CRUISING FLEET

February was another busy month for the Cruising Fleet. Thirty boats cruised to Carlouel Yacht Club split into three groups so that everyone could participate. Cruises were scheduled for Wednesday to Friday so as not to interfere with Carlouel’s busy weekends. Fortunately, the weather was gorgeous for all three cruises. Many thanks to Port Directors Pam & Garry Haas, Juli & Bob Frazee and Barbara & Heber Weller for organizing dining and activities. Highlights included celebrating Garry’s birthday with cake around the firepits, walks along the beach all the way to Caladesi State Park (8 miles round trip) and through the local neighborhoods, kayaking, dinghy rides, swimming in the heated pool, croquet tournament won by Martha Monfried, docktails aboard the Roddey’s Wheel Estate (always a treat!), watching the sunset from the Randolph Room overlooking the Gulf and sunrises over the intracoastal. It does not get much better than this!

The nice February weather continued and 34 turned out for the Day Tripper’s lunch at the recently renamed Red, White & Booze (previously Sea Critters) on Pass-a-Grille at the end of the month. Once again, great times with friends new and old! Our March 2nd luncheon featured local authors, Peggy Donoho and Ron Prouty, discussing their book “Miguel’s Bay” and the history of some of our cruising grounds around Terra Ceia Island. March also included a swap with the Naples YC fleet and another DayTripper’s gathering. And, as this issue comes to you, we will be in the midst of the Tall Ship’s Festival as well as a cruise to downtown Tampa to see the Lightning!

Looking forward, April 6th will be our kickoff dinner for our 2023 Commodore’s Cruise scheduled for April 14th-30th. Commodore Smith will carry on the tradition of addressing the Fleet at our kickoff dinner, providing an update on the Club, and wishing us well as 34 boats embark on our voyages. Cruisers are taking various routes to Captiva, Key West and even east across the Okeechobee Waterway with most rendezvousing back at SPYC for a weekend celebration of our long-serving downtown docks including the Dock Blowout & Keywest Street Party on Saturday, April 29th!

• Monthly meeting (dinner) – Thurs., April 6th

• Commodore’s Cruise – April 14th-30th

• Cruise-In for Dock Blowout Party – April 27th-30th

• Monthly meeting (lunch) – Thurs., May 4th featuring special guest: Ed Tillett, Waterway Guide , Editor-in-Chief and General Manager

by Rich Treinen

Eleven Wing Shooters returned to Boggy Pond in early February for another quail hunting trip. See the May 2022 issue of Smooth sailing for an introduction to Boggy Pond. Once again the staff at Boggy Pond took good care of us. We immediately noticed a few improvements in our rustic accommodations. The carpet in in the guest houses had been replaced with new wood floors. That was significant. All of the showers, at least in the house where I stayed, had hot water. That’s enough about the housing. Any trip to Boggy is best remembered as hunting and target shooting trip. This year we had great weather, plenty of birds, both quail and chucker, well trained dogs and great guides. The highlight this year was the target shooting off the dock. The dock had been upgraded with a second wobble trap, new decking and much better flotation. The rocking motion of last year was gone. We had four guys standing abreast, two on one side of the trap and two on the other, all shooting at the same clay target. You had to be quick or there was nothing left to shoot. In many instances multiple shots were fired at the same micro second and there was no way to know who actually broke the clay. Most likely, they all did.

Like minded SPYC members wishing to join the Wing Shooters Society are encouraged to contact Grand Marshall Frank Robinson at: fhr506@gmail.com