What does it take to stage a successful boating event? How about a two-for-one deal? The Mount Dora Antique and Classic Boat show combines each year with the Saint John’s River Cruise to provide a spectacular ACBS event for participants and spectators alike. Two of the principle drivers of these events weigh in here with some commentary on what makes this annual twosome happen.
 

Carrying On a Great Tradition-The Saint John’s River Cruise
by Guy Marvin III, Sunnyland Chapter

I was fortunate to inherit the St. John’s River Cruise in 1997 after my first trip as a participant. Having had such an incredible life experience as a new wooden boat owner, I was overwhelmed with the feeling I should give something back to my new found passion and friends. I say I was fortunate because my predecessors laid out the basic blueprint. The Saint John’s River Cruise was conceived of by Ann and Mike Matheson of Miami, FL. Ann is a former president of ACBS International.
After a couple of years Wynne and Dean Guy took over the Cruise and really made it into the trip it is today. Dean is also a past president of ACBS International. Our leaders really play a large roll in the good things we do in ACBS. At the end of the Cruise in 1996 Dean indicated he would like to retire as cruise director after seven years in that capacity. I was brand new to the ACBS, but knew that I had to get involved. I told Dean that if he and Wynne would spend a day with me, I’d give it a try.
 

A couple of months later my 8 year old son Matt and I took Majestic to Mt. Dora and spent that day with Wynne and Dean. The rest is history. Next year I will tie Dean’s record of seven years as the cruise director. Along the way we have tried to make some changes and, for the most part, they have been for the better. But what does it take to keep it going year after year?
First, we have a beautiful, natural setting with the St. John’s River. It is rich in history, with beautiful and lush flora, and alive with wildlife. What more could you hope for? During our four days on the river we are on large open expanses of water and also on very narrow sections teeming with alligators, egrets, spoonbills, turtles, wild hogs, deer, wild turkey, osprey, eagles and, yes, the ever present Southern tradition – “red necks” – of which I am proudly one.
 

The second thing we are famous for is the cuisine. Can you believe that along this rustic river setting we are able to find a place that serves us a seafood tray with scallops, crawfish, shrimp, crab legs, sausage, corn, potatoes – topped off with a whole Maine lobster? (No, you don’t find them in Florida – we fly them in.)
The whole answer to a trip like this is... you plan for it. You plan down to the last detail. You identify where amenities are available and how you can get the fleet to those places. What we need is exquisite beauty, comfortable lodging, good food, docks and entertainment. The St. John’s offers all of this and what it may lack in entertainment, we make up for with our crew. What a wonderful opportunity to make new friends and renew old friendships. It’s just a natural.
 

Our first day is taken up with logistics, launching boats, getting them started after a winter in storage and taking the trailers to our final destination. We bus back to our starting place and have an opening banquet at the Florida Yacht Club, the oldest yacht club in Florida. We are now without automobiles and dependent on busses to take us to the boats for our departure the next morning. After that we depend on our boats to get us up the river. Our first lunch is at the Outback Crab Shack where we have that Maine lobster. After lunch we move on to the Holiday Inn, on the water in Palatka.
 

The next day after a Captains’ meeting we head out to the Sprague House in Crescent City for a spectacular buffet lunch. We travel through Dunn’s Creek teeming with wildlife of all kinds. The following day we find ourselves having lunch at Silver Glen Springs, a clear flowing spring rich with history and a geological marvel. We stay that evening in Astor, a small fishing village in central Florida unlike any place that most of us will ever visit again. We spruce it up with a bluegrass band and all the locals join us for an evening of fun. Our last day is spent on the most beautiful section of the Cruise where the river really narrows and the wildlife is most abundant.
 

And again, how do you do this? You plan every step of the way. You know ahead of time where you will be, what the facilities are and how you can enhance the experience for your cruise participants. We have expanded the trip to accommodate more boats by running it both north and south, adding new events along the river and providing as much Sunnyland Southern hospitality as we can.
An added and very real benefit for us is the Mt. Dora Antique and Classic Boat Show. This follows our trip south and occupies the weekend before our trip back north. Terry Fiest and his team have brought this event to a new plateau. It has become a premier event known throughout the Southeast. It must be a good combination because we consistently have boats from all across the United States and four or five boats from Canada. So, come on down and enjoy our warm weather, Sunnyland hospitality and the beautiful St. John’s River.