Tim Hill has a knack for fitting big fleets into small spaces, and with tomorrow’s Fort Myers Offshore lunch run to Three Fisherman Restaurant on the Caloosahatchee River getting 50 boats docked safely is his main concern. On the plus side, members of the nonprofit scholarship fundraising powerboat club have become masters of tight-dockage and raft-ups. But they’ve also never been—at least as a large group—to the North Fort Myers, Fla., venue.
That doesn’t concern Hill, the president of the club and his wife and Fort Myers Offshore board-member. In fact, he’s relieved.
“We only have 50 boats, which I think will be a refreshing and manageable number,” he said.
Just two events—the April 5 Cayo Costa Beach Raft-up and the April 15 Tiki Run to Riviera Bar and Grill—remain on the 2024/2025 Fort Myers Offshore schedule. All events except the season-opener have produced record-setting turnouts. Since tomorrow’s outing will be the club’s first visit to Three Fisherman Restaurant, it’s already a record-setter.
Once the season is finished, the Hills will have time to focus on reviving the Roar Offshore Poker Run in Fort Myers Beach. The event has been dormant for several years, but the Hills decided to bring it back when plans for the Roar Offshore Fort Myers Beach powerboat race this October fell through.
“We were trying to find a location that could accommodate us this spring, but there is no place,” said Hill. “So we are thinking it will take place the weekend that the race was supposed to take place in October.”
The timing might just be perfect as October is a quiet month for boating events in the Sunshine State. The penultimate happening for the Florida Powerboat Club, Emerald Coast Powerboat Week runs September 18-21. The club’s traditional season final in Key West, Fla., is set for November 5-10. The Roar Offshore event fills gap when the wicked Southwest Florida heat is on the decline.
The Hills are still in the early stages of planning and, as noted, and have three more Fort Myers Offshore runs to produce. Then they can focus on the Roar Offshore Poker Run.
“We would start in the Fort Myers Beach area as the run is associated with the Roar Offshore powerboat race, and then head north up the Gulf of Mexico through Charlotte Harbor and hit some Fort Myers Offshore haunts for cards stops and lunch,” Hill explained. “We’d also probably mix in a new stop or two as ‘trials’ for future Fort Myers Offshore lunch destinations.”
Look for more information in the coming months—Matt Trulio
