2026 Hontoon Island Gathering. March 3,4,5. DeLand Florida on St. John’s river.

I am making name tags for Hontoon Island gathering. There are quite a few new names coming this year. These are no charge. These are the ones I have so far. If you do not see your name can you message me if you would like a name tag for the gathering. I need name of boat. Your first name and boat accent color. These have a magnetic backing. So no hole in your shirt. Can’t wait to see everyone again.
Rick & Berni on Willow.
 

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Thanks Ricky for offering to make name tags for the Hontoon Gathering! We treasure the ones you gave us last year.
I checked with the park yesterday and they still have a few slips available, so reserve now. We plan on doing our pizza lunch and chicken lunch as we have done in the past. As things have changed at Hontoon, no folding tables or chairs will be available. We can of course use any available picnic tables. Please be sure to bring your own chairs. Unfortunately, we will not be able to have the silent auction this year, but if you have something to sell to others you are welcome to do so. Strangely, with the new concession the park is NOT accepting donations but feel free to purchase items at the camp store.

Question….we normally have speakers that will give talks on boating hints and safety. What topics would benefit you? What topics might you want to share with the group? Please PM me with replies.

When you approach the park, please be on Channel 72 with your lines and fenders ready.

One of the best places to launch is at Ed Stone park on Hwy 44 Please park as far away from the ramp as possible.

There are many manatees in the area ….be aware.

Also, be sure to register on this site so that we know you are coming,,,,it also lets Ricky know what name tags to make.

I’ll post more in a week or so…..see you at Hontoon!
 
Avidmagnum12 said:
Thanks Ricky for offering to make name tags for the Hontoon Gathering! We treasure the ones you gave us last year.
I checked with the park yesterday and they still have a few slips available, so reserve now. We plan on doing our pizza lunch and chicken lunch as we have done in the past. As things have changed at Hontoon, no folding tables or chairs will be available. We can of course use any available picnic tables. Please be sure to bring your own chairs. Unfortunately, we will not be able to have the silent auction this year, but if you have something to sell to others you are welcome to do so. Strangely, with the new concession the park is NOT accepting donations but feel free to purchase items at the camp store.

Question….we normally have speakers that will give talks on boating hints and safety. What topics would benefit you? What topics might you want to share with the group? Please PM me with replies.

When you approach the park, please be on Channel 72 with your lines and fenders ready.

One of the best places to launch is at Ed Stone park on Hwy 44 Please park as far away from the ramp as possible.

There are many manatees in the area ….be aware.

Also, be sure to register on this site so that we know you are coming,,,,it also lets Ricky know what name tags to make.

I’ll post more in a week or so…..see you at Hontoon!
Click to expand...
Hi, I'd like to find out more about Radar and Chart plotters. I'm waiting for the Simrad HALO 20+ to go on sale again lol. it was $2000 and went to $2499 right when I was ready to buy it. ugh.. now it's at $2280. hopefully by spring it goes to $2000 again lol
 
We will have different brands of chart plotters and radars to look at. I’ve used Garmin for years and find the equipment easy to operate. When we did the Loop on a Californian 45 in 2022 it was equipped with Ray Marine chart plotters and radar. That equipment worked well but I had a bit of a learning curve transferring over. Not familiar with Simrad.

We can discuss various radar systems at the gathering. I find I actually only run my radar in actual fog a few times a year but when I do it sure lowers the stress. We also run radar in clear conditions so that we stay comfortable with the presentation.
 
Are there any activities or anything you guys do on any days in particular during this meetup? I made arrangements to be down in Florida during that week and I'll for sure come by at least one or two days but since I'll be driving up from a different part of Florida I figured I'd wait until the week of to decide what day so that I can avoid coming up during a nasty weather day if possible. Does anyone go out cruising or does everyone pretty much stick around the park? I wasn't sure if I needed to worry about showing up mid-day one of the days and wonder where everyone's at. I'm looking forward though to meeting you guys and seeing these awesome boats in person, not just through a screen.
 
Most attendees hang around during the day. We have various discussions during the day, boat tours and group meals.
Someone may lead a group cruise around Hontoon Island but Colby is not coming this year so someone else would have to volunteer. We will also have a boat/galley gadget contest again this year. Not sure what day that will be yet. I’ll have a schedule up in a few weeks. The ferry to Hontoon runs from 8am to 6pm.
Most years I lead a one week tour of the St. John’s leaving on Friday morning after the gathering. I’ll do the same this year if I’m available. Just depends if I get scheduled for minor surgery.

As far as weather….we tell everyone to plan for 30 degrees to 90 degrees. And one year we had the full spread! Most years the weather is pretty nice but you never know.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone at Hontoon.
 
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