Club member Tim Hill and company didn’t waste any time getting up to speed in Hill’s 35-foot Fountain sportboat. All photos courtesy/copyright Bob Barnhart/Speedonthewater.com

The fifth event of the Fort Myers Offshore season, yesterday’s lunch run from the Sanibel Bridge to Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda pulled in 36 boats and four new members for the nonprofit, Florida-based club, which raises money for college scholarships. The event attracted an array of performance boats from a 28-foot Active Thunder to a 50-foot turbine engine-powered catamaran from Nor-Tech, as well as several center consoles.

“We also had a great-looking, brand-new 47 Nor-Tech with triple diesels,” said Eric Belisle, FMO’s president. “We had two groups, one running offshore and another running the protected waters of the Intracostal Waterway. We had great weather with sunny skies and highs in the low 80s.”

For more images from yesterday’s FMO Burnt Store Marina run, check out the slideshow above.

On hand for the event was Raymond Roberts of Double R Performance, the Ontario, Canada-area-based Nor-Tech dealer and longtime sponsor and supporter of the club.

“Raymond is always willing to help anyone in need,” Belisle said. “Yesterday he had the pleasure of jumping into chilly water in the Gulf to change a propeller on a boat that threw a blade.”

Next up for the club is its run, which includes a beach party, to Cayo Costa on March 26. “That run is always a club favorite,” Belisle added.

From Ontario, Canada, the “Donzi Divas” of Fort Myers Offshore.

Related stories
Fort Myers Offshore Sees Record Turnout For New Year’s Run
Gallery of the Week: Fort Myers Offshore’s Post-Turkey-Day Flock
Inside SOTW Mag: With Open Arms