We headed over to Fort DeSoto for the Florida Ski Rider’s Egmont Key Invasion. This was my wife, Glady’s first “Invasion” aboard her brand new 2019 Yamaha EX Sport. We arrived at the Fort DeSoto boat ramp around 7:30am, and once we pulled into the park we were amazed to see how many people were already there! (It had to be about 100 people or more!) Thank goodness the Fort DeSoto boat ramp is one of the biggest in the state.
Once everyone was in the water we began to move out through Bunces Pass towards the Gulf. We made a quick left and headed south passing Egmont Key State Park and stopped at Passage Key Island. This island is known as a nude island but we found out really quick that this is also an national wildlife refuge and the Department of Fish & Wildlife were there to remind us of that. We were allowed to be there but we couldn’t be on land; so basically, we just had to stay in the water.
After meeting a bunch of awesome people we sounded the bullhorn and headed to the Skyway Bridge for a photo opportunity. I’ve been fishing this area for years and I have never seen so many jet skis just floating underneath the Skyway! It was a sight to see! Once we were done taking photos we raced off to our next stop, which was Egmont Key. Here we were able to walk around and experience Egmont Key and understand the history of this amazing island. We stayed here for a couple hours to meet with all the riders and some of our YouTube followers! It was awesome to meet all the people that love watching my videos! What a great feeling!
After talking with everyone, Gladys and I were hungry so we headed over to my brother Yogi’s boat for a quick bite and some music. Once we were all done, we sounded the bullhorn and headed back to the ramp. I was not going to get in the middle of the craziness at the ramp, so about 50 of us stopped at Pop-Up Island and relaxed for about an hour until the ramp cleared. When you have 400 people all trying to pull their skis out the water at the same time it can get a little crazy. (Plus, we were having such a great time we did not want to get out of the water yet!)
Once we got back, we pulled our skis out of the water and got ready for our 3 drive ride back home. If you’ve never been to an Invasion ride you must make plans to come to one. You won’t regret it! Great times with great people. Until the next adventure!
