While many of us dream of a circumnavigation, Frank and Karen Taylor are turning theirs into reality this summer. Frank, the author of the Google Earth Blog has been planning the trip since their last family adventure - a year-long Caribbean sail in their prior boat PatiCat.

Their new boat is a St Francis 50 Catamaran named ‘Tahina’ built in South Africa and equipped for blue-water sailing. Sarah and I had the pleasure to spend a few days with Frank and Karen on the boat during this spring’s Miami Boat Show and I’m sure boat will serve them well during their trip.

As an active advocate for Google Earth and Destin Sharks’ ‘EarthNC‘ line of Google Earth nautical content, Frank will be keeping an active multimedia blog of his trip at www.TahinaExpedition.com. He’s posted a rough draft of his circumnavigation plan below. We wish Frank and Karen the best as they start their journey and hope to meet up with them here-and-there during their trip.

Tomorrow, June 24th, kicks off the 2008 Emerald Coast Blue Marlin Classic at San Destin’s Baytowne Marina. This year’s activities include Dockside Party, ‘mini-Gras’, and Fireworks on Tuesday at the Baytowne Marina and Village of Baytowne Wharf, another Party and the Captain’s meeting on Wednesday, Thursday fishing start and boat parade, Friday and Saturday weigh-ins, and final awards ceremony at 11:00am on Sunday.

Local Bouys and Markers

If you’ll be boating as a part of the tournament this year, here’s a quick reference map of the local area complete with main channel markers and lights, courtesy of EarthNC.com.

The Christmas Season is in full swing and the next few weeks will feature multiple Holiday Lighted Boat Parades in Northwest Florida.

The 1st up is the Fort Walton Beach Parade on December 2nd at 6pm at the Landing on Brooks Street.

Next is the San Destin Parade on Saturday the 8th at 6pm. The San Destin Parade is visible from Baytowne Marina and the Village at Baytowne Boardwalk.

Finally, the Destin Harbor Parade will be held on December 9th at 6pm.

Our partner website, EarthNC.com has posted a Google Earth Map with more than 50 Parade Locations across the U.S.

The Offshore Super Series returns to Destin for their 2nd annual Destin World Cup races on October 29th. The Race Village this year will be at the Destin Commons with racing to occur along the Destin waterfront east of the pass similar to last year. Official Race information can be found at DestinWorldCup.com. We’ve put together a simple map to show the various venues below.

Offshore racing is exciting to watch, whether from land or sea. We invite you to browse our past coverage, videos, and photos from last year’s Destin Championship and this year’s Thunder on the Gulf races in Orange Beach.

Nothing like a 844lb Shark to make your day when fishing. This has been a banner year for large sharks along the Emerald Coast. The story has been picked up by the national media.

Quoting the Kansas City Star:

Bruner and his fishing buddies were on a 52-foot charter boat with Capt. Robert Hill, about 70 miles southwest of this beach city in the Florida Panhandle.

The fishermen first noticed the big mako because it kept eating grouper and scamp they had hooked.

“It was like ‘Jaws,’” Hill said.

Hill hooked a two-foot amberine on as bait and tossed it out. The shark eventually hit it.

After the long fight, the shark was gaffed and eventually gave up after its tail was roped. But even then, the men could not get the big shark in the boat. They tied it to the stern with three ropes and made the four-hour trip back to land.

Be sure to link through to the article for more pictures.

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…)

Sunday’s races were anything but boring as the competitive spirit and choppy seas combined for great action. DestinSharks had a front-row seat at Turn 4 thanks to Rod Koberg from SouthCoastSegway on his 42′ Trawler ‘Antares’. It will take us a few days to go completely through the 650+ photos from yesterday’s race and the more than 1000 photos for the weekend, but in the mean time, please click on the photo at left to enjoy our ‘Sunday Race Highlights’ album. These photos have not been cropped, so click on the thumbnails to see the full pictures. (more…)

Thanks to the wonders of cell-phone data plans, we’re able to offer highlights from today’s opening of Thunder on the Gulf 2007 - Offshore Super Series at Orange Beach, Alabama. Spectators braved the heat and sun in large numbers and parking was scarce along the waterfront. (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!

The Offshore Super Series comes to Orange Beach this month from the 16th to the 19th. Dry pits are open at the Wharf Marina on Friday, followed by on-water tests and racing on Saturday and Sunday in the Gulf. We’ve put together a map of the race course over at EarthNC including the spectator line if you’re planning to take your own boat out to watch.

For official event information and schedules, please visit the Thunder on the Gulf Website. For more OSS race action, visit our coverage of the 2006 Championships in Destin. (more…)