St Johns River Cruise Tuesday – Part 5, Some Afternoon Delight, Woody Boater Style – Classic Boats

After a great lunch and a few refreshments, “Lucky 7” and her crew & passengers were back on the water enjoying some afternoon delight – “Woody Boater Style” in the 80 degree temperatures. Were not sure sure if was the food or the refreshments that did it, but all the passenegers seemed more at ease aboard the classic wooden Chris-Craft for the next leg of the journey. Notice how the women passengers made sure they got back to the boat first for the best seats, moving the men to the rear of the U-22.

And then – To everyones surprise, Captain Jim declared a mandatory excersise session for all the men, to limber them up in case of an Emergency-at-Sea. Paul was called up first, to demonstrate some Sons of Varnish Calisthenics…

After Paul’s unique (and unusual) Calisthenics Demonstration, the other men on the boat threatened to mutiny, so to calm the passsengers down Captain Jim offered to give them some classic boat driving tips which seemed to work. Lesson #1 was “Wake Drafting 101” – One of Captain Jim’s specialties. He was drafting on the water long before NASCAR learned how to do it…

The result of wake drafting – Captain Jim pulling up behind the lead boat at half throttle with a fully loaded U-22… Some good stuff with gas prices at an all time high in Florida.

We understand that between Captain Jim and Assistant Captain Johnny, combined they have well over 100 years of classic boating experience on the water… Impressive.

An absolutely beautiful day for classic boating in central Florida.

Then – From out of nowhere the fiberglass Carlson came flying past us… The guy driving appeared to be wearing a formal black & white Tuxedo and holding what looked like a British made toy handgun… Not sure what that was all about…

Once we entered the narrow river, the pace slowed and the other classic boats caught up to us, just in time to grab a few nice shots with the trusty iPhone.