Aquapalooza a complete BUST in Panama City, Fl

[Hampton]

I wrote a huge post about this but it got deleted during submission.

Bottom line - no one knew about it.
Weather cleared up by afternoon for a great afternoon.
Musician was cancelled by SR and showed up at the restaurant where we ended up taking the boat for dinner.
So, why a bust? I think the MM guys in PCB dropped the ball big time for this event.
There were four boats out there plus a number of vacationers in rentals. Last year there were hundreds/thousands of locals.

So, now what?

 

[HUMPH]

That sucks, we would love to have one again out here. It would be loaded up big time!

 

[Sangster]

They must have all come to the Disappearing Island event yesterday. It was packed, hundreds of boats! Storms rolled in about 4pm and drive away about 1/2 of them..us included. We had a great time! Big surprise of the day is the Aquapalooza 2013 shirts. We had heard there wouldn't be any this year but there were!

 

[spfortjohn]

Going to the one in Pensacola this weekend at Ft McRae hope it is better then that. Had fun at the event last year

 

[fwebster]

In all fairness, John, the weather out at the beach was horrible until after noon......thunder, non-stop rain, 20-25kts of wind. I understand that over your way the weather broke apart and wasn't as bad. The other issue is water quality. The water inside the island looked more like coffee all week than our usual "boating in paradise" water quality due to the freshwater run-off in around the first of July.

But, I am with you.........Somebody dropped the ball. I've been a customer at the marina for 25 years, I know everyone, I know the general manager at MM and several salesmen, I am inconstant touch with the marina and I didn't even know there was supposed to be an event this weekend.

 

[mwph]

Stories of dealerships "dropping the ball" seem to have become commonplace. This is yet another example of what I called in a recent thread of "the weakest link".

I don't want to bash the marina/dealership, but when Frank doesn't know about an event at the marina, you've got problems.

 

[fwebster]

Just by way of clarification, Sea Ray Boats no longer sponsors the Aquapalooza events. They encourage the local dealers to plan the events based on local schedules, weather, etc. The thinking is that more people can participate in a local event since traveling to a big national event isn't possible for many SR owners. This isn't about money or cost, just local need and avoiding a huge potential liability of having a huge party in the water where emergency access on a timely basis is impossible.

 

[jeffk]

Wow, just checked the Aquapalooza site, only 3 place listed in Florida. Miami, Jacksonville and Pompano. Sad

 

[carterchapman]

Hopefully Matt, the new Marketing Manager of Sea Ray, will see this thread...

 

[SeaRayCorporate]

I'm definitely watching the thread and like others have said, I'm sorry about your experience. As Frank noted, the national Aquapalooza events became a major liability for Sea Ray a couple years ago. It wasn't so much an issue of cost as it was risk and what we were willing to sponsor knowing the odds. Separately, the event was also drifting from what Sea Ray stands for -- as the event grew bigger it kind of took on a life of its own and the Sea Ray brand and values got pushed to the wayside a bit. It was remarkable in its time, maybe historic even. But the mega events of the past are being replaced by smaller, more grassroots events facilitated by dealers, customers and communities. I'm sorry that this one fell flat. You'll see more from us soon -- both here and in other Sea Ray channels -- about how the national Sea Ray brand can do more to support local Sea Ray enthusiasts and events. Matt


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[Bucit]

Wow, just checked the Aquapalooza site, only 3 place listed in Florida. Miami, Jacksonville and Pompano. Sad

Early on they had one scheduled for Clearwater at Shepards in Clearwater Pass but then it got deleted (cancelled?). I went to my one and only two years ago and that was the last one near us.

 

[Hampton]

The water was miraculous. Thurs night, you could not tell my stern lights were on Friday night they shone at medium levels. Saturday, the water was clear. None of us could believe it. The sky was clear, the water was clear, the beach was beautiful.

Even if they did turn it off last minute, where was everyone? There is no way anyone would have gotten that word. I actually preferred it that way. We had a very nice day.

 

[ttmott]

Wow, just checked the Aquapalooza site, only 3 place listed in Florida. Miami, Jacksonville and Pompano. Sad

There was one in Central Fl on the ICW near Cocoa (Pine Island). Wasn't bad considering the early bad weather. Probably 50 - 60 boats. Sponsors were MarineMax and Harbortown Marina