Boating Clubs
Boaters Get Free Pump-Outs
All boaters know or should know that it is against the law to empty their holding tanks overboard in Charlotte Harbor. Prior to Hurricane Charlie, few pump-out stations were available to boaters. A new facility at the Laishley Park Marina now offers free pump-out 7 days a week. The marina has a minimum depth of 7 foot, and can handle most boats up to 60 foot. Their hours of operation are from 8am to 5pm but it is recommended that you plan to make your stop by 4 pm. considering that other boats may be using the pump-out. When approaching the marina, contact them on VHF Ch.16 for instructions. Large boats may want to phone ahead to the marina office at (941)-575-0142.
Boating Clubs
- Mariners of PGI
- PGIslanders
- Seafarers
- PGI Cruising Club
Mariners of PGI
Lynne Matthews, Commodore
505-5747
www.marinersofpgi.org
May, 2008
It’s had to believe that it is already May! A number of our cruising friends have already left for their northern residences. But, that will certainly not put a damper on the Mariner’s social and cruising schedule! We have exciting social activities and cruises planned throughout the summer!
We closed our April social calendar with a First Mates Luncheon held at the Tarpon Lodge. A great, big thank you to Ramona Lanka and Berna Goldberg, co-chairs of this luncheon. Thirty-two ladies were in attendance and the food and service was superb. A good time was had by all!
The feature event on our May social calendar is a miniature golf outing at the Fish Cove Adventure Golf, followed by a Southern Low Country dinner back at the PGICA.
The Mariners have lots of cruising scheduled for May. Included are anchor-outs to Pelican Bay and a “full-moon” anchor-out at Matlacha. Of course, no trip to Matlacha would be complete without a visit to Bert’s Bar! Lunch cruises have been planned to the Fishery and to the Eagle Grill at Boca Grande Marina which will coincide with a two-night stay at Boca Grande Marina. Rounding out our May cruising schedule will be a two-night stay at the Marina at Cape Harbour, located in Cape Coral on the Caloosahatchee River.
The Mariners currently have a waiting list for membership. However, for anyone interested in joining us, we encourage you to visit our website at www.marinersofpgi.org for more information. We also invite you to join us on Wednesday evenings for our traditional Happy Hour at Mamma Nunzia from 5-7 p.m. Hope to see you out on the harbor – let’s go cruising!
PGIslanders Cruising Club
Jim Roe, Commodore
575-2321 or bigjimroe@aol.com
www.PGIslanders.org
May, 2008
I am very proud to be just a small part of a great civic minded organization. The PGIslanders board elected to spearhead two community service projects in 2008. The first took place in late March when in conjunction with other area boat clubs, members cleaned the shore line and beaches of Cayo Costa Island. Collectively we covered about three miles of shoreline and collected several hundred pounds of trash. In addition to cleaning debris, folks went from cabin to cabin replacing batteries and smoke detectors if needed. So many of us in the boating community use Pelican Cove to anchor and Cayo Costa Island for it’s facilities and wonderful nature walks. Thanks to Bob Peterson and Al Alexander for co-captaining this event. Job well done!
Our second initiative will be the clean up of the Punta Gorda Isles canal system. This is a large initiative and requires a good amount of planning. Three PGIslanders have volunteered to head up this project. Thanks to Steve Kapin, John Reiche and Gary Anderson for stepping up. We look forward to their reports as we get closer to our execution date.
April was a super busy month for club activities. We had two lunch cruises, one to Cabbage Key and the other to Boca Grande. There were four overnight cruises, Useppa Island, Cape Harbor, Tween Waters and Boca Grande Marina. We had a social event at the PGICA featuring folk music and fun with our own Paul Elliott. To wrap up the month we had a club golf outing at St. Andrews. Wow, now that is what I call an active and fun month.
Even though May is always a month when many of our members head for a cooler climate, we still have 2 overnight cruises scheduled, with one being South Seas Resort. There will be a picnic cruise to Don Pedro and a lunch cruise to Mango’s, both wonderful destinations for having fun. We even have a social event scheduled strictly for the ladies of our organization. They wouldn’t tell me what they are planning to do. Go figure!
If you would like more information about our club, checkout our website (pgislanders.org) or join us for our social at St. Andrews Country Club on the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month from 5-7PM. You’re always welcome.
Seafarers Cruising Club
Barry Jollett , Commodore (575-7617)
www.pgiseafarers.org
May, 2008
“The Commodore's Tart”
The Seafarers are proud sponsors of Mainstreet Punta Gorda's Coconut Craze Days. “The Commodore's Tart” is the Seafarers entry in the Coconut Painting contest. It is hard to believe that Terry Miller could dress up an old brown coconut to look soooo cool. The contest results are not available as of this writing.
The Seafarers are a fun bunch with a balanced cruise and social program. The club is currently at full strength. We have a short waiting list. If you are looking for a fun boating club that does not take itself too seriously (except when partying), take a look at our website www.pgiseafarers.org and fill out the online application.
Please accept my invitation to attend one of our Socials at 5pm on the 2nd and 4th Thursday each month at St Andrews South Golf Club and experience the Seafarer camaraderie for yourself.
PGI Cruising Club
Steve Oswalt , President (639-5851)
www.pgicruisingclub.org
May, 2008
The dog days of summer don't come around until July, but May brings doggone hot weather with it, so what to do? Some folks head north, others hang out by their pools, leaving home only to dash to the freezer section of the supermarket. The PGI Cruising Club is checking out the working dogs at the Guide Dog school in Palmetto. Our house dogs don't know how lucky they are. This late May trip involves puppies, followed by pizza at the Roaring 20's Pizza and Pipes. Puppies and pizza. Whatta treat!
That, AND a Memorial Day overnight cruise to South Seas, lunch cruises of course, ongoing happy hours and just maybe a day at the beach will keep us cool in May. You know, I think I like our Happy Hours the best. We're a boating club and we all enjoy the water, and we're a social club and we all enjoy our outings, but for an end-of-the-day kick back with your friends, our weekly Happy Hours at St Andrews are just the ticket. Bob and the gang at St Andrew's treat us really right with icy cold drinks and piping hot treats and everybody knows your name.
We've had a good spring run at it with our numerous lunch and overnight cruises, sailboat races, supper faires, picnics, dinner theater outing, winery tour, road rally, and piping down the sun, and we're all ready for some lazy days of summer, so if you're here for the season, come say hello at one of our May Happy Hours (5/7,13,21,27) St Andrews.