We missed the Emerald Coast Poker Run this year due to conflicting schedules with the Offshore Super Series powerboat races over in Orange Beach. By most accounts the poker run was a big success this year, but it was tempered by an accident in Destin Pass during aerial filming (not part of the official event). Fortunately no one was killed, but some of the passengers did receive major injuries.

The accident victims were gracious enough to release the video of the accident to help promote boating safety. (more…)

It’s a busy weekend for boating from Orange Beach to Destin along the Gulf Coast. We’re heading over to Big Lagoon State park for the weekend to camp and cover the Offshore Super Series Thunder on the Gulf Races. Look for race photos and coverage on DestinSharks early next week.

This weekend is also the weekend for the Emerald Coast Poker Run - one of the largest such events in the world. If history is any guide, over 400 boats will ply the waters between Destin and Pensacola to get their cards.

We wish everyone a great time on the water - boat safe, sober, and hydrated!

It’s that time of year again and we are quickly approaching Boat Week 2007 and the Emerald Coast Poker Run. We had a fun time on the water yesterday collecting up a few more pictures for our Poker Run map available at EarthNC. The map includes this year’s stops, the new Poker-Run related no-wake zones, and photos of local bridges and ramps. Look for us to be out photographing on the 18th in our Regal 2760 ‘Southern Comfort’ and check back for our photo gallery to see if we photographed your boat.

We had a great time during the 2007 ABWA Billy Bowlegs Poker Run held in Fort Walton Beach last Saturday. While we didn’t draw a winning hand, we had a full day of fun and sun with great weather. Dolphins and bait schools in Destin Pass livened up our cruise. Click on the photo thumbnail to see our extensive set of poker run photos - hopefully we captured most of the participating boats. You can also see a plot of our course, complete with photo thumbnails in Google Earth via our 2007 Poker Run Network Link.

We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s AWBA Billy Bowlegs Poker run and have just about got our Regal 2760’s tanks topped off so that we have plenty of gas to make all the stops. To help navigate around, we’ll be using the EarthNC Plus Marine Charts for Google Earth and GooPs Pro GPS software to turn Google Earth into a nice moving map.

One of the features we like about GooPs is the ability to ‘transmit’ your position to a remote server. We’ve set up a Google Earth network link so that you can follow our position while we’re driving around for the poker run. When you load the file, look for a blue track and a green teardrop pointer showing our most recent position. The link is set to update every 2 minutes. The network link will also load the EarthNC Online marine chart for our area, the poker run stops (the big playing cards), and any geotagged photos we manage to post while driving (we’ll do the best we can).

Download the Google Earth Map link or try it out in the EarthNC Online Combined Map Viewer:
DestinSharks.com / EarthNC.com Billy Bowlegs Network Link

If you need Google Earth, you can download it free: Google Earth

The American Business Women’s Association Emerald Coast Chapter is hosting this year’s Billy Bowlegs Poker Run this Saturday, May 19th. We’ve made a special DestinSharks.com / EarthNC.com marine chart for Google Earth which you can load via the image at left or by direct link HERE - this link will include our real-time position while we’re out on Saturday. Poker run card pickup locations are marked by the Ace of Hearts icons. You’ll need Google Earth installed to load the chart.

Poker Run Information

Participants can register via a form at the ABWA Website or in person at Shalimar Yacht Basin on Friday the 18th from 11am-6pm or Saturday from 9-11am. Cost is $40 per hand or a Boat Package 4-hand special for $140. Stops include local waterfront businesses in the Fort Walton, Destin, Eglin area.

We’re planning to participate ourselves in our Regal 2760 Southern Comfort and will be ‘live casting’ our position via Google Earth (details to come later this week) so look for our DestinSharks.com transom banner and smile for our cameras.