Florida Powerboat Club Escapes To—And From—Juana’s Pagodas
Family owned and operated on the white sands of Navarre Beach, Fla., since 1989, Juana’s Pagoda’s and Sailor’s Grill has been a favorite Florida Powerboat Club destination for 26 years. The club included the waterfront haunt in its first Emerald Coast Poker Run and has been coming back ever since.
The famed venue also is now a destination for the event-producer’s Orange Beach Powerboat Week Poker Run, which kicked off yesterday.
A classic Gulf Coast haunt in the Florida Panhandle, Juana’s Pagoda’s never disappoints the Florida Powerboat Club faithful. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
True to its name, the 50,000-square-foot facility includes several pagoda-style structures. Not only is the place a little quirky and a lot charming, it’s a special spot for Florida Powerboat Club head Stu Jones. Like Juana’s, the family-owned club has been in business for more than three decades under the same ownership.
“It’s been the same owners all along,” Jones said. “In fact, yesterday we had lunch with owner Kevin Rudzki. “He’s become a good friend and more recently has participated in other Florida Powerboat Club events more recently.”
Though the outbound conditions were mild, there were a few launch ramps to be found.
Jones has countless indelible memories of Juana’s Pagoda. Yesterday during the first outing for the 44-boat fleet, he added another one.
The ride to the venue from The Wharf in Orange Beach, Fla., to Navarre Beach, was uneventful. But thanks to foul weather, the return trip on his Nor-Tech 390 Sport center console was an adventure for Jones and the passengers.
Enjoy more images from the 2025 Orange Beach Powerboat Week Poker Run in the slideshow above.
“It was pretty miserable with the squalls we got caught in,” he explained. “I had a crew of 11 today, and everyone ran back to try to beat the rain. But I personally didn’t want to take any chances with so many people on the boat. So I stayed at Juana’s a while. About an hour later, I finally decided to Uber half of my crew home.
Texan Kenny Armstrong had no extra seats in his well-known 48-foot MTI catamaran dubbed Phantom.
“We waited till about 5 p.m., and then it was just my boat and a Deep Impact,” he continued. “I was worried about it getting dark around 7 p.m., so we ran cautiously and I watched my GPS closely. It was a little touch and go for the first hour or so, but we made it back to the dock by 7 p.m.
Other participants departed for The Wharf host venue in Orange Beach early in the afternoon to beat the impending weather. That included Devin Wozencraft, who ran his 37-foot Victory catamaran.
“We left around 2 p.m. to make it back to The Wharf before the storm system came through, but we had a great time,” he said. “And today is supposed to be perfect.”
Enjoying the Orange Beach affair, Chris Richards and company of Angle of Attack Marine recently returned from their first Desert Storm Poker Run experience.
Related stories
Orange Beach Powerboat Week Finale—Into The Blue
Orange Beach Powerboat Week Day 1—Weather Or Not
Destination Changes In Store For Orange Beach Powerboat Week
Orange Beach Powerboat Week Delivers Goes Sporty Again On Day Two
Gallery Of The Week: Orange Beach Awakens
Brawny V-Bottom Sportboats To Rule At Orange Beach Powerboat Week
The post Florida Powerboat Club Escapes To—And From—Juana’s Pagodas appeared first on Speed on the Water.
Source: https://www.speedonthewater.com/florida-powerboat-club-escapes-to-and-from-juanas-pagodas/
