WCTSS Weekend at Laishley Marina in Punta Gorda Florida

[hoddinr]

WCTSS Weekend at Laishley Marina - Punta Gorda Florida

A total of 25 Squadron members attended the July event at Punta Gorda's Laishley Marina and the Four Points Sheraton Hotel.  Since it was a civilized event, where you slept in a bed, ate out at restaurants, and went shopping, a lot of wives attended!  This made for a fun weekend for everyone despite the occasional downpours and overcast weather.  The up side of the weather was that it was never really hot, which you would expect for a July event.  Another upside was getting to know the town of Punta Gorda, with its many marinas, restaurants, pubs, and hotels.  Laishley Marina, is a great place to launch and sail from for trailer boats.  No charge to launch or store your boats!  The dock master, Randy, is very helpful, and assigned inside slips to those who wanted to park their boats without hauling them out.  Billy and Joyce VanDeusen kept their SunCat, CayoGato, in the water all weekend.  Ray, Keving and Chris opted to leave their boats at the dock Saturday afternoon as well.

I had the pleasure of hosting Ron Pierce aboard Nomad on Friday and Saturday.  We did get to sail both days for short periods of time in the morning before the rain moved in.  Ron and his lovely wife Joan have moved to the area from Colorado.  You may remember Ron from Cayo Costa a few years ago.  He sailed a O'Day 192 sloop, and still has it, although he's checking out the easier to rig SunCat boats, now. 

Also of note was that with the civilized boating plan and the promise of dinners out and shopping, my wife Joyce came along and took the helm of Nomad for the first time on Saturday.  She approves of my new choice of vessel.

The total staying at the hotel was 23 and we had two visitors.  Jack Dirkes visited us at the Tiki Hut on Friday afternoon, and on Saturday Brenda Bell drove down to have lunch with us. 

Speaking of food, the Laishley Crab House, where we all dined on Friday night, was beyond great.  A menu that was so extensive that it had us all guessing what was good, but it turned out that no one was disappointed with their choices! Seated almost all together at a long table and a couple of booths, the waitresses took our orders and served the food and checks with a smile.  We will be back!

Also, Saturday night was a pick your own pleasure for dinner night, and quite a few of us ended up at the Celtic Ray, a block south of the Marina.  It was a new experience for me, never having been to a real Irish Pub.  You had to go to the bar and order your food and drink, but somehow they knew where to bring it when it was ready.  Food was hot and good, and there was a huge selection of draft brews available.  Just as we were ready to leave for the hotel, the band started up.  Oh well.. next time.

[capt_nemo]

Glad you all got to experience Punta Gorda and our Charlotte Harbor environs. We do have a lot of water around here although some of it is a little "skinny" here and there.

Do come back and enjoy it again in more pleasant weather conditions - it is a great area for boating and sailing.

capt_nemo

[hoddinr]

We'll be  at Cayo Costa in October, Don.  Been coming to Charlotte Harbor since 1969 personally but had never visited Punta Gorda!

Ron

[Tom L.]

I can say it was a very good event. We attended with our Sun Cat "GATITO" along with others. A very nice and reasonable hotel and a really great Marina for trailer launching. Next time maybe not so much rain but there were other things to do. Not much sailing do to the near constant rain but none the less a good time.

Thanks Ron for putting it all together.

Tom L.

[Craig]

Was the event posted here? Kailani is in slip A-10 at Laishley and would have loved to meet some of the folks. Oh well, next time.

[Tom L.]

Sorry we didn't meet Craig. The group is doing a Cayo Costa sail October 16th thru 18th. Maybe we can meet there. If you trail your boat there is a trip scheduled about every month.  Google WCTSS to get to their web site and the schedule is published there.

Tom L.

[hoddinr]

Hey Craig,

We saw Kailani there.  She looked great!  We had three SunCats there, but there wasn't that much sailing due to the rain showers. 

Ron

[Craig]

Thanks Ron. Kailani is my favorite of all the boats I have owned. Sorry to miss you guys. Will be more attentive to WCTS site. Really enjoyed your article in latest issue of Sail mag. The only good thing about rain at a sailors gathering is that it gives everybody more time for drinks and tale-telling! LOL

[hoddinr]

Good point, Craig.  Lots of fun watering holes around the Laishley Marina, too!

Ron

[hoddinr]

Wow!  Forgot to post a link to the photos of this great weekend event at Laishley Marina in Punta Gorda Florida.

Anyway, better late than not at all, right?  Here they are:  http://ftp.ij.net/wctss/wctss/photos137.html

Ron Hoddinott
Founder ~ WCTSS ~

[Bob23]

Wow, thanks Ron! I really enjoyed seeing some familiar places. My daughter used to live in PG and was friends with Kevin, owner of the Ray. A wonderful place where they know how to pour a proper Guinness!!! Makes me wish I'd been there but maybe next year. But, Ron, my friend: Tequila in plastic cups? Nay, nay.
Bob23