Peering Into December—One Jam-Packed, Good-Time Suncoast Week
If you happened to be in Key West, Fla., last week, you may think you’re done with performance boating for the year. You’re probably still tired from sensory overload for seven days and nights in the city at the end of the road. If you hear one more Jimmy Buffet song, you tell yourself, you’ll swear off sponge cake forever and you won’t give a damn about your lost shaker of salt.
The Fort Myers Offshore Holiday Fun Run is set for Saturday, December 28. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix
But that will change, probably before your first bite of Thanksgiving dinner two weeks from now. By the end of the month, your head will have cleared and you’ll begin to miss speed on the water. You may even long for that last blast toward the horizon before the year ends.
Take heart. You have options. You just have to go to Florida—or already be there—to exercise them.
Want to feel like Santa Claus delivering presents by boat rather than sled? Check out the 24th annual Toys Tour, December 5-8, in Palatka. Not only will you be doing something special for children in need of gifts in Putnam County, you’ll get three lunch runs and two parties out of it.
https://ftmyersoffshore.com/If that’s a little too soon after Thanksgiving, you can start with the December 28 Fort Myers Offshore Holiday Fun Run in Southwest Florida. You’ll need to join the nonprofit scholarship fundraising club to participate, but chances are that will be the least expensive thing involving your hobby that you’d done all year.
Once you’re in town, you might as well stay for the annual, loosely organized run to Tampa a few days later. As he will for the Fort Myers Offshore happening, speedonthewater.com chief photographer Pete Boden will be there to capture the action. Boden organizes another photo shoot for the next day—that being New Year’s Eve—in the Anna Maria Island area, which is usually followed by lunch to one waterfront haunt or another.
Flanked by Blake and Brock Gratton, Ryan Beckley is the primary shaker and mover behind the New Year’s Day Fun Run celebrating their father.
For those looking to do something that night without the forced silliness of most New Year’s Eve plans, offshore racer Ryan Beckley is hosting the annual casual party at his Kinetic Animation graphics shop and Offshore Vintage Museum in Bradenton. Beckley also organizes the Joey Gratton Memorial New Year’s Day Fun Run to Caddy’s restaurant in Bradenton. No invitation is required at either event. All you have to do is show up.
New Jersey’s Chris LaMorte and his wife, Quinn, had made the late December trek to Southwest Florida for years. The couple married on New Year’s Eve in 2015. The following morning, they hopped on an early flight and made it in time for 2016 Gratton event.
This time around, LaMorte will be joined by a couple of friends in his 36-foot Skater Powerboats catamaran.
“The first time Quinn and I went down for New Year’s was 2012 for the 2013 New Year’s Day Fun Run,” he recalled. “Ryan talked me into bringing down the boat. We had so much fun and met some great friends who we are still friends with today.
“I think it’s the friendships that have been keeping us coming back,” he added, then chuckled. “But the warm weather and the chance to ring in the new year boating helps, too.”
Chris and Quinn LaMorte have headed south for the last events of the boating year since 2012.
Related stories
Through Fresh Eyes—Helmkamp Captures Southwest Florida Holiday Event Action
St. Pete Lunch Run A New Wrinkle In Year-Ending Southwest Florida Boating Tradition
Gratton Memorial Fun Run Poised For Another Big Turnout
Fog Can’t Dampen Enthusiasm For The Joey Gratton Memorial New Year’s Day Fun Run
Tenth Anniversary Gratton Run Delivers Flawless Day For Participants From Around The Country
The post Peering Into December—One Jam-Packed, Good-Time Suncoast Week appeared first on Speed on the Water.
Source: https://www.speedonthewater.com/peering-into-december-one-jam-packed-good-time-suncoast-week/
