Until yesterday, it had been four years since Fort Myers Offshore had visited Marco Island, Fla., which as it happens is the second home of Bob Barnhart, who founded the club in 2005. The 40-boat group, a fleet-size the soft-spoken Canadian admits he couldn’t have dreamed of when he started the nonprofit scholarship fundraising organization, left its traditional Sanibel Island Bridge starting point at its traditional 11 a.m. departure time.

As usual Jesse and Stephanie Neumann had space for plenty of guests above their 50-foot Nor-Tech center console. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

“It was very fitting to have club founder and longtime Marco Island resident Bob Barnhart join us for the season-opener to what I called ‘Bob Island,’” said Tim Hill, the president of Fort Myers Offshore.

Tradition translates to consistency, and that always has been among the club’s most appealing qualities. So it came as no surprise to anyone involved yesterday that club leadership reversed its decision to bag its time-honored green-flag starts and keep them with a few tweaks for safety reasons.

The fleet ran 46 miles to the Marco Island Yacht Club without incident in bluebird, light-sea conditions that make Southwest Florida the envy of the powerboating world each fall.

Starting-boat duty went to Eric Belisle in his MTI catamaran.

“We have been doing Fort Myers Offshore events for over 15 years now and we still get pumped every time we have a run,” said Eric Belisle, a former president of the club and current board-member started the flee in his MTI catamaran. “It was great to meet new members, see new faces and new boats on the run. We can’t wait for the next one.”

Unless, of course, a hurricane happens to drop by. Which happened in 2022 when Hurricane Ian blasted Fort Myers and obliterated Fort Myers Beach. Which created a shortage of waterfront haunts that can handle a large group, especially for a powerboat club that just keeps growing.

Fort Myers Offshore founder Bob Barnhart ran his unmistakable Mystic M4200 center console with friends.

Enter Cyndee Hill, the wife of Tim Hill, a Fort Myers Offshore board-member and general force of nature. She continues to secure not just destinations for the group, but new destinations such as yesterday’s Marco Island Yacht Club lunch spot. It helps, of course, that Fort Myers Offshore members have become masters of rafting up in close quarters. Still, Hill is a boating destination magician who continues to pull new lunch spots, as well as a few old favorites, out of her hat.

“During lunch, one of the members asked me how Cyndee did it again,” her husband said, then laughed. “My response was, ‘Please don’t get us uninvited.’ The Marco Island Yacht Club is definitely is going to become a Fort Myers Offshore staple.

fmo25marco-43

fmo25marco-25

fmo25marco-200

fmo25marco-24

fmo25marco-86

fmo25marco-288

fmo25marco-80

fmo25marco-85

9fmo25marco-0

fmo25marco-70

fmo25marco-54

fmo25marco-30B

fmo25marco-40

fmo25marco-95

fmo25marco-60B

fmo25marco-39

fmo25marco-94

fmo25marco-40B

fmo25marco-02

fmo25marco-76

fmo25marco-77

fmo25marco-35

fmo25marco-30

fmo25marco-26

fmo25marco-62

fmo25marco-action

fmo25marco-33

fmo25marco-38

fmo25marco-59

fmo25marco-22

fmo25marco-65

fmo25marco-28

fmo25marco-03

fmo25marco-64

fmo25marco-club

Enjoy more images from yesterday’s event.

“But member Bob Burgess, who also belongs to Marco Island Yacht, suggested it,” Hill added. “So he deserves a lot of credit.”

Along the lines of “credit,” new club member Tim Freund deserves a bunch for getting the Hills and their friends/weekend guests Ryan McClaran and Elizabeth Higgins to the Marco Island destination. The Hills and company had planned to tackle the run in McClaran’s Sunsation 32 CCX center console, but a mechanical issue left them boat-less. So Freund invited the group to join in his 48-foot MTI catamaran with 2,700-hp-worth of Mercury Racing engine power.

“You’re going to make me say something that no other man has made me say before,” McClaran told his gracious host for the day. “I’m glad my boat broke.”

Sunsation owner Ryan McClaran’s misfortune led to a ride upgrade for the day.

“After an awesome summer of poker runs up north, I could not wait to keep the fun rolling with Fort Myers Offshore,” he continued. “I was discouraged that we lost a supercharger so we couldn’t take our boat but it was a feeling that was washed away by a 48 MTI with 1350’s. Running in the front of the pack at 145 mph to the lunch stop was a awesome experience. And the yacht club did a fantastic job of getting us all in and fed. I definitely hope this is a annual stop for us.”

The successful Fort Myers Offshore season-opener left the club president in a contemplative mood. The guy has a more-than-full-time job, one that involves significant travel, of his own. His powerhouse wife attends to every detail. They live and breathe Fort Myers Offshore. The organizational work is endless, as is their passion.

And it is driven by the Fort Myers Offshore members.

The Marco Island trek is sure to return to Fort Myers Offshore’s roster of events.

“They are by far the best captains around the dock in the sport,” Tim Hill said. “I never really considered high-performance powerboating a sport before, but it certainly is. It requires preparation, skill, awareness and physical exertion—have you ever washed a boat in the Florida heat?—and playing by a set of agreed-upon rules.

“It is not a competition,” he added. “But at least with Fort Myers Offshore, it really is a team sport.”

Hill paused for a moment, then added, “This was the best season kick-off that I can remember.”