Pictures of the Redneck Yatch Club Event

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Redneck Yatch Club - 2008

Welcome to Englewood Florida

Actually... this event occurred on June 14, 2008 on a small island
just south of Englewood Florida in a less populated area known as
Placida and / or Boca Grande Florida. I got a phone call asking if
I would like to photograph the event, and the next thing I know I'm
doing Land - Sea - and Aerial photographs of this event.

The following pictures are in the approximate order that I took them.

Enjoy :)

This is a 48' floating party barge with the same name. And when she comes out to play... you know there's going to be a party !

This boat is now available for private parties in
Charlotte Harbor and surrounding waters.
For more information call Dave at (941) 286-0264
or visit their new web site at
www.RedNeckYachtClubofEnglewood.com

I started out early with my new kayak, and planned to paddle out to the islands to take pictures... but my good artist friend "Hatch" of Hatch Gallery LTD offered to take me there on his powerboat and save me the time and energy to paddle out there.

And this is the Smoked Mullet Band...
the music group that organized and entertained at this event

There were already a few boats there when I arrived at 11:00 am...
so I introduced myself and took a few pictures to get the day started.

It was already hot enough to be floating in the 87 degree water

These dudes posed for a really great "guy" portrait... and I hope it gets me off the hook with the girls that have been telling me I have too many pretty girl pictures and not enough good lookin guy pictures on this website :)

But then... you can't really blame me can you ? :)

Next stop was to stop by the Old Boca Grande Trestle
and talk to the people who organized the event.

They were already anchored in and had their campsite set up for the night

Then off they went to set up for the big party on a nearby island

As I paddled my patriotic kayak across the bay...
I can see that many more boats have arrived...

The Redneck Yacht Club party boat was just anchoring in when I arrived and once they got anchored, I asked them to pose for more of a close-up

On the island... everyone was already enjoying another
beautiful day here in Southwest Florida

As the day progressed there were more and more boats that arrived
until the beaches were just about covered

Even the Redneck Yacht Club boat was rafted almost all the way around

And a few more pretty faces :)

And of course I always like to add a few abstract & artsy photos :)

At this point it was about 2 in the afternoon... and I had to depart
from this island paradise to catch a helicopter for some aerial pictures
of this event... So I handed my smaller camera to someone and asked
that they get a picture of me before I headed off for my flight.

The Smoked Mullet Band was just about to play,
so I took one quick picture before I departed.

Part II

The Flight

The chopper was waiting for me when I arrived...
(missing the passenger side door) so I just got right in...
strapped on my seatbelt and made myself comfortable

A view of the cockpit reveals a cluster of gauges and instruments that
I've never experienced, so I took a few pictures to get myself aquatinted

Once in the air, I quickly realized that visibility was low
from the haze of dozens of little rain storms in every direction

So we hurried along at over 100 mph towards the
island beach where the party was happening in Placida Florida

A nice view of Gasparilla Marina and their new boat storage facility
You can find them at www.GasparillaMarina.com

And just before heading out over the water I took a quick shot of the Placida Village at the intersection of 775 and 771.

I have three Placida Small Businesses here that advertise with me
at www.theMKT.com and www.AllAboutEnglewood.com

The NEW Englewood Yellow Pages

Miss Cindy's Fish Market & Deli - Miss Cindy has always served the
freshest fish, shrimp & seafood in the area and now adds the freshest sandwiches and salads from their new deli case. Be sure to stop by.

The Hatch Art Gallery LTD - Hatch gave me a ride out to
the island that morning and he has a very unique gallery of
Island Art, Painted Driftwood & other nautical & antique collectibles

The Placida Queen Charter Fishing in Englewood, Cape Haze and
Boca Grande is available for all day fishing or private charter to
Cabbage Key and the surrounding islands. Visit them on their new website at www.PlacidaQueen.com

And then just as we cleared land... the sun came out and allowed me to capture dozens of great aerial pictures of this first time Englewood Event

Looking south over Charlotte Harbor from over top
the Boca Grande Trestle in Gasparilla Pass

Welcome to

RedneckYatchClub

1st Annual Redneck Party

Autographed Aerial Views available in all print sizes including posters

Limited Edition - Signed & Dated Aerial Photos & Posters
are bound to become a collectors item !

Contact The Smoked Mullet Band

(941) 759-0087

My job was done... and I enjoyed the view. But if anyone has any good pictures of me in the helicopter, I sure would appreciate a digital copy if you could e-mail it to me... and I'll post the best ones here.

But the weather was getting worse, so we had to head home

On my return trip I took a couple aerials of a few well known locations

Do you know where this is? You probably drive here all the time...

Here's All American Boat Storage on Rt. 771. Want to see close-ups?
Just visit their photo website at www.AABoatStorage.com.
Like their photo website? I can build one for you too

I was enjoying the ride, but the weather was getting rough... and I found myself watching out the front windshield as the ride got a bit bumpy and the pilot attempted to avoid the small storms that seemed to be in almost every direction

Here's another place you drive past all the time... ???

But the storms closed in on us and I was informed that he'd have to set it down if it got too bad... Hadn't really thought about it... but it seems helicopters don't have windshield wipers :) Well I guess they wouldn't work very well at over 100 mph anyway.

So we started looking for a place to set her down... just in case...
this location has too many trees

This is better, but still too many things on the ground

Ahhhhh... here we go. I nice open field...

And so there we sat for about 30 minutes waiting for the storms to pass.

Kind of an uneasy feeling when there is lightning falling all around and
you are the highest point for several square miles... not to mention the
big metal blade over your head that's connected to the 100 octane gas
in the fuel tank :) We distracted ourselves as we viewed all the
pictures that were in my camera of the Redneck Yatch Club Event
that I had just photographed