Labor Day Weekend with Rusty Higgins and a SRL Photographer

HUMPH

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2009
7,618
SF BAY AREA
Boat Info
2003 410DA
2009 Walker Bay 13’
Engines
CAT 3126TA's 350HP/
50HP Honda
I have posted on a couple of other threads but wanted to start a new one about the special event that was the Sea Ray boat Club of Northern California's 20th Annual Circle Cruise. Rusty flew into the Bay area at 10PM (1AM Florida time) and we made it to my house by 11PM. Rusty is probably boarding his flight home as I type this, and will be home around 1AM tomorrow.

I put Rusty to work for the first 2-days since we were a bit short handed on our crew. He was able to see first hand how we design, engineer and execute our very round circle. Thanks for all of the hard work Rusty! We had a total of 39 boats after a few cancellations which made an almost perfect sized circle in my opinion. Good weather other than the rain Rusty brought to make him feel at home yesterday, and a great time was had by all. Sea Ray Living brought in Rodrigo, a local photographer who was fantastic. Rodrigo took tons of photos from my Caribe, from probably 8 hours in the water and even from the helicopter. Rusty brought him in my Caribe two mornings before the sunrise to capture some great shots, the man didn't sleep much except when forced to by exhaustion it seems (see below).

Our club is Sea Ray only and you will notice by the pictures that I have posted so far on other threads, these are not small boats and average probably 40'. We have felt pretty slighted with the lack of Sea Ray presence since Marine Max closed all of their sales offices that were out here some years ago but in speaking with Matt Guilford (SeaRayCorporate) and Brad Anderson (Sr. VP of Marketing and all around good guy), our future out here looks brighter. For some more insight into what we do for 3, 4 or 5 days during our cruise, it includes but is not limited to the following: Hanging out in boats and/or in the water with friends chatting about a most anything, Saturday we have the official opening of the Circle when the interior lines are released allowing free access, there is a dancing on the swim platform competition followed by music & dancing on our custom party platform that was engineered and built by members, Sunday is more relaxed as people get in the water and just chill until the BBQ baby back rib competition begins (I won) followed by hosted margaritas on the platform, the dinghy drive-in movies where we have a screen on the back of a 560DB and all dinghies tie up and watch videos while having a cocktail or two but this year was special as Rusty presented a watch, given to him by Sea Ray Boats for his years of service, to Paul Sharps who has created and been in charge of the Circle Cruise for 20 years! This was very touching but something that Rusty insisted on. Monday is a board meeting followed by a general meeting then the crew meets to plan the breakup which must be done carefully to ensure the safety of the boats.

The crew members work our a$$es off for much of the cruise but it's well worth it to see how much fun is being had by all. I hope all at Sea Ray Boats realize how much we appreciate them showing a glimpse of interest in our club and this cool event and I personally look forward to much more conversation with them regarding how best to build on this and get the brand back in Northern California. I also hope that Rusty's importance to the brand is realized since he IS Mr. Sea Ray! I couldn't imagine Rusty doing anything unrelated to Sea Ray. Please share your Rusty stories with me as I am encouraging our membership to follow this thread and now that they have spent a weekend with him, there are that many more Rusty fans in this world. I will be posting some better shots of this event at a later date but I hope everyone enjoys what we have shared so far.
 

Attachments

  • Rusty.jpg
    Rusty.jpg
    46.8 KB · Views: 674
  • 600DA.jpg
    600DA.jpg
    51.6 KB · Views: 658
  • P1020220.JPG
    P1020220.JPG
    55.3 KB · Views: 653
Last edited:
Sorry about one paragraph but I can't seem to add a break? (Able to fix it on my iPad, WTH?) Also, the boat was a mess while carrying too much for 5-days on the hook including everything to cook 7 racks of ribs.
 
Last edited:
Excellent post!!!!!!

We all have excellent Rusty stories. This is one more to the HUGE pile, thanks for sharing.

and yes, your boat is a mess.
 
These are on another thread but worth being here. I will get many, many more later and pop them on photobucket or something.
 

Attachments

  • P1020164 - Copy.JPG
    P1020164 - Copy.JPG
    54.7 KB · Views: 592
  • P1020172 - Copy.JPG
    P1020172 - Copy.JPG
    74.2 KB · Views: 607
  • P1020209 - Copy.JPG
    P1020209 - Copy.JPG
    60 KB · Views: 598
  • P1020211.JPG
    P1020211.JPG
    51.4 KB · Views: 589
  • P1020215.JPG
    P1020215.JPG
    72.6 KB · Views: 617
  • P1020224.JPG
    P1020224.JPG
    42.5 KB · Views: 594
  • Circle - Copy.jpg
    Circle - Copy.jpg
    74.6 KB · Views: 594
  • P1020185 - Copy.JPG
    P1020185 - Copy.JPG
    82 KB · Views: 597
  • P1020187 - Copy.JPG
    P1020187 - Copy.JPG
    73 KB · Views: 592
  • P1020194 - Copy.JPG
    P1020194 - Copy.JPG
    49.8 KB · Views: 612
  • P1020203 - Copy.JPG
    P1020203 - Copy.JPG
    69.8 KB · Views: 596
  • P1020201 - Copy.JPG
    P1020201 - Copy.JPG
    56.8 KB · Views: 609
  • P1020212.JPG
    P1020212.JPG
    72 KB · Views: 606
  • P1020216.JPG
    P1020216.JPG
    68.6 KB · Views: 601
  • P1020225.JPG
    P1020225.JPG
    50.1 KB · Views: 604
  • P1020179 - Copy.JPG
    P1020179 - Copy.JPG
    85.5 KB · Views: 610
  • P1020210 - Copy.JPG
    P1020210 - Copy.JPG
    47.6 KB · Views: 605
  • P1020221.JPG
    P1020221.JPG
    70.9 KB · Views: 597
  • P1020174 - Copy.JPG
    P1020174 - Copy.JPG
    74.9 KB · Views: 595
  • P1020168 - Copy.JPG
    P1020168 - Copy.JPG
    62.4 KB · Views: 608
  • P1020177 - Copy.JPG
    P1020177 - Copy.JPG
    91 KB · Views: 600
  • P1020186 - Copy.JPG
    P1020186 - Copy.JPG
    81.1 KB · Views: 599
  • P1020199 - Copy.JPG
    P1020199 - Copy.JPG
    32.3 KB · Views: 593
  • P1020202 - Copy.JPG
    P1020202 - Copy.JPG
    73.3 KB · Views: 591
  • P1020214.JPG
    P1020214.JPG
    72.7 KB · Views: 594
  • P1020218.JPG
    P1020218.JPG
    63.4 KB · Views: 593
Good work, Ken. Maybe some of us east coasters can make a trip your way next year.

I think that everyone who has met Rusty knows what an avid, maybe even rabid, fan of Sea Ray he has been in his 29 years of employment. To many, he is the one face of the brand that has remained a constant throughout the management changes and other turmoil the company has been through. Glad your folks had a chance to meet him in person.
 
Ken, great pictures, thanks. What is the location of your event? Are you in the delta?

Art
 
Ken, great pictures, thanks. What is the location of your event? Are you in the delta?

Art
Yes, in the Delta on Mildred island which is a flooded island. Rusty hated it when we called it an island.
 
Great pix Ken. And Great Circle. I'm used to seeing those on places like Lake Wockawockanobee with a bunch of 'toons and bowriders. This is real impressive!

Glad SR (the company) had a presence at your shindig and hopefully they can get a dealer presence out there too.

Who took those pix? Were they all taken by Rodrigo? Professional!

Did Rusty get any drool on your upholstery? He looks so cute sleeping there! Awwwwww!
 
Very nice Ken. You let Sneaker boats in too? Hmmmm...
Great pics. I would really like to know the best way to do the wagon wheel. We did have 15 boats gathered for and UnAquapalooza gathering a couple weeks ago, but know we can get at least 39 boats together up here. I started "raftnUp" on Facebook and many have joined already.
 
I LOVE the dinghy drive in. Awesome.
 
Very nice Ken. You let Sneaker boats in too? Hmmmm...
Great pics. I would really like to know the best way to do the wagon wheel. We did have 15 boats gathered for and UnAquapalooza gathering a couple weeks ago, but know we can get at least 39 boats together up here. I started "raftnUp" on Facebook and many have joined already.

Very cool thread and event. Even cooler with Rusty. It would be interesting to understand the design and engineering that goes into the setup when you have time to.

MM
MM
 
Great pix Ken. And Great Circle. I'm used to seeing those on places like Lake Wockawockanobee with a bunch of 'toons and bowriders. This is real impressive!

Glad SR (the company) had a presence at your shindig and hopefully they can get a dealer presence out there too.

Who took those pix? Were they all taken by Rodrigo? Professional!

Did Rusty get any drool on your upholstery? He looks so cute sleeping there! Awwwwww!


I took the pictures with my little Lumix snap and shoot. The sweet one with the clouds reflecting in the water was from Rusty's cell phone!
 
Very nice Ken. You let Sneaker boats in too? Hmmmm...
Great pics. I would really like to know the best way to do the wagon wheel. We did have 15 boats gathered for and UnAquapalooza gathering a couple weeks ago, but know we can get at least 39 boats together up here. I started "raftnUp" on Facebook and many have joined already.

We have a shoe and two really big shoes! We had a 60 right outside who says he will be joining us next year also. Nice boat there man! Rusty and I helped him with a little weed vs generator issue and at 6' 2" tall, I had about 6" of extra headroom while standing straight up!

No wagon wheel boss. The lines are dropped and through the dynamics of how we tie lines and set anchors we hold firm. We had winds at around 20 knots for a while one day and never moved an inch. This is an engineered circle and it takes a lot of time to get correct. Come on down one year and you can see how it's done.
 
I LOVE the dinghy drive in. Awesome.

It's very cool, even though it cooled down that night. Throw on a sweatshirt, grab some beverages and snacks and enjoy the show. Good sound equipment is a must!
 
Great pics....thanks for sharing.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,950
Messages
1,422,906
Members
60,933
Latest member
juliediane
Back
Top