MTOA Rendezvous - A Good Time Was Had By All

We cruised to the Hutchinson Island Marriott Resort on Sunday to attend the MTOA Rendezvous. Once we arrived and settled in we rented a car and headed out to do some serious shopping. West Marine, ABC Liquor Store, Wal-Mart, Sams and Publix were all on our list. By the end of the day we were in a daze. We were on overload – way too many people, too many choices and too much traffic. We hadn't been in places like this for 4 months.  We spent much of the next day looking at property. We are still considering the possibility of buying a condo in the area.

On Monday evening the Rendezvous officially started with a happy hour on the dock and then pretty much went non-stop for the next 3 days. There were seminars on all types of subjects dealing with the marine and boating environment and more happy hours, lunches, dinners and dancing. These things are always a lot of fun and we are getting to know more and more people. We have now been to 3 national rendezvous and several of the local Chesapeake Bay Cruiser events. It is really a first-rate organization.

Following Second Star up the ICW



Spotted a heron -- didn't see these in the Bahamas



More sea birds in the shallow water



All the MTOA boats at the marina



Linda went on a beach walk - a sponsored program
at the Rendezvous.  The beach was nice, but more
crowded than those in the Bahamas.



We saw the nests of the Leatherback Sea Turtles.
It is currently their nesting season.  These turtles
can grow to as much as 7 feet and over 2,000 lbs.

There was a T-shirt contest at the Rendezvous.  The theme
was Sea Florida, See Florida.  We didn't participate
as we had just returned back to the states and didn't
have time to design a T-shirt or get supplies.

More of the T-shirt entries.  The couple with the
black t-shirts with the red fish won the contest

At the awards dinner we sat with a group from Tarpon Bay
Yacht Club.  This is the place where we've been looking for a condo.
Going left to right there is Ed, Dolores, Bob and Gayle

Don and Bo

Bill and Barbara