Fort Myers Offshore Opens 2023/2024 Season With Boca Grande Lunch Run – Speed on the Water
Short, sweet and history in most parts of the country, the fall boating season is just getting rolling in Southwest Florida, the home of Fort Myers Offshore. The nonprofit scholarship fundraising high-performance powerboat club’s annual schedule of events started yesterday with a lunch run to Miller’s Dockside on Boca Grande. And after the 2022/2023 season, which was challenging courtesy of the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Ian last September, no one was happier to see it start fresh than club president Tim Hill.
The Fort Myers Offshore 2023/2024 season-opener attracted an event record-setting 38 boats. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
“We’re back,” said Hill. “Yesterday felt like a bit of normalcy for Fort Myers Offshore.”
The event attracted a mix of 38 catamarans, center consoles and V-bottom sportboats, beating the existing turnout-record for the event by 10 boats. Hill described the weather conditions, though blustery with 15 to 20 mph winds out of the Northwest, as “gorgeous.”
“I made the decision to run the protected waters of the Intracoastal Waterway,” Hill explained. “Our members were grateful for the smooth water and not having two-footers pound them broadside them for 40 miles.”
Enjoy more images from yesterday’s Fort Myers Offshore happening.
Club member Christopher Glenn picked up the tab for the helicopter that flew photographer Pete Boden. Notably absent from the run was longtime Fort Myers Offshore member Paul Reddish, who recently passed away after a long battle with leukemia.
“We honored Paul with a moment of silence yesterday after lunch,” said Hill.
Fort Myers Offshore has seven events on its 2023/2024 roster. Next up is the club’s Turkey Run to Fisherman’s Village set for November 25.
“If yesterday was any indication of the what this year holds for FMO, it’s going to be another record-breaking season,” said Hill. “Fort Myers Offshore is back.”
With yesterday’s lunch run in the books, the 2023/2025 Fort Myers Offshore season is off to a fine start.
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