Here’s the deal—my family doesn’t really do Sunday Fun Days. My workweeks are crazy. I leave the house at 4:30 a.m. and don’t get home until 7 p.m. or later Monday through Thursday. On Fridays I usually head straight home after my normal job instead of going to my shop. So by 4 or 5 p.m., our “Sunday Fun Day” is already in the works.

Shaun Torrente and his dog, Otis, aka Boots, head out in his 30-foot Motion. Photos courtesy Shaun Torrente (click images to enlarge).

Of course between my racing schedule and other family commitments, my wife, Flavia, and daughter, Isabella, and I aren’t able to do this every weekend, but more often than not, this is what our ideal boating weekend looks like. We’ll take a cruise in our 21-foot Paramount and head to Fort Myers for dinner. Two Friday nights of each month they have some kind of art festival so we usually walk around that and then head back home around 8 or 9 p.m.

On Saturday we like to get the bigger boat ready—we currently have a 30-foot Motion with triple 280-hp Mercury outboards—pack a lunch and take off for the day to one of a dozen options depending on the weather and water conditions. Most of the time, we head to an island or a sandbar and just hang out, play in the water and listen to some music. It’s our chance to unwind and catch up on the week since we don’t see each other much. On our way home we normally stop at a restaurant, have a little dinner and get home before dark—Isabella and I like to jump in the pool to get all the saltwater off and stay in until well past dark.

On to Sunday, which usually starts with what my friend, Joe, dubbed the “100-mph donut run.” I get up early and run to downtown Fort Myers and grab a half-dozen gourmet donuts from Bennett’s Fresh Roast. They are amazing. Sometimes I bring one of the dogs, or if Isabella is up early enough, she’ll come with. No matter what, I have to stop at Starbuck’s and grab some for the wife—she loves Starbucks. The rest of the day we just spend around the house in the pool, barbecuing, watching football or NASCAR, and preparing for the week ahead. That’s why when it comes to my family, Sunday Fun Days aren’t really about the boating.

Unless of course I’m racing on a Sunday—then of course, nothing is more fun than that.

Editor’s note: Shaun Torrente, who owns Paragon Performance & Machine, is an accomplished tunnel boat racer who currently competes in the Union International Motonautique F1 H2O World Championship. Driving for the Dubai-based Victory Team, the Florida native finished third in the season opener in early March and has a few races with American Jay Price in Lady Spain in the XCAT World Series—the season opener in Fujairah, UAE, in two weeks (April 7-8), followed by the Dubai Grand Prix (April 15-16) and the Lugano GP in Switzerland (June 4-5)—before the F1 H2O season resumes in July in Evian, France.

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