Who is running the boat
Etienne Beaugrand, known to everyone as Captain ET. Born and raised in Englewood, which means the water you are booking a trip on is the water he grew up in. He knows where the dolphins work, which sandbars hold shark teeth, and which side of Manasota Key is worth being on when the wind swings.
He is a professional skimboarder, a world champion as an amateur, and he still competes. He is also a competitive wakesurfer, which is a more useful combination than it sounds: skimboarding teaches you how water behaves in inches, wakesurfing teaches you how it behaves behind a boat, and coaching someone onto a board for the first time draws on both.
Before the boat
ET spent five years as a surgical technologist. It is an odd line on a charter captain's history until you have been on the boat with him, at which point it makes complete sense. Surgical techs are the people who make sure the right thing is in the right place before anybody needs it, and who stay calm when something unexpected happens. That is most of what running a boat well actually is.
He still takes the occasional travel contract in the off season, which is where he was from September through November 2026.
The dolphin footage
In May 2026 he filmed a dolphin dropping into the wake behind the boat and surfing it, in Lemon Bay, with a guest riding a few feet away. Wink News picked it up, then ESPN ran it, and across platforms the clips have passed 50 million views.
It is a good story, but the useful part is why it happened. He runs the same water almost every day and knows where those animals spend their time. The footage was not luck so much as repetition.
One boat, one captain
What that means for you
Every charter is run by ET himself. Nobody gets handed to whoever was rostered that morning. He answers the phone, he confirms your booking, he picks the launch spot, and he is the one coaching you onto the board. If you text him at eleven on a Tuesday asking whether the water is any good, you get an honest answer from the person who was on it that morning.
The flip side is honest too: there is one boat, so weekends and holidays go early, and in season the good mornings are spoken for well in advance. Larger groups run as a second boat with another captain, his friend at NautiDawg Charters, priced as two charters.
The Heyday H22
A purpose-built wake boat rather than a pontoon with a tower bolted to it. Just under three thousand pounds of adjustable ballast, which means the wave can be set soft enough for somebody who has never stood on a board or steep enough for somebody who has. Bimini top for shade, heaters for cool mornings, a sound system worth using, and enough room that six people are not sitting on each other.
Phase Five boards in every size are aboard, along with vests, ropes and wetsuits for the cooler months. Coast Guard rules cap paying passengers at six regardless of what the boat seats, and he does not bend that.
What he actually runs
Wakesurf charters with instruction included, dolphin and wildlife tours on Lemon Bay, sunset cruises, days on the bay, and Saturday Sessions for anyone who wants a single seat rather than the whole boat. Everything is priced for the group, never per person.
Full numbers on the pricing page, and the FAQs cover most of what people ask before booking.
Come find out
Easiest way to meet him is to book a morning.
Check DatesOr call and text on 941-883-1360