What a nice time!!
Dave (CaptAqua25EXPLTD) and I towed up to Fort Desoto and put in at an almost empty ramp.
The wind was brisk but nothing was going to stop us from getting there.
Only the brave ventured out but what we found will certainly tick off the
people who didn't/couldn't try. We arrived right at noon to an almost
deserted beach.
Actually those pix were at the end of the day. Still pretty desolate for a
popular place.
Jim (captflatback) was already there and I found him on the East side of
the island, so we decided to move to the South side. Come to find out, he
had already anchored up on this side but somehow his anchor line was
cutoff leaving him with only one anchor, so he was hiding on the East side
waiting for Bob to bring out another anchor for him.
I anchored up with 2 anchors and then Jim anchored up and tied off that
beautiful boat to me - worked out great.
Dave anchored up his BIG beautiful party boat to the east of me and it
wasn't long before my wife headed over to get out of the sun.
Bob and Joel (Classic) arrived next to round out the get together. It was
cool seeing two 68 flatbacks tied up side by side - Jims already redone
and Bob/Joels still a diamond in the rough. Bob said this was only his
2nd trip on the boat.
You can see the new casting deck they put in and the teak(?) sprayrails.
JJ called about now to say his knee was all swollen up and even though he
wanted to be there, he probably shouldn't make it. Next time John.
Anyway, what a great bunch of guys - it was like we have known each
other for a long time (ended up Bob/Joel/Jim HAVE known each other
forever and Dave and I have known each other forever) and we hung out
either in the water - temp 72 - or in the boats chatting away.
I felt a little bad for Dave because he was the only non- center console
classic out there (his is 12 years old now and only one of 114 made), so
he didn't have the same common interests as the rest of us. Don't worry
Dave, you're still part of the family and we'll recruit some others with big
party boats for next years event. Hell, I may even have one by then, wife
permitting
.
I got some closeups of the dive boat's special hardware
I had never seen the windows on either the Dive boat or Jims so I went
aboard the Dive boat for some pix
If you look closely at this one you can see the floor of the gulf - wasn't
anything interesting to look at, just sand/shell.
We were talking about the flatback ride and Jim told some stories of
the "mind of their own" handling and Bob talked of the unique ride. The
wind layed down nicely around 2pm and Bob/Joel took me for a ride to let
me experience it for myself. I will say it's different. Instead of jumping
up on plane, the boat just moves forward faster and faster and then the
bow starts going down. Then is when it gets different and the boat starts
to "bow steer". Oh well - have to get used to it. We did drift across some
skinnny water (around a foot below keel) looking through the windows -
me hoping to spot a lobster or something edible
Overall a wonderful time and we spent a lot of time talking about what to
do next year to attract more members out. Jim had some great ideas
including some fishing competition (since he's a professional guide, should
we let him fish too?) and maybe some giveaways for the winner - no
cheating looking through those windows either
Joel had some great ideas of new locations near the ramp so people,
maybe in the middle of their rebuild, can still come by car.
The next Rendezvous will probably be the end of April. Hopefully
members with kids in sports and such will be able to make it.
The funny thing is throughout the day I never took one pic of my boat -
WHAT A DOPE!! Anyway, imagine this anchored between Dave and Jim's
boats.
Hope to see you all at the next Rendezvous.
