New Year’s Eve In Southwest Florida—Fine Friends, Catamarans And A Proposal
Reasonable people will disagree on the value of New Year’s Eve, of course, but to me it is the ultimate holiday nothing-burger. It consistently over-promises and under-delivers.
Unless you happened to be a go-fast powerboat lover this week in Southwest Florida.
Offer.
The day began, though later than expected thanks to foggy conditions, with a lunch run starting—for most folks in town—at the Sarasota Hyatt. I haven’t quite connected all the dots, but for some reason the group fractured and ended up in different places for lunch. And that wasn’t a bad thing. Docking 15 to 20 boats is easier than docking 30 to 40 boats (my fleet estimate) at one waterfront lunch spot.
Thanks to Devin Wozencraft in the 34-foot Wozen-Cat—OK, it’s a Victory model—I ended up with the group that went to Finn’s Bar and Grille in Apollo Beach. Herded by Shaun Torrente, the group included Statement Marine 360 catamaran owners Jordan Hart and Nikki Mueller, their friends in a three-boat DCB Performance Marine M37R contingent, the Tschida family in their Outerlimits SC 37 catamaran, 36-foot cat owners Ray and Crystal Brasher, Skater 28 cat owner Brian Swinney and several others.
Acceptance.
After lunch, the group broke up and returned its various starting points. For Hart, Mueller and their friend Mike Matt (not a typo), that meant St. Petersburg, where they joined the DCB faithful for a night on the town. DCB M37R co-owner Kiran Pinisetti and his wife, Jessica, were with the group, which included Kelly and Julie O’Hara and Greg and Heather Scheller. At the last minute, they abandoned their fancy dinner plans, grabbed a few slices of pizza and then headed to a nightclub before the fireworks show off the St. Petersburg Pier.
When the fireworks ended just after midnight, the group returned to the docks at the Vinoy Resort. And that’s where Hart bent the knee and proposed to Mueller, who said yes.
Now engaged to be married, Jordan Hart and Nikki Mueller enjoyed this week’s fun runs in Southwest Florida in Hart’s 36-foot catamaran. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
“The whole night, all the way up to the point when Jordan gave it to Nikki, Mike had the ring in his pocket,” Pinisetti said, then laughed. “That was stressful for Jordan since Mike isn’t the most responsible person.”
Pinisetti paused, then laughed again.
“Greg and Heather were so confused,” he said. “They thought they were already married.”
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