Of the six Florida Powerboat Club events—Naples, Miami, Tampa Bay, the Bahamas twice, Tampa Bay—I covered on scene this year, the Naples run was my favorite. On the surface, I know that make zero sense. Naples over the Bahamas and Key West? I must be out of my mind, right?
Not so fast.
First, you have to take Bahamas out of the mix. Both of those trips were seven-day adventures—with lots of free-time—in paradise. Neither was a long-weekend outing, which is reasonable working-definition for all other club events.
And as much as there is to love about Key West, the crowd that comes with it—not the people themselves, but the sheer bio-mass present—overwhelms me. Plus, even though speedonthewater.com contributor Eric Colby covers the offshore racing that happens concurrently with the Florida Powerboat Club affair, that trip is nonstop work. There is no down-time.
But why Naples, of all venues, a place I can drive to from my Cape Coral digs in less than an hour?
Because the second day trek ends with lunch in Everglades City. No matter what’s happening in the Gulf, there is no escaping to the Intracoastal Waterway—the shallows between Naples and Everglades are too treacherous—during that run. So the journey south has a middle-of-the-ocean, you’re-on-your-own vibe I dig.
At least for a first-timer, it feels like an adventure.
As you approach Everglades City, the course narrows and becomes thick with mangroves and sandbars. It feels wild and untamed and distant. The postage-stamp size town itself is old-school Florida. Even with just 30 boats, the club fleet fills the docks. The naturalistic setting provides a sharp contrast to the posh environs of Naples.
In short the Naples Spring Rendezvous set for March 20-22 is the closest thing on the 2026 Florida Powerboat Club roster that boasts a true getaway vibe but doesn’t require participants to get all that far away. It’s a gem worth putting on your event to-do list.