Boca Grande/South Seas Trip Report
By Brent Cook
On Friday, April 11th, Too Many Wakes (Mulligans), Sonatella (Hubschers), A-Blast (Geschreis), Pinch Her (Thomases), Knot Wading Around II (Anzalones) and Sea Ya’ll (Skillerns) , led by Cookin’ (Cooks), started out at 9:30 am for Boca Grande Marina. Unfortunately, Knot Wading Around II had an overheating problem and had to cancel their participation and return home for repairs.
On the way to Boca Grande the group split up with A-Blast leading Sonatella and Too Many Wakes on a fast trip to Boca so they could be docked when the other 3 boats arrived at noon. Later that day we were joined by Camelot (Sandlins) making 7 boats for our Friday arrival. A Docktail party was held Friday night and, as usual, we enjoyed an MBYC feast.
On Saturday we were joined by Sweet Lips (Landwaards) by boat and Hubleys and Mike Doshen by land yacht. We were sorry that Mary was under the weather and could not join us.
The new marina at Boca is outstanding with all new docks, electric and pump-out stations right at the individual slips. Susan, the Dockmaster, did an outstanding job of putting all of us together making for a wonderful time in the marina.
Saturday night was our large group dinner for all 19 of us at The Eagle Grille where we utilized the outstanding private dining room and enjoyed their wonderful menu. It was a great evening of fun together with good friends and terrific food.
Boca Grande is a great place to explore on golf carts and Sunday and Monday were “Explore the Island” days for everyone, ending with another group dinner on Sunday at the Pink Elephant and on Monday at a new restaurant (at least to us boaters) called Temptations, a place we will certainly return to. Thanks to Rick and Linda Geschrei for this “new find”.
Sunday we bid farewell to the Sandlins who had to head home and on Tuesday morning the Thomases and Skillerns headed out for Marco while the Cooks, Landwaards and Mulligans headed to South Seas. Unfortunately, the Skillerns only made it about 6 or 8 miles before one engine quit and their “good engine” would not restart so they ended up being towed to South Seas and were just pulling into the channel when Cookin’, Sweet Lips and Too Many Wakes arrived there as well. After Sea Ya’ll was safely under tow, Pinch Her headed back to Marco arriving home alone but safely in reasonable seas.
On Wednesday morning A-Blast and Sonatella boated home in slightly rough seas but they too arrived home safe and sound.
From Tuesday afternoon thru Friday night Cookin’, Too Many Wakes, Sweet Lips and Sea Ya’ll ate, drank, played games, had 2 pizza parties and worked on the engine problems on Sea Ya’ll. All in all, we had a great time together!
Late Friday afternoon, while waiting for a mechanic to arrive at Sea Ya’ll, Mulligans headed for home in a failed attempt to beat the high seas. They made it safely to Marco at about 6 pm in what Frank called 5’ seas but what Marianne said were actually 10’ seas. We’ll let you decide who was telling the truth but Marianne had on a life jacket and was clinging to the life ring the entire ride home.
At 7 am on Saturday morning Cookin’, Sea Ya’ll and Sweet Lips departed South Seas for home hoping to beat the projected 4’ to 5’ seas and 2 out of the 3 of us accomplished that goal arriving home at 10:30 am in anywhere from smooth to 2’ seas. Once again, unfortunately, Sea Ya’ll had an engine shut down just north of Wiggins Pass. After a failed attempt by Charlie to reset a breaker he decided to run on one so Cookin’ and Sweet Lips continued home. Shortly thereafter Sea Ya’ll headed into port at Wiggins Pass for a slip at Pelican Isle Yacht Club.
About an hour after docking at Pelican Isle, Charlie called to say they had restarted the “bad engine” and was again underway to Marco. About 10 minutes into the Gulf Charlie again called to say that his bad engine had shut down but that they were headed for Gordon Pass on one engine and would proceed home via the ICW. Being Saturday of Easter weekend, Charlie reported that the inexperienced boaters on the ICW were creating bigger wakes than the rough seas in the Gulf.
By 2 pm on Saturday afternoon, all of the 8 boats that had participated in the Boca Grande/South Seas Cruise were home and safely returned to their slips or lifts. I think all 8 boaters would agree that, while there were boat issues, everyone had a great time with great friends on this cruise.
