Cape Coral Cruise Club Revisits Fisherman’s Village Marina

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Despite a rocky, rolling, breeze driven, Charlotte Harbor, eleven hardy Cape Coral Cruise Club vessels and their crews maneuvered their way to Fisherman’s Village Marina in Punta Gorda for the October 21-23 cruise. Counting the boat crews and folks who traveled by land yacht, over 30 club members enjoyed all or some of planned activities over the 3 day event.

While some went fishing, others played card games, went biking on Marina provided bicycles, or visited the local art galleries. All enjoyed shopping at the local craft and tourist shops on Fisherman’s Village concourse. Warm weather and light breezes added to the pleasure of afternoon pool time where many members floated and shared stories of the day.

Steve and Nell Winner coordinated the cruise and attending members enjoyed daily hot breakfast casseroles prepared by Nell. As is customary with this group each afternoon ended with happy hour snacks and docktails in the Captain’s lounge. The staff at Fisherman’s Village Marina are quite accommodating in that the Marina makes the Captain’s lounge available at no added cost.

Wednesday was a pre-arranged pizza party in the Captain’s lounge with several pizzas delivered by a local restaurant. All enjoyed pizza along with their favorite beverages.

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Thursday evening was the group dinner party at the “Captains Table” restaurant on the second floor at the north end of the concourse. All participants enjoyed a wonderful salad bar and meal overlooking Charlotte Harbor while watching the sun set on a beautiful clear evening.

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The Friday morning departure saw all boaters safely exiting the harbor and traversing much calmer conditions on Charlotte Harbor and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The Cape Coral Cruise Club has been making Fisherman’s Village Marina a fall cruise destination for years and it is a cruise that regularly takes all the slips that the marina makes available.

The Cape Coral Cruise Club is open to new members who own a boat with overnight accommodations and reside in the Cape Coral / Ft. Myers area. For membership information please contact Phil Kryger at 239-541-0236. View a short picture video of recent Club activities and read additional Club information on its website www.c-c-c-c.org Like us on Facebook.

By Steve and Nell Winner

Posted by Scott Q Cruising

2014 Fisherman’s Village Cruise

On a beautiful October Tuesday, fourteen Cape Coral Cruise Club boats headed north on the GICW, turned into Charlotte Harbor, then on to the Peace River to Fisherman’s Village Marina. The good member turnout was because this remains one of the Club’s favorite destinations. With mooring assistance from Harbor Master Jim’s helpful crew, boaters completed the always present post cruise boat chores, then relaxed the remainder of the afternoon. The Pre-happy hour time at the Boater’s Lounge produced some groans with the announcement of a trivia quiz on Florida. Prizes were awarded to both the winning and runner-up couples. Happy hour was followed with most everyone’s favorite, heavy hors D’oeuvres. This is the occasion when the first mates out do themselves. The first night is usually an early one, probably because of all the fresh air.

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Wednesday started with a midmorning walk through the park along the river in Punta Gorda to the Rte. 41 bridge and back. Appetites having been built, most members took advantage of the fine restaurants at the Fisherman’s Village Shops for lunch. It was then time for a wet “T” shirt contest on the dock behind the boats. Each couple was given a tee shirt and one of the two had to put it on. Seems simple but the shirts had been water soaked, rolled tight, then frozen. Only body heat and muscle power were allowed. Again prizes were awarded to the top two finishers. Their unique means to thaw the shirts – the winners sat on them, used body heat! Dinner was a mini-Oktoberfest prepared by the cruise leaders and helpers with fare including brats, sour kraut, beer-cheese soup, and Black Forrest cake. A few of the night owls finished the day with a rowdy game of “99”.

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A breakfast of biscuits with sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, sausage links, fresh fruit and adult beverages started the day on Thursday. The bulk of the day was a “do your own thing” event. Some rode marina courtesy bikes to town, some shopped in the Village, some enjoyed the pool, and some just sat around and told sea stories, a few of which may have been true… The main feature of the evening was the group dinner at the Captain’s Table. Good food and excellent service were enjoyed by the boaters who were joined by ten Club members who arrived by car.

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Friday morning saw the flotilla depart the marina heading homeward. Neptune must not have been as pleased with us as he was on our trip to the marina. Winds of 15 to 20 out of the northeast made the seas a bit snotty on Charlotte Harbor, but all arrived safely at their destinations. As usual, another great, safe Cape Coral Cruise Club trip goes into the books.

The Cape Coral Cruise Club is open to new members who own a boat with overnight accommodations and reside in the Cape Coral / Ft. Myers area. For membership information please contact Larry Mitchell at 239-560-2823. View a short picture video of recent Club activities and read additional Club information on its website, www.c-c-c-c.org Like us on our Facebook page.

By Mac Mc Ewen

Posted by Scott Q Cruising