Written By Susan J. Wright

Talk about laid back boaters. Was it the blustery, cold weather that had everyone lazy as lizards on a cold rock? Or was it Commodore Len Hair, attending to every detail so club members could just kick back and relax? Maybe it was just the dog days of winter boating in Florida.

Dog days! I've never seen so many dogs at a cruising club event. Seventeen boats produced 10 dogs of all sizes, ages and levels of boating experience at the Thunder Marine rendezvous in Florida's Caladesi Island State Park Marina in February. Riley, a 114-pound yellow lab and veteran boater, was aboard Bada Bing, a 42-foot Maxum, with Doug and Susan Byrd. In fact, most boats in the cruising club were Maxums.

Thunder Marine is the Maxum boat dealer on Florida's West Coast and sponsor of this club. The club is remarkably active, gathering every month, usually for a three-day weekend cruise. Without exception, every club member who is free for the weekend joins in.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain," Hair politely chimed at each boat as we made the rounds of the marina. Doug Byrd was ebullient about the cruising club and the boating lifestyle: "It's really, really exciting. We love it ... the camaraderie ... it makes you feel like you're a part of something."

Club boats range from 24-foot trailerables to 42-foot double-decker cruisers and members range in age from 2-year-old Connor, boating since the age of 11 days, to Paul Sayers, who's owned 17 boats--power, sail, trawler, trailerable--in all corners of North America. He and his wife Neva upgraded from a trawler to their 42-foot Maxum, Puddle Jumper. Neva says," We got tired of having to leave four hours before everyone else in the club just to arrive at the same time."

"This boat club has forced us to use our boat a lot more," says Judy Rose aboard Vitamin C, a 27-foot Maxum with her husband Darryl. Retired teachers schooled in the deep, freshwater Lake of the Ozarks, they found the shallow, tricky salt waters of the Gulf of Mexico demanding. "You learn so much from these people," Darryl said. Judy added, "We realized our boat was a major investment so we'd better use it. Now we really feel like we're using the boat for what it was designed for."

Maxum makes a line of sporty runabouts, deck boats and shapely curved cruisers and yachts from 18-42 feet. The preponderance of boats in the club are 27-foot Maxums, whose primary appeal is their roominess. "Everyone loves the cockpit size and the layout with the sink in the cockpit," says club member Mike "the Guru" Bert, also noting the Maxum's beaminess, cabin headroom and very large engine room. Bert, a former engineer, likes to tinker and fix things, so he's the first one called if a member has a problem. He and his wife Joanne joined the group aboard Maxed Out, a Maxum 2700 they bought each other as a Valentine's present.

Judy Rose finds the cockpit seating configuration allows "a lot of people to be seated comfortably." She adds, "It gets up on plane really well and takes the waves well, too."

"Joining this club was the best thing we ever did," said Liz and Lou Nardi, who purchased a Maxum from Thunder Marine as an entree into the club. "I've used this boat more in one year than I used my previous boat in five years," said Lou.

On the maiden voyage of their new Maxum 2700, Good News, were Vicki and Al Tomlinson with Napoleon, another lovable yellow lab. Vicki loves the events; "It's like going to a resort ... and there's plenty of sharing." On this trip they shared cocktails and cookouts in the state park pavilion, complete with roaring bonfires and dancing to old time rock 'n roll to keep warm. During the day club members "bounce from boat to boat. It's relaxed and fun," says Carol Reid aboard To The Max (another 27-foot Maxum) with husband Bill. Several of the women hiked the island's three-mile nature trail Saturday morning.

Caladesi Island State Park, accessible only by boat or ferry from the mainland at Dunedin, is one of hundreds of islands off Florida's West Coast formed by a hurricane in 1921. Three-and-a-half miles long and a half-mile wide, Caladesi boasts 1,100 acres of mangroves and abundant wildlife, including herons, egrets and rattlesnakes.

Gary Blount and Doreen Rogers, aboard their 27-foot Maxum, Knot Together, are medical professionals who can't get away as much as they would like to, "Everybody looks out for each other," said Gary, "We know who the strong drivers are and who the weak drivers are, so we know where to help out the most."

Despite the cold, everyone was propelled onto the docks simultaneously by the arrival of Bill and Wanda Wood aboard More Bills. They came to give a helping hand (and an audience) as Wanda expertly backed into the slip against a very stiff wind. As it turned out, all Wanda needed was a hand of applause, which she got along with whoops and cheers for a job well done.

Article Source: Boat/US Magazine - May 2004 - FindArticles.com