“Wow! What a totally
amazing, excellent discovery!” ~Wayne Campbell (Wayne’s World)
Being new to an area is exciting…there are all kinds of new
and interesting things everywhere. And
this includes local festivities. Now I
had heard about the legendary Wetstock on-water concert. I almost went last year, but it turns out the
dates were mixed up and the event I was already going to be in town for now
would not overlap with the Wetstock weekend.
Little did I know at the time that I would attend the following year,
and as a local!
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| Party Time Base Camp |
So what exactly is Wetstock, you ask? To attempt to capture it in one sentence
(which is difficult), it could be briefly described as the following: A gathering
of otherwise sensible boating adults, engaging in live music by local Keys
musicians, social triage, and a small waterfall of libations and “other” vices,
reachable only by boat or watercraft. It is also a kind of rite of passage to becoming a Keys local. To
put it in laymen’s terms, it was a DAMNED GOOD TIME!!
I arrived at the party scene aboard my trusty Seadoo, where
I met up with some fellow boating friends & neighbors. We anchored
the flotilla, grabbed our adult beverages and floaties, and then the fun
began. It is really a story told best in
pictures, so I am including plenty.
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| Bazillions of festival-enjoyers! |
There were bazillions of people out on the sparkling clear
sandbar, smiling, dancing, laughing…having a great time! There were dogs of all shapes and sizes
swimming or lazing on boogie boards. The
bands set up on pontoon boats on the shallowest part of the sandbar, and were
fully rigged with power and amplifiers.
The water was warm and the sun was blazing!
We even got visited by the jello shot nurse! (I do not necessarily condone taking libations
such as these from complete strangers…use discretion!)
It was an insanely fun afternoon. I made many new friends, and saw several
others I already knew. It was like
having a giant informal reunion out in the middle of the ocean.
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| Yes that's right...bands on pontoon boats! |
It is events like these that help me further treasure living
in the Keys…it is a place of not only insanely awesome boating, but of
fantastic community among the locals. I
find it to be a refreshing change from the lack of social unity I commonly felt
back in the big city. And frankly…what
could be better than a live music concert attended in a swim suit, and reached
by PWC? Yeah, I couldn’t think of anything
either!
If you ever get a chance to go to something as unique as
this, I highly recommend it. I do
caution you to be careful…there are a lot of boats, and everybody in them has
probably been drinking. The lurking
marine patrol boats on the fringes know this.
Use common sense. Make sure to
stop drinking alcohol, re-hydrate, and eat something before you attempt to hop
on your vessel and motor away. A BUI is
not something you want! And an accident
even less! A fun day can take a quick
turn in the opposite direction if you lose control of your faculties and then
fire up the engine.
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| Doggies...doggies everywhere! |
With Labor Day weekend now behind us, many of you may be
already thinking about the end of riding season and winterization (oh god, did
I really just say that?!). For me, it
signals a time of year I enjoy…the summer boat crowds will start fizzling
out. And as many people retreat to land
and spend their weekends watching football, I will be out enjoying the wide
open, uncongested waterways. Stay tuned…as
the leaves begin to turn wherever you are, the Wake Zone will be here to keep
your mind on riding after the first frost.
Party On, my Excellent Comrades!
