Needing a fix of bluewater fishing action? The Sportsman Channel has a show for you. Billfish Adventures follows the crew of “Sorry Dear”, a 55′ Viking sport fishing boat, as they go after Panama’s largest species including striped marlin, black marlin and Sailfish. (more…)

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.

The Tiara 3900 Sovran offers a fresh interpretation of the ubiquitous express cruiser design with an eye towards upscale offshore cruising without a sacrifice in cockpit capacity or comfort. We had the chance to tour a 3900 while exhibiting our EarthNC Marine Charts for Google Earth at the Sandestin Baytowne Wharf Boatfest. Read on for our full review and be sure to visit our extensive photo album.

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Last weekend, we got a chance to make our 1st ‘distance’ overnight trip of the 2007 boating season in our Regal 2760 ‘Southern Comfort’. South winds made for calm water in the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway as we cruised west to Little Sabine Bay in Pensacola Beach. Our boating weekend would include camping out with friends Travis and John and their family members Friday night, followed by a beach-side church shrimp boil on Saturday. Read on for our trip report and be sure to visit our photo album. (more…)

There are few better ways to spend an evening away from home while traveling than out on a sailboat race with a happy crew. Thanks to an invite from Captain Pete, I got the chance to act as living ballast and boom tensioner during a Wednesday night race aboard a Beneteau 36 named ‘Pegasus’. The race was held in Galesvile, Maryland on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay. The local marine chart is US5MD13 - Eastern Bay And South River. You can load a limited version of the chart in Google Earth format from EarthNC.com’s online chart list or use their new EarthNC Online nautical map viewer and zoom down into the Galesvile area. (more…)