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Jetski/Craig Cat Special Interest Group

In Activities, Baylines, Boating, Day Fleet, Jetski/Craig Cat Special Interest Group, Past Events 2026

Panther Key Beach Picnic

 

We wrapped up our spring boating season with a joint venture between the Day Fleet and JSIG (Jetski Special Interest Group) to Panther Key. The plan was for the Day Fleet to meet at Coon Key Light and convoy directly to Panther Key via Gullivan Bay. The JSIG group that signed up, were all from the south side of Marco, so we met at Caxambas pass an hour earlier so we could meander through the 10K islands before rendezvousing at Panther Key.
We had 6 jet skis (8 people) and 6 bigger boats (also 8 riders). As a reminder for all day fleet events for the last couple years, you can still RSVP to these events and request to ride on someone else’s vessel. We are a community and it is typically more fun to share a ride than to go alone.

The JSIG ride was a “Turtle Ride” which meant that we stayed under 25mph and even slower in the twisting channels.   I want to  share the reviews I received after the event.

-Maria Orsolini
“I loved my wave runner ride with Howard Lipkin (AKA Maverick) through the thick mangroves led by our Commodore Bob. There were tight places where we needed to duck our heads and carefully maneuver with branches brushing us.
It was awesome!!”

-Paul Schneeberger
“What a day. Great trip.”

-Anne Vanic
“Thanks so much for arranging a wonderful substitute for the Chokoloskee trip. The Panther key event was great. Special thanks to JSIG members who lead &/or shared their jet skis for the backwater tours. Great fun. Perfect weather was appreciated too!”

-Kelly Rogers
“This was such a fun event and the weather was perfect! Safe travels to all of those who are heading out for the Summer!”

-Linda Sandlin
“Panther Key trip was a blast. Perfect day! Wonderful camaraderie on the beach! Lots of friendly, helpful hands! Great jet ski ride!”

I also want to thank Steve Stark for lending out his ski to both the Vanic’s and the Fuhrman’s so that they could pilot the ski in the backwaters. I think the outing worked flawlessly

If you look at our website, you will see pointers to 3 different highlighted JSIG rides. I regret that I did not hook up my camera to add this trip. There is music with each of these videos below.
Canopy Lane 
Blackwater River 
Palm Bay 

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In Activities, Boating, Jetski/Craig Cat Special Interest Group

Video – Bungle in the Jungle – Canopy Lane

Click on the picture below to start the video. If there is no audio, click the speaker icon twice.
MBYC JSIG (Jetski Special Interest Group) goes out a couple times each month and has a wide variety of routes. We do Turtle rides (slow and relaxing) and Rabbit rides (faster and about 50 miles long). This video is from my favorite route that I call Canopy Lane. It is actually very challenging and takes about 45 minutes to get through.
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In Activities, Baylines, Boating, Jetski/Craig Cat Special Interest Group, Past Events 2025

JSIG Canopy Adventure

The MBYC Jetski Special Interest Group made an incredible find this month. We discovered a new route where the mangrove made a complete canopy that was more than a mile long.

I talk about Rabbit Rides and Turtle on this topic, but because this was completely new and highly risky, it took about 60 minutes to travers at no wake speed. There were many mangrove branches and tentacles in the channel, but weaving and positioning the jetski around them is part of the fun and challenge of this route. We saw several birds, but no alligators. On a trip around last Thanksgiving, I did have an alligator cut in front of me on the Black Water River and he could care less that I was only 15 feet behind him in a channel that was too narrow for me to pass him.

I call the new route Canopy Lane, and it is complete Nirvana.
Here we have pixs from the trip of the route. These are not dead ends.

Eventually, I hope to post a short video of the trip. You can see other videos from the Jetski SIG on our website.

https://marcobayyachtclub.com/category/activities/boating/jetski/

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In Baylines, Jetski/Craig Cat Special Interest Group

JSIG Dec 2024

The MBYC Jetski Special Interest Group (JSIG) finished 2025 in memorable fashion.
The last weekend of the year we took both a Turtle Ride and a Rabbit Ride. The Turtle Ride on Saturday involved 4 jetskis and a Craig Cat. There was a breakdown about 75 minutes into the ride and one of the vessels needed to be towed out to open water to meet up with a commercial tow vessel. A great example of why you never go out alone.

The Rabbit Ride scheduled for Sunday was pushed out to Monday due to wind. Once in the backwaters, the water is always calm, but getting there no one likes to get splashed in the open water this time of year. For both rides we had mostly MBYC visiting family members and/or prospective new members.

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In Activities, Boating, Jetski/Craig Cat Special Interest Group, Past Events 2022

Jet Skiing in the Ten Thousand Islands

Jet skiing in the Ten Thousand islands.

When I received the flyer with regards to the Jetski group, I thought “wow” what a neat experience, if only I had a Jetski.

So, when I attended Monday Madness in January, I mentioned to Bob Gagnon that it must be pretty cool to explore areas where our boats cannot go.

The first words out of Bobs mouth was, “what are you doing tomorrow”?  Isaid nothing of any importance. Bob says “do you wanna go jet skiing”? I said “Sure”,

To best describe the experience. I said it was better than the best ride at Disney World. The route we took was south of Marco Island. We entered in at Sugar Bay just southeast of Goodland and wound our way to Panther Key. I was amazed at the speed and maneuverability of these modern jetskis. I had not been on a jetski in over 20 years. Bob stood on his ski most of the trip. I felt more comfortable sitting, while bringing my center of gravity down.

On the way back we took what was called “The Beach Route”. This route goes along the islands that are facing Gullivan Bay – from Panther Key, behind Hog, White Horse and Gullivan Key. From there we stopped and decided to take an alternate route back.

We both read the article in the Coastal Breeze about the flamingo that was hanging out with the white pelican flock. We decided to see if we could find the flock. The waves in Gullivan Bay we’re small about 1 foot so we crossed south of Cape Romano to see if we could find them. We found the White pelicans but not the flamingo. Bob said he might be in the interior of Kice island. Unfortunately, we were three hours into a receding tide and it was not safe to go into this area.

I would suggest any member of the club if they want a great experience on a jetski, to talk to Bob. I think it’s a great activity and probably will be a nice incentive for other jet skiers on the island to join our club.

 

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