What happened???

[Magic Medicine]

Well put Chris. I've got 26 years of experience as a boat owner and am plenty capable. I've got nothing to prove to anyone. Getting the chit beat out of myself, my passengers and my boat isn't high up on my "things that I have to do before I die" list. There's always another day!!

Craig

I feelt the same way. Poker runs are great but I would rather spend the day on the water with family and friends. Go for a cruise to the beach or lunch etc. No reason to abuse or equipment

 

[Bobcat]

and don't forget that this forum is called "on the dock":leaving:

 

[scottc]

It takes a bigger man to know his limits and stop, than an idiot that is willing to risk it all out of stupidity.

 

[cuda]

I've run that same poker run in a 302 Formula. Once, it was a bit rough, I saw a 50 foot Nortech take the ICW, instead of taking the outside. We didn't run extra hard, but nobody was hurt, and nothing broke. By the same token, coming back from that poker run, I was running beside a 38 cig, and sometimes I couldn't see it over the waves. And that was in Tampa Bay. I've been boating that bay, and surrounding water many, many, years, and the most concerned I've ever been was right under the Sunshine Skyway. I was worried about getting broached when I turned around. That was rough! Crossing Egmont Channel in my fishboat, I put on my lifejacket in my fishboat.

 

[Buoy]

I'm seeing both sides of this.
Charlie has it that this is the kind of water these boats were built for, when better to use them than when it kicks up a bit? that's when it gets fun.

But, the guys that turned back, I understand. You can't afford to go out there and risk busting up the equipment.
It was mentioned that there were boats for sale taking potential customers out there.
How would you feel about buying a Demo boat that you knew had been run hard in a Poker Run in less than ideal conditions?
I wouldn't want a boat that needed repairs while out demo-ing. And lets face it, if you're really gonna hang it out there, you should be on the race circuit, not Poker Running.

Safety is always a concern.

 

[Chris]

Don't get me wrong, I love the race competition and always have. But it's not for everybody. I also think it's great that people do the poker run thing too. Everyone should do exactly what makes them feel good.

I raced cars in my much younger days. I never could understand the car show guys. I was out prepping working and tuning, then breaking something and winching onto the trailer. They were polishing and starting up long enough to get into their spot, setting up the velvet ropes and dragging out the 11 cases of beer and settling in to their lounge chair. I had almost as much in my motor as they had in paint and chrome. Same sort of hardware, two different groups using them two completely different ways. And in the end, everyone enjoying themselves.

Another extension of the car analogy- I live in the suburbs. We have TONS of kids with expensive hot-rodded ( I believe the new term is "tuner") cars. Not a single one of them are ever at the track. And it's been that way since I was a kid in the 70's. It's easier to look and act racy than it is to race. And one last thought- I was hospitalized twice by guys who were breaking in to the sport and were in way over their heads. I don't know that the sport really needs a major influx of inexperienced, incapable new racers.

Why don't we talk about this- how do you attract new blood into the racing side of the sport?

 

[mosi]

Why don't we talk about this- how do you attract new blood into the racing side of the sport?



Get the stock market to go UP as fast as it went DOWN.

That should free up some dollars to throw away......errrr..... I mean....to invest in racing!!!

:leaving:

 

[rbhudelson]

Hmm, so if I follow the logic of these boats are made for the big water does that mean I can write a check for an Indy car and safely make 250 mph laps?

I suspect those piloting have more than just a little to do with it.

I applaud those that chose to stay at the dock!

 

[mosi]

Hmm, so if I follow the logic of these boats are made for the big water does that mean I can write a check for an Indy car and safely make 250 mph laps?

I suspect those piloting have more than just a little to do with it.

I applaud those that chose to stay at the dock!

You forgot.......make 250 mph laps "on the local Interstate":rofl:

:leaving:

 

[glh]

It takes a bigger man to know his limits and stop, than an idiot that is willing to risk it all out of stupidity.

It doesn't take much to be a risk taker behind a keyboard or at the end of the bar while not owning a rig you pay the bills on....

 

[Ted]

I suspect more than a few of those registered were absolutely dying to get out there and thrash a little. But if it was a poker run that means wives, kids, etc. were probably also on the boats. And as most of us know, very few women will just sit down, shut up, and hold on. And running even the largest best set up boats in the rough is fairly dangerous for anyone not well held in by a bolster, so that means you might have 4 people bouncing around basically unprotected, holding on for dear life. Good for them for being safe and thinking of their passengers.

And as an aside, I know of more than a few people in the business who have hurt and/or scared the crap out of people because their tolerance and confidence in their abilities was much higher than their passengers/potential customers. Jus' sayin'

 

[OldSchool]

I just keep thinking about being in the backseat of a certain boat that I know....

:ack2::rofl::ack2::rofl:


....I'm going to walk down and polish my boat now.:sifone:

 

[ApachePete]

Having both raced and done poker runs, I think those who turned back did the right thing.

These are not race boats. No helmets. No Lifeline jackets. Passengers with precarious seats in many cases. Fancy interiors.

Why endanger your passengers, and beat up your boat?

I live on Siesta Key, about 7 miles south of the lunch stop on Sarasota Bay. We planned to got up there by boat and watch them depart after lunch. Four of us left my house in a 24' Pursuit cc at about noon. By the time we got out of the lee of the key, we got absolutely POUNDED by crazy seas and strong winds. Water over the bow. Water over the side. Everyone completely soaked. We were perhaps 1 mile from the dock, not even to the Rringling bridge, going with the wind and waves, and there was absolutely no question that the only reasonable thing to do was turn around and go home . . . barely on plane, with walls of water coming aboard.

Had we been in a 41 Apache race boat, we would have been in heaven! It would have been the perfect conditions for having a blast. :drool5:

But not in a 24' pleasure boat. I'm sure that many of the boats that turned back in St Pete could have made the run, but at what cost? And why?

PS I wish I had known that a few boats made it to Sarasota, because I'd love to get a ride on the new 43 Statement V. Perfect boat for the conditions.

Pictures?

 

[ProMod]

While reading this thread I cant help but think of us running the race coarse following the 04 or 05 Oct Deerfield race in very rough water .
We took a couple out on my Topgun and compared to the Chesapeake the waves were so large that we coulnt see other boats while leaving the inlet.
Finally on top, the poor women passenger holding Starboard rear bolster fell to to floor and could not get back up to hold her bolster we had to run b to the wall or stop and get tossed around which we eventually did..
It can be extra hard on the passengers she was bruised from head to toe,we where very very lucky that know one was badly hurt I learned a lot that day!

 

[DaveP]

I have ridden out 7-10' seas or bigger on a variety of boats, everyone involved would rather not do it again, there was always some kind of damage to the cabin or to one of the passengers. There is always the knowledge that any kind of mechanical failures could be extremely serious

Pleasure boating isn't pleasurable in those conditions. Maybe me and one other person for an hour in the rough stuff but that's my limit for fun.

DITTO - could not have said it better myself

 

[cuda]

There is a big diffence running in 7 foot seas in deep water, than the 7's in the gulf where there no space in between them. Here on the Atlantic side of Floida, it's not like the stiff chop of the gulf.
I would have never left the dock yesterday.

 

[Buoy]

There is a big diffence running in 7 foot seas in deep water, than the 7's in the gulf where there no space in between them. Here on the Atlantic side of Floida, it's not like the stiff chop of the gulf.
I would have never left the dock yesterday.

I think it was 3 yrs ago that I ran in the Gulf with Ratman in his Mistress in 5-7's. We had a blast!!!
But, I have to admit, I was glad to head back inside and stop at Gators for a beer.
The whole run, I was looking back making sure my wife was still in the boat.
I think he was just testing me to see if I had the stones to take it.

 

[Cash Bar]

While reading this thread I cant help but think of us running the race coarse following the 04 or 05 Oct Deerfield race in very rough water .

That would've been '04. That race was on my Mom's Birthday. We were racing the only OPEN boat in SS class. We could never move up during the race because we spent half our energy and concentration trying to stay IN the boat. :ack2:

My parents watched from the end of the pier and my dad said you could acually see us bouncing in the boat. My mom watched through her fingers with her hands over her face.

It was rough to lie and say I had fun. :leaving:

 

[ApachePete]

Did the boats that made it to the lunch stop go outside in the Gulf, or inside in the ICW? Of course, even to run inside requires that you first cross Tampa Bay, which was a mess yesterday.

 

[Scarab KV]

It doesn't take much to be a risk taker behind a keyboard or at the end of the bar while not owning a rig you pay the bills on....

Well put GL