Floating food truck makes anticipated relaunch during Pottahawk weekend

Big Rig Burgers returned to MacDonald Turkey Point Marina on Saturday and successfully launched into Lake Erie. (Karis Mapp/CTV News)

The team at Big Rig Burgers made a successful launch in Turkey Point after their floating food truck almost sank last year.

The multi-purpose vehicle is a boat that looks like a transport truck and doubles as a restaurant specializing in smash burgers.

“We’ve had the boat in the water now over 20 times. A lot of cruises around lakes. The stability on the launching is pretty seamless, we’ve got it down pat,” said business co-owner Joshua Tuck.

Dozens of people gathered at MacDonald Turkey Point Marina to watch the rig descend into the water. Many were the same ones who watched the boat almost sink the year prior during launch.

“Last year we were here and watched the poor thing sink real quick in the marina. We jumped in and helped pull them out,” one bystander told CTV News. “I’m just really happy to see that he’s back in here this year. He had the guts to rebuild and it looks like he’s built a better unit.”

Tuck said last year’s launch came with complications after a tire on their trailer popped on the way into the water, causing too much pressure on one of the supporting pontoons.

“When we backed into the launch, one side of the boat floatation device filled with water and caused it to roll completely,” he recalled.

The marina’s general manager Brad Thomson was there to give a helping hand last year and said he’s grateful the company is back to try again.

“Thank goodness nobody was hurt and there were no environmental issues or anything like that. If that would have happened out on the water, that would have been terrible. So it did happen in the right place, we responded quickly,” Thomson said.

One year later and the truck has a list of improvements, including the fact that it’s now placed on a barge instead of the previous pontoons.

“The new hull itself has a capacity of over 25,000 pounds. So we’re about triple what we need to float,” Tuck explained.

Other changes included kitchen upgrades and the size of the menu.

“We’ve actually made our menu smaller so we could have faster service,” Tuck said.

He was also joined by two of his company partners who helped guide the rig into the water.

“We both have been sourcing more equipment, fully renovating it, building a custom trailer, outfitting it back to the way it was,” said Dylan Osterroth, one of the helpers.

“It feels great considering the amount of time we’ve put into that, it just makes it feel even better. It’s not like we paid someone to do it. It was all of our own blood, sweat and tears.”

When the boat hit the water, applause erupted from those watching.

Pottahawk Weekend

Big Rig Burgers made its anticipated return for celebrations happening at Pottahawk Point.

The boat party happens annually on the second Sunday in July, but many people launch their boat Saturday to begin the festivities early.

Thomson said his marina is one of the busiest launches for the weekend because of its four-pad ramp and proximity to the Lake Erie sand bar where the party takes place.

“Last year [on Sunday], approximately 120 boats used our boat ramp, but we also have 750 slips and we have 128 cottages along our waterways that all have vessels as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tuck and his team made the journey on Saturday to feed hungry boaters, and plan to do the same on Sunday.

Next weekend, they’ll be headed to Lake Simcoe for another event.