back again in 2004. I came on a pontoon and started a Myspace page for Bud Bash and things just took off from there.”

At the beginning I was very dedicated to taking photos and video to get the word out about this great party that raged quietly (Bud Bash). I started with the Myspace page which changed to a Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Snapchat, Twitter, and even Tinder in the Bud Bash name to make young people aware of the party. Just this past year I realized the friend capacity on Facebook is 5000. When you reach that, Facebook tries to convert your profile to a page and I had to send my state ID to prove I was Bud Bash. That was interesting.”

“The Youtube videos got enough traction that some videos from the Higgins Lake 4th of July party and Houghton Lake Bud Bash ended up on national TV. Spike TV has a show called “Most Dangerous and Outrageous.” That was the only time I was paid because of the party, not that I was looking for it. The producers of the show at Nash entertainment contacted me.”

Added Bonus – Photo Album of images that are too hot for this article (sorry, need to be a crew subscriber or deckhand to view)

“For most people, the Bud Bash experience is you park at Houghton Lake High School (4433 West Houghton Lake Drive, Houghton Lake, MI). Then you walk across the street and down through a narrow path next to the Limberlost Bar (4168 West Houghton Lake Drive, HL) where you enter the water on the South Shore of Houghton Lake into the center of a raging party. This is a shallow area of the lake. The deepest point is waist-deep here. Water level depends on year and how packed-in the boats are. Things really get going around Noon and the party peaks around 6pm.”

“Bud Bash is mostly a young crowd, people in their mid-20’s to mid-30’s. People get so ripped. Lotta tramp stamps, lotta tits, lotta trashy groupie types. The cops at Bud Bash are like yellow-jackets at a cider mill, they’re pesky and they’re everywhere. They see Bud Bash as a major source of income for their legal system. Oftentimes, girl pulls her boobs out and cops on Zodiac rafts will yank her off the boat and ticket or arrest her.”

Hotels are booked to capacity. Make sure you book early and do not tell them you are there for Bud Bash. Most hotels will not rent to you if they know that’s why you are there. You can also rent cottages in and around the area if you book far enough in advance

“Bud Bash has intensity. It has a pulsating center, a nucleus, a center of gravity which many of the other boat parties don’t have. Yes, the Raft-Off in Muscamoot Bay has “the Gauntlet,” Jobbie has “Gull Island,” etc., but none as intense as the tiny core of the South Shore at Bud Bash. But at the same time, places like Muscamoot Bay are always wild So you’re gonna have some fun wherever you go!”

“There’s a quiet spot on Houghton Lake called Iroquois Sandbar (aka: Grass Island) where maybe 200 people or so party here low key while Bud Bash is going down on the other side of the lake. Bud Bash is mostly good stuff, especially some great girl-on-girl stuff.”

“And if you do come to Houghton Lake, I also recommend checking out two great local dive bars: Old Town Tavern and The Nottingham. JD’s Old Town Tavern has some beautiful country girl servers and The Nottingham Bar is just great. At the Nottingham, the floor is falling into the abyss and slanting into the ground. It’s a very old bar- opened in 1947. The owner/operator/bartender is a very old woman in her Eighties, Virginia Kalis, and she’s a little bit ornery. Come here and get a dollar beer or a shot of Black Velvet whiskey. Its quite an experience. Another good bar is The Sand Bar in Prudenville.”

Jesse’s famous Double-Decker Tiki Boat is the centerpiece of Phil’s 4-boat Armada

“I first met Jesse at Bud Bash the year I went to jail there. I was on Houghton Lake setting up at 7am right next to the dock. Jesse was setting up about 30-yards from the dock in waist-deep water.”

“He came over and told me not to set up my “Drink O” CMU Tailgate Drinking Game (where girls press their boobs against a sheet of plexiglass) right next to the dock. He said I would get arrested. I should’ve taken Jesse’s advice. Sure enough, I got arrested for “gambling.” Bail was $300 and I paid another $200 at the courthouse. Lesson learned.”

“In 2006, Jesse and I joined forces and we’ve partied endlessly on the thousands of fabulous lakes of Michigan ever since. We’ve formed a small armada of sorts. I come out with three pontoon boats. One is a group pontoon with a stripper pole. We join with Jesse’s tiki boat and have a floatilla of four boats:

Jesse’s tiki boat pulls out of Bay City
The Bud Light boat pulls out of Cadillac
Keith pulls his boat the Lick’R Box out of Gaylord
Scott’s “Temptation is a Mother” Crownline boat pulls out of Bay City
Dan pulls his Baja out of Chippewa Lake

Tiki Boat Arsenal of Pleasure:

Dildo lure (neon dilo on a fishing pole)
Glitter (by the pound; to blow on girls chests; huge crowd favorite, the girls all love this)
Water cannons (for self-defense)
Cases of whipped cream (for spraying on titties and licking off)
Coolers full of Jello shots
A stripper pole
The Raft (this is our centerpiece. We call it “The Strip ‘R’ Twist.” It’s a floating 8×8 stripper pad. This baby has been to Bud Bash, Torch Lake Sand Bar, Hot Boat Hardy Dam, etc, all over Michigan. It’s a crowd favorite.)

“Our gimmick is copied but every year we’re evolving.”

Phil’s Early Experiences @ Bull Gap Hill Climb party (Mio, Michigan)

“I used to be really into motors and wheels, dirt bikes especially. Our big party was in Mio, Michigan. My buddy Dan’s parents took us to my first “Bull Gap Hill Climb” party when I was 15. It was wild! Bull Gap is a fenced-in 60-acre sand dune area in the Au Sable River Valley portion of the Huron-Manistee National Forest. It was a favorite spot of hillclimb riders for decades. It’s not the same now; hardly anyone goes there anymore. I saw it every year from 1995-2000. It’s just trucks in a hill climb. At the bottom, the truck is surrounded by people. Girls had to show their boobs and they got sprayed with beer. If you didn’t show your boobs, you could get a half-full can of beer thrown at you. About 10,000 people used to gather every year for this party. I remember there was a girl wearing overalls. She was naked underneath in the bed of a pickup truck. A huge crowd was around her watching her getting drunk and naked. Suddenly, this guy next to me tries to jam a quarter up her vagina! It was dangerous though. A lot of violence. Reckless RV area, no limits. These people would burn and stack cop cars. I rode a CR250 Honda dirtbike there for years. I miss it.”

Phil on Boating Parties in Michigan

“I love all boat parties in Michigan. Michigan is one of the best boating states in the country. We have such a vibrant community of boat parties here; such a huge and amazing collection of awesome people and some really great scenery. It’s incredible. You meet people at these parties and see them again and again over the years and you become friends. Plus, Michigan has some of the hottest girls in the U.S.!”

Phil’s Top 10 Boating Parties in Michigan:

1.) Jobbie Nooner (Gull Island, Lake St. Clair)
2.) Torch Lake Sand Bar (“excellent 4th of July party. Best collection of hottest topless chicks of any of the Michigan boat parties. Too many cops now, though.”)
3.) Bud Bash (Houghton Lake)
4.) Raft-Off (Muscamoot Bay)
5.) Hot Boat Weekend (Hardy Dam Pond)
6.) Boyne Thunder Boat Party (Boyne City) “poker boat, excellent boat party, mostly rich guys with expensive boats”
7.) South Higgins Lake Chicken Fights (the Sand Bar @ South Higgins Lake State Park on 4th of July weekend) “girls are really hot, the lake is gorgeous, overall more classy and not as trashy as Bud Bash”
8.) Skipper Buds (aka: Hanky Pank Bayou) happens Labor Day Weekend at Smiths Bridge in Spring Lake, Michigan
9.) Woodtick Boat Party (Downriver in Erie, Michigan) “haven’t been to this one yet but I’ve heard good things”
10.)Port Huron Float Down (“this is actually river tubing on the St. Clair River but its still fun”)

“These parties are created by the people who show up to them. Our Tiki Boat Armada is just one of many, many attractions at these parties. Whatever happens, the parties will remain and outlast all of us. We’ve been cleaning up more in recent years. We usually cordon off a ‘perimeter of cleanliness’ around our boat. At Bud Bash now, we do full-lake cleanup with 7-8 people on the Sunday after Bud Bash to help keep the lake clean. We will continue doing this and encourage others to party hard but be responsible and clean up after themselves.”

Phil’s Advice for Future Partiers:

“If you haven’t experienced any of the major boat parties in Michigan, I highly recommend you check them out at least once, even if you’re not a boater. You can go by foot into Bud Bash or the Torch Lake Sand Bar. Or hop onto a friend’s boat for Jobbie Nooner or the Raft-Off. However you and your friends can get there, just go out and experience it. Get a neck full of beads, grab a case of beer, some bottled water and a waterproof camera and make it happen!”

The 31st Annual Bud Bash takes place Saturday, August 6th, 2016!

Stop by and say Hi to Phil. He’ll blow some FREE titty glitter on your chest!