Following the earlier adventures of 1967, “Miss Sunshine” found herself idling smoothly out of Panama City Florida into the calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Onboard that evening was a crew of four men. Doug Janisch, the Ace Kiekhaefer Mercury mechanic who had held the old girl together against nearly impossible odds from her inception, was clearly the brains of the outfit. Cotton Simms, another long time Mercury man, had been appointed to the crew by Mr. Kiekhaefer. Larry Smith was a photographer sent along to record the ski journey. It is significant to know that Larry Smith had a plaster cast on one ankle as a result of an earlier incident that had occurred while traversing Lake Erie. Also, please note that this is not the same Larry Smith that is the famed boat racer. Also onboard was a Thunderbird hull repairman that had joined the crew during the trip down the Mississippi when the hull was broken wide open during a crash on the river.
Prior to departing for the nighttime run from Panama City to St Pete Florida, the crew had checked the marine weather forecast for the crossing with local experts as well as the US Coast Guard. They had been assured that the weather would be perfect. Sooooo, they launched into the night. Trimmed out and running about 40 mph, the four Mercruisers had been singing their song nicely for a couple of hours.