Part One Friday...
By Marty Ferry
Well after three perfect days of skiffing, all I can say is “15 gallons of fuel on Friday $33.00, 17 gallons of fuel Saturday, $38.00, then 20 gallons and to run out at the ramp loading up, Priceless." That’s about how it went. There were 13 skiffs and Tom Donnelly’s Coronado that showed up for the weekend. From what I heard at the ramp on Sunday, they all needed to get home for a rest.
We put our boats in at the Tavares 441 ramp on Friday
around 11 and were on our way around Lake Eustis, which is 3 miles wide by 5
miles long. We proceeded thru the Dead River Canal and onto Big Lake Harris. I
believe Big Lake Harris is something like 5 miles wide by 12 miles long. We
skirted the northeast shoreline and after about 5 miles we came to our
destination, Big John’s Tiki bar and restaurant. Unlike watering holes in the
north climates, Big John’s is a tucked away rustic waterfront Tiki where you
dine outside with the palm and cypress trees and where you eat with the
alligators swimming by. After a quick lunch we headed back for more skiffing
across Lake Harris and headed back towards the ramp. Although we were on a mini
weekend vacation, we still had a schedule to keep. We decided to get back to the
ramp allowing us enough time to stage our boats in the town of Eustis, for their
First Night celebration where the skiffs were the main attraction. The theme was
Margaritaville, and Buffet was in the air. Most of the skiffers neve
r
experienced a town fest with the people, bands at both ends of the street, food,
and all the festivities the town offered us. We were center stage and enjoyed
every minute of it showing off our boats and answering the questions that were
asked about them.
A couple surprise guests showed up that evening, Al Nalli, from Michigan whose skiff is presently clocked at 116 mph. We talked and no way will I have the urge to go much faster than I presently am. Al is “Piloting” a Moore craft skiff named “Rebounder” with a special 685 Hp small block Chevy. I will be posting a video of him and Paul Nowack at 105 mph very soon. Al is looking forward to joining us at the Mount Dora in March.
Another surprise guest who introduced himself was Rick,
from the Lynyrd Skynyrd band. Claire tried her hardest to have Rick take the
stage for a few, but he (and his roadies) were on
vacation, and we accepted
that. Al and Rick were friends, who were traveling together, and all we can hope
is he comes also in March. We closed Friday at 10PM took our boats back and
readied them for another adventure on Saturday.
More pictures below
