The standing ovation is for the silver trays of Maine lobster and jumbo shrimp from Hit's Fly By Catering, that are coincidentally being delivered dockside by a driver in a Jaguar XJ6.

   The food's arrival officially ratchets the pre-game docktailing party up a notch as guests swarm the artfully arranged spread with the intensity of an all-out blitz. But for many of the guests, the fun began the day before with a cruise down the St. Johns River.

Stretching 142 miles south from the stadium back upriver to Sanford, Florida – not far from where Regal Marine built the sleek 3350 – this run is a relaxing, scenic cruise that features some great waterfront restaurants along the way such as the Blackwater Inn, which is just 40 miles from Monroe Harbour Marina in downtown Sanford.

The going can get a little slow as you encounter numerous no-wake zones, but fortunately in October, the manatee zones (November through May) haven't kicked in yet, so you can still run at a tolerable pace on the way to Jacksonville, especially if your boat is capable of going 50 mph.

Five-year-old Ryan is steering the 3350 under the watchful eye of Regal Marine's Chris Spindler as we pass under the Acosta Bridge, the third of seven bridges that span the St. Johns in Jacksonville. The crop of skyscrapers off to port topped by the black Bank of America Tower that rises 617 feet above the waterline places you in the heart of downtown.

Since it's been several hours since the last feeding, Spindler puts the 3350 into a space right in front of the Jacksonville Landing, an upscale collection of restaurants and shops where a live band is performing in the central plaza, seemingly there to greet the northbound river voyagers.

There's still plenty of light left, and the crew isn't ready to call it a day on the water just yet, so after our "Landing landing" we cruise past Metro Park Marina, where my wife, Pam, and I will be spending the night in the shadow of the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, formerly known as Alltel Stadium (they're currently shopping for a naming rights sponsor).

Heading downriver toward the Atlantic Ocean, the crew encounters a bright red cargo vessel that's pushing a large bow wake that a pod of dolphins are surfing on as they joyfully perform aerobatics to the delight of the crew. The dolphins momentarily peel off and surround the 3350, giving us a private performance.

Reaching the final and most spectacular of Jacksonville's bridges, the Dames Point Bridge, the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge (do you think his parents expected a lot out of him with that name?), the passengers stare upward at the longest cable-stayed concrete bridge in the United States. With support spans that resemble sails on a sailboat, it's a spectacular sight, especially when a large freighter comes in from the Atlantic being guided by a pair of tugboats.

You have to pull off to the side of the channel to give it room as it makes the swing around the bend in the river just past the bridge. While it looks tight, it's nothing compared to the claustrophobic passage of the nearly thousand-foot-long cruise ship Carnival Miracle, which limbos under the 177-foot-high span with only 6 feet to spare.

Heading back to Metropolitan Park, the sounds of reggae music come drifting over the purr of the 3350's twin 320 hp, 5.7L Volvo Penta GXi engines. The annual Jacksonville Caribbean Carnival is in full swing next to the marina, so we detour and dock alongside the park to take in the sounds, sights and the smells of the jerk chicken and other herbal aromas.

Metropolitan Park Marina is right around the corner, and despite being the day before the game, it's still fairly empty. This magnificent facility features 78 slips with floating docks that can accommodate boats up to 80 feet, with a few places on the outside seawall that can handle even larger yachts. Although the slips are generous in size, the nearly 35-foot-long 3350 has a beam of 11 feet, 4 inches, and a brisk wind requires Spindler to use all of his skill to ease the Regal home.

Even though traffic is light now, the marina is a sellout, unlike the next day's game against the Houston Texans. Normally, the underutilized, all-transient marina operates on a first-come, first-served basis, but for special events such as Jaguars games, you need reservations.

A call to dockmaster Jim Suber the month before scored a spot, but just barely. To avoid having to get lucky, you should make your reservations at least several months ahead of time to ensure your place at the doorstep of the stadium.

As the suns slips beneath the horizon, the grill is fired up, and in keeping with the festival next door, which is still reggae-ing along, a pair of well-spiced jumbo grouper fillets are plopped on the grill. The marina is still seeing some stragglers arriving after dark, but is only about half full.

The family that docks their cruiser next door doesn't have a reservation and didn't realize you needed one, but no one asks them to move, so they're good for the night. Several docktail parties are in full force, especially one complete with a big-screen TV set up to watch the Kentucky Wildcats upset the number-one-ranked LSU Tigers in college football after a wild, triple overtime cat fight … reeeooow!

After the dinner party guests leave, it becomes a twosome who settles into the cabin for the night. The 3350 is something of a departure for Regal, since unlike most of its other cruisers, this near 35-footer is only designed for two people to sleep comfortably, being more of an entertainer day boat than a pure cruiser, but for a couple it's perfect.

Starting early the next morning, a short but furious rain shower makes us wonder about the weather, but the clouds quickly clear, and the sun comes out to stay as it cooks up a perfect football day. The slips are filling up quickly, and a marina representative with a clipboard walks about to make sure everyone is in his or her proper place. Our "reservationless" next-door neighbors are outed, but the marina folks take pity on their plight and find an unofficial place for them to dock in the sold-out marina.

A short time before kickoff, the Regal party gets a call from FantaSea Charters' Anthony Greene, who's pulling into the marina aboard a Sea Ray 630, one of several boats that he books charters for events like this.

He invites our gang to board, join their party and meet his wife, Christine, who catered our affair. Aboard is the group that will be heading to the high life in the luxury box of Vexure Chairman and CEO Al Steele, who generously invites us to join them at halftime for a look-see into the life of the R&F.

When a fireworks display erupts over the stadium, it's our cue to take the short five-minute walk to the stadium to the club seat area via a semi-private elevator. Although these seats are pricey at $1,925 for a season ticket, for the coming year, many of the club seat prices will be reduced to as low as $1,200.

In addition, these special ticket holders will get extras such as a one-year membership to The Golf Club at North Hampton. Another one of the big perks is access to the upscale Crown Royal Touchdown Club, a 60,000-square-foot indoor oasis complete with 38 flat-screen TVs.

Recently, the Jacksonville Jaguars were ranked as the ninth-best sports franchise out of 122 teams by ESPN, the Magazine, coming in second for fan affordability. Prices for seats are the third cheapest in the NFL, and even concession prices are reasonable – try the $10 pepper-encrusted prime rib sandwich on ciabatta bread, with chips and pasta salad. 

Settling into the padded, extra-roomy club seat, we're just in time to see Fred Taylor bust a 76-yard run on the Jags' second play. Somehow they fail to translate this into points as a personal foul makes a chip shot field goal into a 42-yarder, which the usually accurate 43-year-old kicker John Carney – a senior citizen in this league – misses wide right.

After a crazy, seesaw half, the Texans could easily be ahead by 17-0, but instead, the Jags cling to a 10-6 lead. At the intermission, the club foursome, which includes Rob May, director of marketing at Regal, Steve Rosenberg, and Brian Marsh, heads up the elevator a couple of floors and a few stations up the social ladder to the luxury suite of Al Steele.

We're greeted graciously by the Jacksonville entrepreneur, who takes the time to personally make us a beverage at the well-stocked bar and invites us to help ourselves to the sumptuous snack buffet and enjoy the rarified air of life at the top.

Not wanting to abuse the hospitality, we head back to our club seats during the third quarter and watch the Jags systematically dismantle the Texans with a ground attack led by Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor, who run for 244 yards, and a swarming defense that contributes to a 37-17 win, taking them to 4-1 on the season, and ultimately to the playoffs.

After the game, many of the boats form an exit flotilla and scatter in the ripping St. Johns current, but when we get back to the boat and open the cooler, we happily discover that some of the food survived the carnage of the earlier feeding, so everyone kicks back and watches the parade go by, savoring the taste of victory mixed with cocktail-sauce-dunked, local Mayport shrimp.