Event

	Sarasota Cruise			March 25-30, 2010 by Ginny Rapp
	It was a sunny Florida morning March 25th as the Marco Bay Yacht Club of twelve boats left the docks for our Sarasota Cruise. As we departed for beautiful Useppa Island, Cookin' and Denise’s HOPE lead Group A (Cookin, Denise’s Hope, Molly B, Odiekanobi, Pinch Her and Sea Crop) from R2 at 9:00am, which was followed by Group B (Good Vibrations, My Ruthie, Our Lady, Rip Rapp, TenneSea Waltz and Therapy) leaving at 9:30am. Useppa Island is a tropical, quaint getaway, and everyone enjoyed exploring this beautiful island and discovering its memorable uniqueness. Dinner was served at the Barron Collier Inn, which has been recently restored with many beautiful historical antique furnishing and where we experienced the easy old Florida lifestyle of 100 years ago. The next morning brought a misty fog over the harbor when we departed for Marina Jacks – Sarasota. A few of the larger boats went outside to Venice (lead by Capt. Bob and First-mate Jack McCaslin Rapp in TenneSea Waltz), but most of us took the leisurely ICW on the inside to Marina Jacks. When we arrived at Marina Jacks, so did the sunshine and we had a nice Dock-Tail party outside with lots of yummy dishes from our first-mates! Included was a birthday cake for 8-years old Ryan McCaslin (Rapp). Saturday evening we attended the Golden Apple Dinner Theater and were happy to have Claudette and Barry Gelfand drive up from Marco to join us. Everyone enjoyed the upbeat singing and dancing of the Lil Abner cast, especially the vivacious, bodacious Ms. McSwine! On Sunday the day started cloudy, and then progressed to chilly rain, but our spirits were not dampened as we all jumped into cabs and travelled to the Ringling Art Museum or the Classic Car Museums. The Art Museum group was lead by a very knowledgeable, informative tour guide, who left us to explore the Norman Rockwell exhibit on our own. As for the Classic Car Group…how about that red E-Type Jag…. almost as drop dead beautiful as Ms. McSwine!! The Sarasota leg of our cruise ended with a dinner at Marina Jack’s on the third level. Here we enjoyed friends and shared boating stories and all agreed that even though the weather was “iffy” it was the end of another perfect day of boating. As Fred, Sea Crop, so eloquently put it; “There are good ships and there are wood ships, And there are ships that sail the sea, But the best ships are friendships, and may they ever be.” Monday morning dawned with more of the same windy rainy weather as Sunday, but about 10:00am we decided to leave Marina Jacks and travel the ICW to Tarpon Point in Cape Coral. I for one have never seen waves 2-3 feet in the ICW and we all made our way slowly and cautiously through the bridges and across the bays to Tarpon Point. It was unanimously decided to award the “SPUNKIEST BOAT AWARD” to the Eames on their open cockpit 23” Sea Ray, Great Vibrations. The prize, a very large absorbent sponge, was very much appreciated as there was not a dry spot to be found in their cockpit or on their person as they pulled gratefully into the Tarpon Point Marina. Tarpon Point is a beautiful destination with plenty of dock space, a new marina with deep water basin and fuel, a lovely pool and very easy access from the ICW. We enjoyed our last dinner together at Marker 92, then early Tuesday morning TenneSea Waltz braved the choppy seas to Marco, followed by Therapy, Our Lady, My Ruthie, Sea Crop, Molly B and Odiekanobi later in the day. The precious few boaters left made the most of their day by piling onto Denise’s Hope and heading for Rum Runners for lunch. Then early Wednesday morning as the sun came out and the seas calmed down, the last of the boats returned home to Marco. We all agreed that boating is GREAT, and we all look forward to our next opportunity to be with cheerful friends, good conversations and beautiful destinations. Thank you all for making this such a wonderful trip. Special thanks to John & Ruthie Putnam for pictures & videos and to Alan & Ginny Rapp for more pictures. ;-))