The 11th Annual Jacksonville River Rally Poker Run returned to the St. Johns River, with a wide variety of powerboats that ranged from outboard powered sport boats to turbine-powered catamarans. Over 150 participants enjoyed two days of Rollin’ on the River, with some teams arriving as early as Wednesday for the weekend activities. For two days, and interesting mix of high-performance machines owned by particpants from more than a dozen states, began to form an impressive display of truck/trailer combos in front of the Jacksonville Hyatt Riverfront.
Thursday evening, the first casual gathering kicked off at the Jacksonville Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery, where more than fifty participants enjoyed great food, major league sports on muliple flat screen TV’s, and a festive atmosphere soon erupted in the private dining room. As dinner guests returned to the Jacksonville Hyatt, over two dozen participants found their way to the 74 Viking, Keep N Dry, owned by FPC member Ken Armstrong. With the big sportfish yacht docked along the Jacksonville Landing waterfront, it was a great way to appreciate the downtown setting, with the magnificent view of the bright blue Main Street bridge as a backdrop.
By Friday morning, boat launching an staging was in full swing…as participants used as many as three boat ramps, an industrial sized crawler crane, and a travel lifted operated by Sadler Point marina along the Ortega River. By 12 noon, nearly thirty powerboats set out on a southbound cruise along the St.Johns River, for a twenty five mile ride to a sandy shoal, for a raftup party that was sponsored by Powerboat Nation, and a local wings restaurant. Even founder Bill Pyburn Sr. and Cullen Sourdiff had spent many hours in preparation of this special event, and as the boats arrived and rafted up, a major BBQ spread was ready and waiting for all to enjoy! The rain held off, and this proved to be the perfect way to shake-down the boats, meet new boating friends, and enjoy the unique flavor of the local boating along the St. Johns River.
Later Friday, with the boats settled in at Metro Park Marina, particiapants gathered for the next land-based function atFionn MacCools Irish restaurant in the Jacksonville Landing. This new location had opened within the last year, so it was a first time for all of the participants to enjoy ambience and great food of their open-air patio, overlooking the scenic St. Johns River. Entertainment included fabulous tunes from a local five-piece band, the Dirty Gringos, along with a swimwear fashion show that was sponsored DH TECH, the dehumidification company that owned by FPC member Ken Armstrong. Congratulations to the winners, and be sure to catch all the great photos at www.flpowerboat.com, which will be posted by May 23rd!
With a questionable weather forecast just 24 hours before the Saturday Poker Run …it was wonderful sight to gaze out over the city on Saturday morning, only to see clear skies and hear no threatening weather warnings on the NOAA weather channel. Soon after the mandatory captains meeting, which was well attended by local law enforcement thanks to safety meeting coordinator Jim Suber, the boats were en route to the first poker checkpoing at Jacksonville Landing, and the two-tiered start occured shortly after 10:30am, heading southbound, (up) the St. Johns River. With most of the 2011 checkpoints returning for the 2012 poker run course, the expected arrival of the first boats at the Outback Crab Shack was right on schedule. Special assistance by the dock staff at Outback Crab Shack, reserved a long section of the quarter-mile dock exclusively for the poker run attendees, while dozens of spectator boats were still welcome along the remaining section. In a matter of minutes, the docks came to life, as spectators and poker runners alike, got an upclose look at all the impressive hardware!
LUNCH was prepared and ready, served buffet style to speed up the process, which snow-crab, peel n eat shrimp, BBQ chicken and pork, served with low country boil potatoes and corn. Thumbs up from the hungry mob, including a familiar face, Reggie Fountain himself, who admitted he had been missing the poker run scene for quite some time.
He respectfully commented, “ Well Stu it looks like you and Bill Pyburn Sr. did a nice job with this event! …. And your FPC team continues to do a great job with these poker runs! There’s not a lot going on in the performance boating world compared to eight or ten years ago, so being able to pull forty or fifty boats out to his Jacksonville event is a great outcome and there are some really impressive boats out there today.” Reggie introduced two of his business partners in a new venture and went on to cruise the docks and shake hands with boaters. It was just like old times in so many ways!
The poker run fleet began to depart shortly after 2 PM, turning downriver towards two remaining checkpoints at Julington Creek Marina and Ortega Landing Yacht Club, on the Ortega River. The FPC staff enjoyed the ride on the classic 47 Apache Broken Arrow, owned by longtime member David Peterson, who was unable to attend due to a daughter’s graduation on the same weekend. Tom Hoffstetter ran the Apache most of the day, giving the writer some much appreciated time at the helm.
By about 3:30 pm, the docks at Ortega Landing were lined with high-performance hardware, and the pool soon began to fill up, as poker runners cooled off from the warm, but enjoyable temperatures. The FPC staff enjoyed the final leg back to Jacksonville Landing aboard Bob Blandfords 39 Cigarette Top Fish…which was a great way to finish off an otherwise perfect day of boating!
The Saturday evening festivities returned to Fionn MacCools, although the format for guests was modified to a private function, as close to 150 participants enjoyed a lavish dinner spread and live music from yet another local rock band that got many of the guests out of their chairs, and onto the dance floor. Powerboats on display included the Windship 48 MTI on its tilt trailer, with its aviation-lights and LED’s creating an impressive light show. Curious spectators soon wandered into the courtyard to see the impressive boats, and at the height of the evening, the visuals resembled in some way a “miniature” of the Key West Poker Run Village….something that quickly prompted picture taking for next year’s planning. Always have to be thinking of the next big event!!
Congratulations to the poker run winners: (Two Velocity owners in the Winners Circle!)
1st Place: Bob Eppl, (IN) – Team Velocity. Won a Garmin GPS 5012 Chart Plotter, courtesy Superior Communications, and misc. marine products provided by sponsors.
2nd Place: Steve McEachern, (NC) – Team Rooster Tails & Cocktails . Won Ocean LED Lights for his 36 Skater, and misc marine products donated by sponsors.
3rd Place: Charles Kelly (FL) 41 Velocity, A newcomer, who we met at the PBN Friday Raftup party. Had so much fun they decided to join in for the Saturday poker run! The team wins assorted prizes, FPC vouchers, including FPC membership program!