Unfortunately the weather gods produced heavy rain and strong winds forcing us to make a good decision to go to the Three60 by land cruisers. Rebeca was great and saved the inside restaurant for our group of 43 MBYC members. We all had great food and wonderful camaraderie. We sure are lucky to have so many great boating friends to do so many fun things. Hopefully next year we can do this trip by boat, which everyone enjoys. See you next year at the Three60.
Barry
Our April/May cruise to Faro Blanco Marina was a great time for members of MBYC.
On April 27th Cookin’ (Brent & Susan Cook), Karine (Bob & Sandy LaMontagne), Little Suzy (George & Suzy Koprash) and Top Shelf (Mike & Maria Adamson) left Marco for Faro Blanco Marina on Marathon.
That evening we had a great dinner together at Lazy Days where we enjoyed a fun waterside evening of food, fellowship and a terrific sunset over the Atlantic Ocean.
Friday things started happening at the marina in preparation for the 1st Annual 7 Mile Offshore Boat Races that were to begin on Saturday.
For many of us this was our first in-person Offshore Race and we got to witness the races right in front of our slips at Faro Blanco with turns 5 and 6 just off the marina entrance.
Saturday’s races went off as planned and we had a ring-side seat. It was amazing to us that somewhere around a hundred spectator boats were anchored just north of the race course while we watched from the Faro Blanco beach and from the upper deck of Karine.
The races on Sunday were more challenging with high winds and rough seas at turns 1 and 2 where 3 boats flipped over and another one flipped on the straightaway. After these 4 flips the Coast Guard stopped the race before all of the boats had even been in a race. Thankfully there were no injuries.
Sunday evening was the race party on the Faro Blanco grounds right behind our boats. The place was rocking with music, dancing, food and spirits well into the night.
On May 1st we celebrated milestone birthdays for both George Koprash and Maria Adamson with dinner that evening at The Butterfly Café at Tranquility Bay Resort.
We all had such a great time that we have already booked the same weekend in 2024 and hope to be part of the races again.
We hope more of you can join us in 2024!
Brent
Cruise Leader Continue Reading
First Mates Chair Anna Hutchings arranged an evening of wine and painting. Attendees enjoyed a complimentary glass of wine while enjoying the bright hues of a sunset in paradise, followed by a garden stroll. Then, a Garden Educator helped participants paint a bird of paradise flower. Those that participated had an amazing time. The painting was fun, and the garden was spectacular at sunset. Linda Gagnon and Betty Ann Berejik had a fabulous evening.
First Mates continue to enjoy a mid-month social gathering at a local establishment. This month we met at the Brewery for libations and conversation. Several men joined the fun after the girls finished their gathering for drinks. It is great that this event inspires the men gather for dinner. Thanks to Anna Hutchings for keeping our new Happy Hour tradition a fun time! Join the fun in May on 19 for the next gathering.
Nearly 50 members participated in Monday Madness on April 24 th at CJs on the Bay. Hard to imagine that this was a slow month since it was almost our largest attendance of the year. Several smaller groups followed the event with dinner out. It was a beautiful evening for a gathering. Our 50/50 drawing winners include Margi White ($20), new member Beth Povlow ($30), and Linda Sandlin ($45).
An Evening with Elton John
On March 11th we saw and heard The Rocket Man Show, The Most Authentic Elton John Tribute Show in the World! at Jewish Congregation of Marco Island.
We had 27 MBYC members in attendance with Cindy Brown and Linda Saunders bringing their daughters.
The evening started with 15 of us enjoying dinner and drinks at the Marco Brewery. Then off to JCMI where Judy Sacher had arranged reserved, preferred seating for all us so we could sit together upfront.
Back to the 70s! “Elton John” had the audience engaged with singing along to our favorite tunes. In addition, he told us the story of his time with working Elton John.
The music was great, the costumes were over the top, and the energy amazing. First song? Benny and the Jets.
Another great MBYC night!
Lydia Krueger
Our March 13-20 cruise ended up just to ‘Tween Waters Marina on Captiva. Included on
this cruise was Cookin’ (Brent & Susan Cook), Karine (Bob & Sandy LaMontagne) O Sea
D (Vern & Ann Graham), Divergent (Bill Schroeder) and Camelot (Alan & Linda Sandlin.
The ride up, via the Gulf, was in mostly pleasant seas, especially for Cookin’ that followed
in Karine’s wake. When we came into Redfish Pass all of a sudden Divergent popped up
like he had been a hidden submarine but we were happy to see him.
It was a pleasure to have the Sandlins join us on this cruise. It has been a long time since
Alan and Linda have been able to join us on an extended cruise so we enjoyed their
company very much for two of our three nights.
Dining options on Captiva are still very limited so for the most part we ate meals on the
‘Tween Waters property at Old Captiva House and also on our own boats.
This cruise was planned for four nights at ‘Tween Waters followed by three nights at Boca
Grande Marina but mother nature had a rough forecast for both sea conditions and three
days of stormy weather at Boca Grande. In consideration of that, we cut the seven-day
cruise down to three days, eliminating the Boca Grande stop and cut one day off the ‘Tween
Waters stop and headed home early.
The ride home turned out to be slightly worse than forecast but nothing we couldn’t handle
so we had a very successful, but shortened trip, and a great time enjoying ‘Tween Waters.
Brent
Fifteen MBYC members, daughters & friends met for a night of BINGO at the Jewish Congregation of Marco Island on Monday, March 13
JCMI fed us well, with kosher hotdogs, chips, and all the fixings. Dinner was rounded out with pickles, coffee, tea along with a cookie. At intermission, they served ice cream, cake, cookies with coffee and tea. Wow!
The tally after two plus hours of bingo, talk and lots of laughs; Dianne Kernan and Margi White were both winners. Betty Barter was the MBYC bingo champion, winning twice.
I’d say a good time was had by all.
Lydia Krueger
This was our 3rd First Mates Happy Hour, and it was another huge success. We had prospective members join in the fun and longtime members re-engage. We sat outside at Speakeasy under the umbrellas and enjoyed drinks and snacks. Some folks even stayed for their lobster special dinner. Thanks to Anna Hutchings for keeping our new Happy Hour tradition a fun time! Join the fun in April on the 19th for the next gathering at the Brewery.
Nearly 40 members participated in Monday Madness on March 27th at CJs on the Bay. It was a beautiful evening for a gathering, and we had a prime location near the Star Bar. We had many first-time participants and longtime friends joining together for a fun social evening. The group energy was infectious, and a good time was had by all. Our 50/50 drawing winners include Mary Shaw ($20), Patti Bielawski ($40), and one of our newest members Sandy Fuhrman ($60).
