I have had several inquiries about our FMO schedule for the upcoming season. We normally have it in place by now however find ourselves a bit behind. I have done some preliminary work on it and would like to get some input from the membership and have our new board of directors confirm, once in place. We should be in a position to release the schedule by the end of this month latest. Here is what I can tell you at this time:

October:

We have traditionally had an October run but is usually lightly attended ( 15 boats last year ), as many seasonal residents have yet to arrive. I understand though that some of the locals are looking forward to getting started with our FMO runs. I am thinking of dropping the October run from the schedule this year to lighten my workload so if people want to save it, I need to hear that you want it. I am scheduled to be in FL the weekend of Oct 6th ( Columbus weekend ) and that could be a suitable date or I could return for an event on the weekend of Oct 20th.

November:

We will once again have a run on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend which is Nov 24 / 12. Destination to be determined. Last year we did a circumnavigation of Sanibel / Captiva Islands with 22 boats and went to Tarpon Point for lunch. A nice destination that easily accommodates our size of group. This years destination is yet to be determined and we are open to suggestions. Any place suggested must have adequate dockage and be able to accommodate 100+ people.

December:

Christmas Holiday season etc.

January:

We will once again have our annual New Years run to Marco Island on Tues. Jan 1st / 13. My sense is that everyone seems to enjoy the open water run to Marco Island and CJ's on the Bay at The Esplanade is an ideal setting. There is no other locale on Marco Island that can accommodate our group. That was our largest event last year again, with 33 boats taking part.

Late January / early February:

Sarasota overnighter - this was added to our schedule for the first time last year after a number of requests. It was successful beyond my wildest dreams, (and I've had some wild ones ! LOL) with 32 boats attending despite cool weather. We will do this again this coming season however as a result of feedback will likely have both Friday and Saturday departure groups with the return on Sunday. Last year we squeezed it in on Jan 14 / 15. I would have liked it in a warmer month but March is too busy to get into the Hyatt at a reasonable rate, April too late in the season, October too early, November we have our T'giving run and Dec is too busy w Christmas etc. My inclination is to take our chances with the weather and have it possibly the last weekend in January being 25 to 27th or Feb 1 to 3. Looking for some thoughts and feedback on this.

Mid February:

Miami Boat show and FPC poker run

March:

The March run should take place on either Sat March 2nd / 13 or Sat March 16, 2013.. PRA traditionally holds an event out of Tarpon Point on the second weekend in March and we should not conflict with their event. Our destination to be determined.

April:

This is another month in which attendance is off and may be because many of our seasonal members have packed up and headed north. Last year we had 16 boats attend the April 7th run. I also wonder if the April event should be dropped from the schedule? We have had some great runs tho to Naples / Keewaydin Beach at that time of year. Once again if we are to save the April run, I need to hear that you want it and will support it.

Destinations that we have visited in the past: Everglades City Seafood Festival; Harpoon Harry's at Punta Gorda; Burnt Store; Useppa Island; South Seas Resort; Green Flash; Tarpon Point; Lighthouse at Sanibel Harbor Marina; Tavern on the Bay, Naples; Naples Bay Resort; Hamilton Harbor, Naples; Cj's on the Bay, Marco Island.

Other possibilities: Parrot Key / Big Game at Ft Myers Beach; ( additional suggestions invited that have adequate dockage and can accommodate our size group)

Tell us which are your favorites and that you would like to see remain or added to the schedule.

Suggestions will be received and considered until August 26th and then we will need to get down to finalizing the schedule.

Thank you,

Bob

Dates to consider:

Columbus Day - Monday October 8 / 12

Ft Lauderdale Boat Show – October 25 – 29 / 12

Key West Offshore Races -November 4 – 11 / 12

US Thanksgiving – Thursday November 22 / 12

Christmas – December 25 / 12

Valentines Day – February 14 / 13

Miami Boat Show – February 14 – 18 / 13

Easter Sunday - March 31 / 13

Bob a few thoughts,

1. If we dont have a october run I think Burnt Store would be a great spot for the Thanksgiving run.
2. Marco for News Years, yes
3. Hamilton Harbor was missed last year, maybe for March run. And if PRA can't give us there schedule for March in a short period time I wouldn't worry about them. Most if not all of us don't run their event anyway.
4. Cut down on the Charity runs from two events to one maybe encompass that into our overnite run.
5. Overnite to Sarasota a big yes !!! That was a lot of fun maybe the weather gods will be with us this year!!!
6 Easter is March 31 this year so a run after that weekend might not make any sense. Maybe a informal easter weekend Saturday raft off at Kewadian or Cayo Costa for a picnic ???

Thanks
Bill & Lori Lemanske & Billy

Thanks, Bill and Lemanske family. All good and helpful points. I overlooked Easter and have added it onto dates to consider.
I also agree our schedule should not go past that date and that Saturday might be a good date to do a final season ending run. Will look at that.
Regarding comment number 4, I would not like to cut down any of our fund raising as we offer great value to the members and actually feel we need to take some steps to try and increase the amount of funds we raise in coming years. I know of clubs that raise in a single event, what we raise in a season. There are other ways for us to raise funds of coarse such as corporate sponsorships etc without tapping the membership further. These are all things that I need help with and will be looking to the new board members for fresh fund raising ideas and help in putting them in place.
Again, thanks for sharing your thoughts and they will be considered.

Bob

Bob, I for one would really be interested in an Oct run. Either date would work for me. That would also place it anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks before the Thanksgiving run.

Nick

Thanks, Nick. I have received several requests that the October run be kept. I know I am on Marco from October 3 to 10 so we will have a run on Saturday Oct 6th of the Columbus weekend. Sometimes the smaller runs are the best runs. Certainly a bit easier from my standpoint and easy to set up and manage.

So our first 3 events will be:

Sat October 6 /12
Sat November 24 / 12
Tues January 1 / 13

Balance of schedule will be determined soon.

Bob

Hi Bob -

Thanks for putting on an Oct Run! We have 4 OB cats ready to go, well 3 of them are, I have to rebuild 2 motors before oct!

See ya soon!
Don and Amanda

What happened? I should be getting my parts tomorrow and putting mine back together this weekend.

Hey Rick-

I purchased used motors........ One went boom! LOL. Small Hole in the side of the block. Pull the powerheads off the boat tonight and drive to Shaun's Friday AM to start the rebuild process.

Hmmmm. Sounds like that nice open water ride south to Naples could be in order !! Thanks, D & A and see you before too long now.

Bob

Hey Bob that's great news. Add one inboard cat to the outboard cats for Oct 6.