Working for one of the last marinas on "Thunder Boat Row" and seeing the God fathers of offshore power boats leaving their home just SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!! Ever since I saw my first rooster tail and heard the roar of the engines I fell in love with offshore power boats. Reading the article in this months "Powerboat" and seeing it all first hand just breaks my heart. For the good of town tax money our beloved builders where kicked out so condo complexs and parking garages can be build. So gentlemen and women shut of your engines in a moment of silence for the loss of our heritage............and then FIRE EM UP, OPEN YOUR EXHAUST, MAKE EM ROAR SO THE WORLD CAN HEAR US, and Thank you to the families who built us the world we love.

Chris Eich
Hi-Lift Marina

It does suck that all the history on 188th is getting bulldozed.I visited there in 1993 and it was pretty cool.Anyone have pics of Late 80s 188th St N.

i just got my powerboat mag today , "uptown miami"
phalezzzzzz.

I live close by and it really sucks to see what they've done to the area. Sure, beautiful, extremely expensive condos...exactly what Aventura snobs want, but the history is gone! I used to hang around as a kid in the 80's and visit all the shops and daydream about owning one of those boats one day. I drove by there on the way to a friend's apartment recently and just got sick.

Yeah, I know that there is no comparing the two but I am glad I had a chance to visit the World Trade Center and Thunderboat Row in their glory days, now that they are no more....

And to think...one day people won't even understand what 188th Really means

I was there last year and it was very disappointing. It just amazes me that this industry was there way long before the condo's. Before these a**holes moved in they knew this buisness existed. So they move in and complain about the noise? **** them! They should have bulldozed the condo's.

Yes, it does suck. The local government taxed em right out of the area instead of maybe developing it into a marine attraction. A mall with some nice stores and restaurants, a waters edge boardwalk past the plants for folks to sightsee, could have been cool...

Chris,

Did Terry in parts leave? Sent someone there the other day for parts, he wasnt in..

Scott B

other than " oh we have a place on 188th st" that we go to 3 or 4 times a year........yes that is in
"uptown miami"........

This isn't quite the same, yet in a manner it is. For as long as I can remember, downtown Sarasota had a really bright music life. Then they started building the high buck condos. Then the high buck condo owners moved in. And of course they complained about the music, which has been there for 35 years. So of course the city fathers, in their infinite wisdom (the same city fathers who threw away almost 8 million dollars fighting the design of the new John Ringling Causeway, only to get what was basically proposed ten years ago), invoked a noise ordinance and now downtown Sarasota is basically dead. Except for Gators and a couple of other accoustic places, you might as well roll the sidewalks up. In Nokomis, there was a lot directly on the Intracoastal Waterway, next to "Pop's Sunset Grill", a nice place to eat and listen to music. Well this rich assh*le buys the lot, builds his multimillion dollar house, then complains about the music and gets it shut down. Seems POP's didn't have the proper license. So now they are fighting the ban because of their being "grandfathered" for playing music there for over 20 years. Basic common sense in this world is extinct. Too damn many people have the "if I don't like it, you can't do it attitude". Like everyone asked, if you didn't like the music, why'd you buy the friggin lot? So everytime we go buy his house, we stop, gun our engines a dozen or more times, flip the assh*le off, and continue on our way. Usually yelling "Pop's, Pop's, Pop's". Fu***in Jerk.....I just love government.