I suggested to Bruce just before Wednesday's meeting that "somebody is going to get hurt one of these days on the run down the river."
I just don't think it is worth it, let's just stay on the lakes.
The river is too narrow, there are too many boats running at one time, and there's people running in it that aren't even thinking of abiding by our rules and may not of even registered for the event!
Add to that the occasional oncoming traffic we encounter and it's a formula for somebody getting hurt or killed.
I think staying off of it should be considered.

Either that or a simple rule, you do not pass the pace boat on the river. Pass it and you're out.

That's what Stu from the Florida Powerboat Club does when we run the mangroves on the Key West Poker Run. Seems to work well.

do those people even know how fast anyone was going? the 10 boats i saw down the river were going less than 50 mph. because of the large waves it may have seemed faster. are those people saying 50 is too fast? no matter whare you go someone will complain

The problem isn't passing the pace boat. If you start at the back of the line and pass everybody but the pace boat there is still a problem. The problem seemed to be that noone followed the rules of "NO passing, stay single file"
But I do agree that we should stay off the river, or startdown river and end on the lakes so we're only on the river once.

You caught on to my plan!

We should run around 35 mph on the river and go out in waves of ten boats at a time. Or just cut out the river portion all together.

I'm with you. Also, there isn't an official, legal speed limit on the river, as far as I know.
Were we in violation of any laws? People may not have liked it, does that mean we were in violation? As a club, I think we should practice safe boating and common sense.
We really do not have any enforcement powers as a club. We are not the Police. Perhaps we could keep it off the river or talk to the Lake Co. Sheriff about a possible Police escort while on the river. With a police escort, we may keep the complainers at bay. It may be good P.R. to have the police on our side anyway.

BINGO!
I would recommend Fox Waterway as choice for charity. A little politicing goes a long way.