Image of the Week: Dazzled by Destin

From its sugar-sand beaches to its swimming pool water, Florida’s Emerald Coast can give any high-performance powerboat location a run for its money. The collection of hardware in the area, not to mention the good-time party scene, makes it a hotbed for the local go-fast boat crowd and a destination for those from northern climes.

And with the coastal town of Destin as ground zero, it’s also home to the annual Emerald Coast Poker Run, which always is one of the top events of the Florida Powerboat Club poker run season.

Go-fast boating environments don’t get much better than Florida’s Emerald Coast. Photo courtesy/copyright Jay Nichols/Naples Image.

Photographer Jay Nichols manages to shoot the event almost every year. The image above was taken in 2009 during the Navarre Beach lunch stop that Nichols described as “the best” of any poker run he’s covered.

“This is a great raft-up shot—just a ton of great hardware and good people having fun,” said Nichols. “It was one of those of those parties that you don’t want to leave.”

Fortunately for Nichols and as many as 200 go-fast owners, the Emerald Coast Poker Run returns to Destin every year.