Yacht Club pays tribute to Jimmy Buffet at cruise

The last words Jimmy Buffett whispered to his daughter just as he passed were, “Have fun!”

In true Canyon Lake Yacht Club style, boats assembled at the Holiday Harbor Guest Docks for music, food, beverages and just plain old fun. The crowd of parrotheads that stormed the docks were ready for a Buffett buffet, and they weren’t disappointed.

As is Yacht Club tradition, finger food was displayed on various boats for party goers to sample as they wandered the docks from boat-to-boat. One Yacht Club member remarked that it was like going to the best buffet restaurant and having the pick of delicious dishes to sample.

Of course, one of the best parts of the event was the island sounds of Jimmy Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band playing the entire time.

Hale and Susan Gammill settle in behind their Jimmy Buffet buffet during the Canyon Lake Yacht Club Jimmy Buffet Party Sunday. The finger foods at each of the boats are sampled by all those at the event. Photo by Cindy Cameron

After 90 minutes of partying at the docks, the revelers boarded boats for the requisite slow cruise around the Main Lake before forming a solemn circle of boats in Catfish Cove for a floral salute to Jimmy Buffett.

As partygoers sang “Margaritaville,” flowers were tossed into the center of the circle as a symbolic “goodbye and thanks for the memories” statement of gratitude to the iconic personality who spawned an entire industry of good times, beaches, islands, sailing, tropical drinks and, of course, cheeseburgers.

The party continued into the night with swimming and floating around the tied-up boats while other boats took off to cruise the Main Lake or east lake in the warm and beautiful night.

In one of Buffett’s songs he intoned, “Now I’m a reader of the night sky and a singer of inordinate tunes. That’s how I float across time, Livin’ way past my prime.”

For the crowd that gathered to celebrate Jimmy Buffett at the Yacht Club’s Party on the Water, Jimmy was no longer living way past his prime because he has entered the realm of the immortal.

Commodore Ron Wilbur reported that the Yacht Club has now grown from 62 members last year to 280, with more applications for memberships coming in daily. Wilbur also shared that club members now have reciprocal rights to Yacht Clubs with 300,000 members in the U.S. This means that Canyon Lake Yacht Club members will be welcomed into other Yacht Clubs and their facilities around the country.