7th SE Aquasport gathering

[RickK]

So it looks like the 7th is the date  8)
We'll plan on Beer can at the north end of Longboat key - the weather forecast is looking decent for the weekend so far.
Meet at noonish (we'll be there earlier of course).  Look for my 230 and Dave's 250.

For you people coming in from out of the area and can spend an extra hour taking a nice scenic idle down the inside of Longboat key, I'll post the channel markings for Zwick's channel soon.  It's a channel that is maybe 30 ft wide along about 3 miles of the east shore of Longboat key - nice cruising for all involved and all at low speed.

[RickK]

We'll see how these come out - seems the red lines are hard to see:
You can see that the channel is in the middle to south end of longboat


Anyway, to get to Zwicks Channel from the gathering head south in the ICW (red line is faint in spots)


After you make the turn to the east in the marked channel go about a qtr mile and then start looking to starboard to spot the markers for the Buttonwood channel:


Once you've found the channel follow the red lines to enjoy the channel:






When you come out the south end you can turn east get up on plane and head out into the bay to head north back to the gathering.
There is a decent restaurant (Moore's Stone Crab) just inside and south of the gathering spot when you get hungry - maybe we can do a re-gather there like we did at Billy's Crab Shack?

[cusnooking]

Ha Rick my wife Johanne and I will be there saturday morning we may try to get a little fishing in , I think I will put in at coquina park. See you there !!  Chuck

[RickK]

Ha Rick my wife Johanne and I will be there saturday morning we may try to get a little fishing in , I think I will put in at coquina park. See you there !!  Chuck

Hi Chuck, it'll be nice to see your wife again - been a year or more?  
Good idea to put in at the ramp close by. With the forecast, the bay would be a bit rough for a 170.  At least we're not heading into it like the usual winter pattern - straight out of the north.
Are you going to be there early?  Should I plan breakfast?
I'll be monitoring channel 68, so give me a hail.  Not sure where Dave and I'll end up but you can bet it'll be close by.

For the rest of the members, Coquina Bayside is the ramp just north of the pass.

Here is the marine forecast for the area http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/GM/853.html

[cusnooking]

Ha Rick I may not get there till 9.00- 10.00 Johanne does not like early. so no breakfast thanks , I'll look for you and Dave . See you than

[RickK]

Well we're ready.  Dave has a couple things left to do this morning on his trailer but he says his boat is ready.  He's been battling an overheating problem for about a year it seems - says he has it fixed now. I got new brakes put on my trailer and got it back last night  8) The 230 is ready.
I'll do my last minute food, ice shopping this morning, get gas on the way out and we should be on the water by 1 today - can't wait.
If anyone needs to call me my cell number is nine four one seven three seven two one six five.  I'll also be monitoring vhf channel 68.
See y'all out there - we'll try to get a good spot early tomorrow morning.

[cusnooking]

You guys missed the most beautiful day on the water.  Was a little windy but outside the pass was perfect, only four boats showed but we still had a great time.  Rick Dave, Chuck and Scott and his son Joshua had a wonderful time.  Here's a couple of pictures to keep you going until the next gathering.  



The only problem was the BIG boats would not play with the little boat ?








You guys really missed a great gathering!!!!    THANKS RICK!!!

[RickK]

Thanks for taking the pics Chuck - good job.  I can't believe I didn't even break out my camera.
The wind made the trek a little challenging for sure.  We came up Sarasota bay and there were 2-3s in the bay     Plus there was at least a dozen big boats (35+ ft) on plane heading south as we were heading north - just made it that much worse.  Thank goodness for the helm eisenglass.  I should have taken Dave's suggestion to take the gulf for the trip more serious. Next time....
Met up with Chuck and Johanne and started the gathering.  The tide was slack when we got there and about the time we wanted to back into the beach the tide had started ripping in and was so strong that we never made that happen - so that is why you see the flotilla off the beach.  Chuck was the shuttle to the beach if you wanted to go.  I guess Johanne was walking the beach a bit and ran into some nudist guy in the bushes  
We met Scott on this trip and he had made the run from 10th street and added the 4th to the gathering.  He has an Explorer that he bought new back in '97.  We had a great time shooting the breeze throughout the afternoon and when he left he took the gulf home as did we about 20 minutes later.  I didn't see him on the way south so I assume he made it ok.  We ran about 5-600 ft off the beach and there was no waves to speak of - cruised at about 30mph all the way 8) Nice to meet you Scott and also Josh  
Dave and I were running side by side for the duration and he stopped about half a mile from the pass we were heading for - seems he blew a powerhead on one engine (oil pump stopped and he had disconnected his buzzer during his overheating episode  :x  )

[Circle Hooked]

Chuck thanks for getting the pics up they came out great,and it was great meeting you and Johanne.                                                                                                                                    You guys Rick and Dave are great people and it was my pleasure to meet all of you,me and Josh had a great time and it was well worth the wet ride to get there.                                   Thanks Rick for setting up a great meeting and i hope to see you all again soon,thanks for a great time to all.                                                                                                        Scott.

[Circle Hooked]

Thanks Rick,ya we got back just fine the gulf was the way to go for sure,and did you guy see the boat with three different outboards on it,Evinrude,Yamaha and Suzuki i think, he went by fast.Sorry to here about Dave's problem i hope it's something simple to fix.And again it was great meeting you and Dave.

[RickK]

Nope, didn't see the boat - we were in pretty close though.  I was too busy dodging crab traps :x
Dave's engine problem is not going to be cheap but he says he can rebuild it himself.

[Circle Hooked]

We were on the west side of the traps,any time you can do the work yourself that's a big savings

[Aswaff400]

i wish i could have gone.  i wanted to get the new engine finished for my truck... could have towed the SR down... our trailer is ready for a long haul second thought, towing a 32 ft trailer up and over the Skyway in that high wind yeah no thanks, i'd run the gulf  lol

[stringali]

Hey Aquasport Gang!

Steve from the north....Long Island, NY.  Would have loved being a part of your outing.  I bet that it was great!  I would have made some of my homemade Italian meatballs!   I am so jealous of that beautiful water!  Someday it would be great to be a part of it......maybe when i retire....in about 18 years!


Keep up the great posts!  This site has helped me out a lot.  

Steve

Just an FYI, if anyone is need of anchors or line etc. (I saw you guys anchored offshore)  I got my boat at the end of august and the anchor was not doing its job.  I found this gentleman name Dave at Northstar marine on ebay.  He set me up with an outfit that included a 13lb. Bruce anchor.  Never heard of it, always used fluke anchors.  This Anchor set faster than any anchor I ever used.

[RickK]

This gathering seemed to be an Explorer oriented one (except for the brave CUSnookin) - you would have fit right in.  Wind was booking though at 25-30 - we were on the lee side blocked by the land thank goodness.  We still camped all weekend - Friday til Sunday morning - the Explorer crowd is a brave & tough crowd