Fort Myers Offshore Holiday Fun Run Roars To Record-Setting Life

Bob Barnhart, the kind-hearted Canadian gentleman who founded Fort Myers Offshore in 2005, stood outside yesterday’s lunch-run destination with Eric Belisle and Lori Lemanske—both longtime supporters of the Southwest Florida-based boating club—and talked shop. All three grinned as they ogled the bio-mass that had taken over the Riviera Bar And Grill in Punta Gorda.

The spirit of the day was undeniably joyful for the Fort Myers Offshore group. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

“When I was president of the club, the most boats we ever had at any event was 50,” Barnhart said.

What a difference almost 20 years makes. Yesterday’s club-record-setting event attracted 91 boats—106 registered—creatively packed at the Riviera docks. That translated to almost 400 thirsty souls (minus 91 responsible drivers, of course) enjoying the comfortable, low-70-degree day.

Fort Myers Offshore royalty, Eric Belisle, Lori Lemanske and Bob Barnhart caught up at the Riviera Bar and Grill.

The turnout didn’t make club president Tim Hill and his wife, Cyndee, nervous. It terrified them.

“When I saw that 106 boats had registered as of Friday, I started praying for 10-percent attrition,” Hill announced to the crowd, then laughed. “And we got it.”

Performance boats of all shapes, sizes and brands were in yesterday’s holiday fun run mix.

The event marked the beginning of the 2025 boating season. So it attracted a “who’s who” good-time crowd. Devin Wozencraft ran his 34-foot Victory catamaran with Tom Hall, a reporter on crutches with a dinged knee and 2024 Super Stock-class national champions/deckhands Reese Langheim and Julian Maldonado. Michael and Sarah Howe of Howe2Live and Kraken sport-yacht fame canoodled with three-time tunnel-boat world champion Shaun Torrente, whose STR high-performance marine parts-design and fabrication company was the event’s primary sponsor.

The end-of-year lunch run began—as do all Fort Myers Offshore events—at the Sanibel Island Bridge.

Painter Stephen Miles bounced around the place like a runaway pinball. Lake Cumberland Thunder Run organizers Dan Weiss, his wife, Julie, and Justin Lucas found breathing room at the tiki bar. Inside the adjacent restaurant, DCB Performance Marine had a freaking contingent of M37R catamaran owners including Dan Kuhn, Greg and Heather Scheller, Kiran Pinisetti and Kelly O’Hara representing the brand.

The list of recognizable names was long and noteworthy.

South Carolina powerboat fan Chuck Stark (left) shared a moment with Fort Myers Offshore president Tim Hill.

“This place is so accommodating and welcoming,” said John Cosker, the founder and owner of Mystic Powerboats, who just a few weeks ago hosted a lunch run of his own at the Riviera location and was joined by his wife, Robin. “We’re definitely coming back next year for one of our lunches during our owners’ rendezvous.”

Faces of the 2024 Fort Myers Offshore Holiday Fun Run.

From today through next week’s Joey Gratton Memorial New Year’s Day Fun Run, boat owners from around the country will enjoy loosely organized—key words—lunch runs as well as their own outings on the Gulf of Mexico.

Kelly O’Hara and Kiran Pinisetti were among the DCB M37R catamaran owners who participated yesterday and will remain in Southwest Florida through New Year’s Day.

But thanks to light intermittent rain, at least in the Sarasota area, most boats will stay put at the docks today.

Tampa is just up the coast from Sarasota, where several outings will begin next week. Fort Myers and Cape Coral are just down the coast. Where folks chose to stay for the next several days likely hinged on where their friends are staying. But no location is that far from the other, especially by water.

All paths will converge at the Gratton event on January 1. Until then, there is plenty of speed on the water to be had.

And plenty to report. Stay tuned.