Fort Myers Offshore Naples Lunch Run—79 Boats, One Lesson And Two Thrashings
When this week began, “56 freaking boats” were already registered for yesterday’s Fort Myers Offshore lunch run to the Naples Hyatt House in Southwest Florida. That was the Monday update from club president Tim Hill. And, OK, he did not say “freaking.”
Dave Burgess and company enjoyed the run in his 42-foot Doug Wright catamaran built-out specifically for him by Waves And Wheels of Osage Beach, Mo. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
Hill had cause for concern, as he has throughout the 2024/2025 Fort Myers Offshore season. Record-setting fleets such as yesterday’s 79-boat turnout are a blessing and he’s grateful for every one of them. But securing enough dock space for large groups at most venues is an ongoing challenge for Hill, his wife, Cyndee, and the rest of the Fort Myers Offshore organizing team.
As it turned out, getting all the boats secured at the Naples venue so some 400 participants could enjoy lunch was the easiest part of the day.
Water conditions ranged from sporty to sporty-plus.
“It was bumpy on the way to Naples and terrible coming back north,” said Dave Burgess, who ran his unique 42 Doug Wright Waves And Wheels Edition catamaran in the event. “We took a bunch of water in the face. But all in all it was a good time, and there were tons of boats.
Hill, who joined friend Ryan McClaran on his 32-foot Sunsation center-console for the day, described the conditions as “two to three feet with four-foot holes” on the southern leg of the run and “three feet with five-foot holes” on the return trip north. For 35 miles of the Naples trek, running in the Gulf of Mexico is the only option—there’s no Intracoastal Waterway bail-out.
Securing 79 boats at the Naples Hyatt House docks went smoothly.
“At lunch I asked Ryan, ‘Do you think we can Uber back and go get the trailer?’” Hill said, then laughed. “But you know, we are usually blessed with great water conditions.”
The day offered highs and one significant low for the Fort Myers Offshore leader.
“With Stu Jones of the Florida Powerboat Club releasing his compelling safety message the day before our run, I was thinking of ways to accommodate a record-setting number of boats while maintaining strong safety protocols,” Hill explained. “It was emphasized to our members the requirements to wear PFDs, use lanyards and no alcohol for captains.
Lunch gave participants time to regroup before the return leg.
“The message definitely got through to FMO members as I saw more crews following these simple safety protocols then I had in recent memory,” he continued. “For that I am grateful to our captains.”
Hill’s low moment arrived early at the start of the run from the Sanibel Island Bridge. To safely accomodate the size of the fleet, there were separate starts for catamarans and V-bottoms. Just one of those starts went to plan.
Enjoy more images from the event.
“The V-bottom start was atrocious,” he said. “We had photographer Pete Boden in the helicopter. Air-traffic control held up their departure a bit so the helicopter was late getting to the Sanibel Causeway. I was on the roof of the Sunsation 32 CCX pace boat with the yellow flag looking to get a visual on the helicopter approaching so that we could get V-bottom group rolling. Our start time is 11 a.m. and I had a visual on the helicopter at 11:05 a.m.
“As soon as I turn around to get off the roof and start idling, I see a center console getting on plane,” he said. “It’s followed by 40 other V-bottoms with no regard to the pace flag whatsoever.
Kentucky’s Greg and Heather Scheller ran their DCB Performance Marine M37R catamaran.
“The pace boat was the last boat to start,” he added.
To his credit, Hill didn’t simply shake his head and let it go.
“I was blunt and honest during the debrief,” he said. “Even Ryan said, ‘I was on the pace-boat and didn’t do anything wrong—but felt like I was in trouble.’
“Cyndee said you could hear a pin drop on that dock,” he added, then chuckled. “Every captain was paying attention as ‘dad’ scolded them.”
The power-couple of Fort Myers Offshore, Cyndee and Tim Hill led the club to another record-setting event.
Fort Myers Offshore members were particularly big-hearted yesterday with their contributions to the Fort Myers Offshore scholarship fund, Hill noted. Whether that was pure happenstance or the by-product of guilt-driven generosity didn’t matter to him.
“I’m always appreciative of our club members,” he said. “Many members gave sizable contributions to get their donated copy of the 2024 Speed On The Water Year In Review magazine.”
In town from Osage Beach, Mo., to run a new Performance Powerboats P420 catamaran with owner/club-member Barry Robertson, Performance Boat Center’s Myrick Coil (left) enjoyed his first Fort Myers Offshore event.
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