HUMPH
Well-Known Member
- Nov 4, 2009
- 7,618
- 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.
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.
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