Marco Bay Yacht Club takes a 3-hour tour
May 17, 2007
The crew and passengers aboard the "Minnow" set out for a three-hour tour, got into a fierce storm and were shipwrecked on a desert island that the song tells us was "primitive as could be."
By Capt. Carl Kelly
Yet, the seven castaways seemed to have everything they could possibly want to live comfortably on Gilligan's Island.
On May 10, chasing that island theme were 40 boaters in 12 boats from the Marco Bay Yacht Club.
They visited Gilligan's Island, which is only a few miles southeast of Goodland and is more often called Panther Key. Their boats ranged from a 17-foot center console to a 54-foot cruiser, and by default, there were 12 skippers.
But, there was only one Gilligan (Dan Martinak), one pair of Howells (Hal and Carolyn Edgar), one Professor (John Putnam), one Mary Ann (Ruth Putnam), certainly only one Ginger (Denise Rising), and there was one Skipper (Bob Burns).
All wore their individually appropriate castaway costumes and Thurston Howell III carried his obligatory cigar.
Also, they had everything they could possibly want for their three-hour tour on the beach - beer, brats, hamburgers, two gas grills, potato salad, sauerkraut, fruit salad, an open tent, beach chairs, umbrellas, and a generator-powered boom box playing the island theme song.
The smaller boats anchored at or near the beach, the larger boats anchored out.
Gilligan served as tender pilot and ferried visitors from their boats to the island.
What more could they want? Ginger didn't even get the fringe of her long, split-sided evening dress wet.
Lunch, then games
They shared lunch then played games on the beach. Dave Besuden served as game organizer, giving directives with his bull horn. The first game was an egg toss - spouses tossing eggs to one another over an ever- increasing expanse of beach.
While he was gathering participants, Besuden gave the assurance, "Don't worry. The eggs are hard boiled."
But that soon proved to be a deception when the first egg cracked and splattered in one contestant's hand.
They had a three-legged race, women's and men's sack races, accompanied by the inevitable jokes about getting in the sack.
In the waitress and waiter races, the participants carried a glass full of supposed wine on a tray while dashing 25 yards across the sand. Some actually crossed the entire track without spilling the liquid.
The hula hoop contests were ... interesting. And, when they threw frisbees to a hula hoop on the sand, the 12- to 14-knot breeze made it necessary to widen the target five feet on all sides.
Each winner was given a West Marine hat, a coveted and practical prize for a sunny day.
The stiffening wind blew from the southwest, making the return across Gullivan Bay challenging for the smaller boats. So some of the castaways who'd arrived on true minnows kept their tours to three hours, then headed into the wind and sea.
The boats pounded on the waves, casting salt spray high and the boaters arrived home wet and tired.
But the visit to Gilligan's Island had been an enjoyable party to end the yacht club season.
On May 10, chasing that island theme were 40 boaters in 12 boats from the Marco Bay Yacht Club.
They visited Gilligan's Island, which is only a few miles southeast of Goodland and is more often called Panther Key. Their boats ranged from a 17-foot center console to a 54-foot cruiser, and by default, there were 12 skippers.
But, there was only one Gilligan (Dan Martinak), one pair of Howells (Hal and Carolyn Edgar), one Professor (John Putnam), one Mary Ann (Ruth Putnam), certainly only one Ginger (Denise Rising), and there was one Skipper (Bob Burns).
All wore their individually appropriate castaway costumes and Thurston Howell III carried his obligatory cigar.
Also, they had everything they could possibly want for their three-hour tour on the beach - beer, brats, hamburgers, two gas grills, potato salad, sauerkraut, fruit salad, an open tent, beach chairs, umbrellas, and a generator-powered boom box playing the island theme song.
The smaller boats anchored at or near the beach, the larger boats anchored out.
Gilligan served as tender pilot and ferried visitors from their boats to the island.
What more could they want? Ginger didn't even get the fringe of her long, split-sided evening dress wet.
Lunch, then games
They shared lunch then played games on the beach. Dave Besuden served as game organizer, giving directives with his bull horn. The first game was an egg toss - spouses tossing eggs to one another over an ever- increasing expanse of beach.
While he was gathering participants, Besuden gave the assurance, "Don't worry. The eggs are hard boiled."
But that soon proved to be a deception when the first egg cracked and splattered in one contestant's hand.
They had a three-legged race, women's and men's sack races, accompanied by the inevitable jokes about getting in the sack.
In the waitress and waiter races, the participants carried a glass full of supposed wine on a tray while dashing 25 yards across the sand. Some actually crossed the entire track without spilling the liquid.
The hula hoop contests were ... interesting. And, when they threw frisbees to a hula hoop on the sand, the 12- to 14-knot breeze made it necessary to widen the target five feet on all sides.
Each winner was given a West Marine hat, a coveted and practical prize for a sunny day.
The stiffening wind blew from the southwest, making the return across Gullivan Bay challenging for the smaller boats. So some of the castaways who'd arrived on true minnows kept their tours to three hours, then headed into the wind and sea.
The boats pounded on the waves, casting salt spray high and the boaters arrived home wet and tired.
But the visit to Gilligan's Island had been an enjoyable party to end the yacht club season.
