Sunnylands Annual Meeting Run

November 2005

Friday started out at 3PM with a Mt Dora boat show meeting. The Skiff group will be handling the Friday picnic at Hickory Point Park on Lake Harris to kick off the weekend activities. Some of the details include an Island theme with appropriate food. The ride is about 10 miles each way. We plan on having the early skiffers join us for this trip and possibly have some take the ride over. Once there and after lunch, possibly switch riders for the return trip. Remembering most of these guys and ladies haven't been in skiffs for some time. The trip thru the Dora Canal with them will be a special memory also.

We will be handling the Saturday evening event also this year. We will be carrying the island theme into the Saturday evening reception. The Caribbean Chillers http://www.caribbeanchillers.com/index.html will be the entertainment, they are a Jimmy Buffett style band, so bring your favorite island attire for the party. The party will be under tent at the Lakeside Inn, so it will be Island informal dress.

Getting back to Friday, after the meeting we were treated to a free reception gathering provided by the Sunnylands Chapter. This is an annual event but was one week later this year. Friday evening gave us time to meet old friends in the Chapter and get them primed for Saturday.

Saturday morning was the Chapter's Annual meeting which was well attended. After the meeting the skiffs organized the water activities for the day. We planned a trip up Lake Dora, thru the Dora Canal to our first stop the new Harborside for lunch. It was about 1:30 by time we arrived. I am pleased to see 28 boats attended the event. It was a good mix of skiffs & woodies.

After lunch, we planned on going further west thru the Dead River canal then onto Lake Harris to give the boys a treat and introduce them to a place called Venetian Gardens. The wind was blowing to the west around 12 to 15 miles per hour, so going we were riding with the surf. What a great ride, a couple times we dropped the bow into the holes, made some big splashes, but luckily it is fresh water! We arrived safely and took a breather, regrouped, waited for the flatbottom ski boat to catch up then headed back east.

A hard theory to get is when it's rough, go faster and ride the tops of the swells. That's a tough sell while you're pounding to get on top. It was easy for us since Paul was to my left. The Puppy is a lot heaver than the old Pup so she rides different. The big difference I noticed was with the hydraulic on the wheel, I could make very small and INSTANT plate adjustments and was able to go much faster with lots less pounding. I believe Paul & I were going thru the 2 to 3 foot swells at better than 60 mph. and flat. The rest were telling us about the pounding they took. Dick Daly in Justa Fishin Boat told me he stayed in Paul's prop wash to stay pretty flat. We arrived back at the Gilbert Park ramp and made sure all the boats were safely on their trailers and would see the gang in a couple hours for at Annual Dinner.

Welcome new skiffer Dick Haas JS-12 to the gang, he lives in Tampa.  He had a skiff when he lived up north and couldn't wait to get his hands on one again.

Saturday evening started early for Cliff Ennis, Tom Wark and myself as we were the bartenders for the evening. The Dinner was held at the Mount Dora Yacht Club. I had a blast and met quite a few interesting guests at the banquet. My feelings were shared by both Tom & Cliff.  

Recognition awards were presented to members for service to the Chapter. We received the Presidents award for our part in organizing the skiffs at events within the chapter and at other events throughout the year. Bill & Barb Fiekert "Mad Dog"  JS-39 walked away with the "The Door Prize" it's just the door.

The party went on thru the night and we all had a blast. Sunday we were scheduled to put the boats back in the water for a ride, but we just were plum rode out. Nice feeling to have when you live in Florida you get to use your boat every weekend, and we usually have an event to go to.

See ya at the Turkey Run at Trimble Park in two weeks.