Marriott Hutchinson Island Cruise Review
May 14-16, 2010
Great Weather and Great Friends
We had a total of twenty-two members and two guests join us at the Marriott marina. This included eight boats and 4 drive-ins. Each member family received a CFCC Pennant and a dart board game to practice for the 50/50 contest.
Three boats launched at Sandsprit Park in Stuart on Friday while the “Winter Haven Gang” launched at Okie-Tanie for the 4 hour trip to Hutchinson Island. Unfortunately, both Nauti Nan and Chapter II experienced heat exchanger problems along the way so the trip took a little longer than expected. All were accounted for by about 4 PM. The food brought for Docktails was good and plentiful.
Saturday turned out to be a little windy so some of us stayed at the beach and pool while a few ventured out to a nearby sandbar. We all met at 6 PM for a trip to Wahoo’s on the Water for dinner. Thanks goes to Nick Peterson, Bob Mittauer and Art for shuttling the club members to the restaurant and back to the marina safely.
After everyone was back from dinner, we held a dart game to decide the winner of the 50/50. For a $5 ticket, a member got three tosses of a velcro ball at a moving dartboard held by a crewmate/friend. Great fun! The winner was Nancy Schack who used her $35 winnings to treat other club members to ice cream.
All in all, it was a good trip. The only issue at the marina was air conditioning problems caused by floating organic “stuff” that was stirred up from the bottom at low tide and was sucked into the air conditioner water lines. Kenny Moore and Jer Broadhurst both made trips into the water to clear intake screens. Chapter II gave up and got a room in the hotel while Double J slept with the portholes open and the fans running.
The “Winter Haven Gang” left at 9 am for the trip back down the waterway and across the lake. They reported that Lake Okeechobee was as smooth as glass. Pier Pressure, Nacho Boat and Double J took a short cruise out the St Lucie Inlet until Pier Pressure decided the water was “a little skinny”. We then headed south on the ICW to check out Peck’s Lake where you can anchor, swim and snorkel, or cross the island to the beach. Several good size boats were there so we decided to make this a cruise location on our next trip to Hutchinson Island.
