FORT PIERCE — It was not, in fact, a dark and stormy night despite all predictions to the contrary, and the Pursuit Boats Drone Show on Friday night was an incredible sight in a mostly clear sky over Marina Square.

While October’s Friday Fest had been canceled due to concerns over the inclement weather that had settled over the area for most of the day, there was no dampening the enthusiasm of the large crowd that gathered to watch local employer Pursuit Boats celebrate their 50th anniversary in business on the Treasure Coast.

Many were there to witness their very first in-person drone show, including Tera Skubic, who came down from Vero Beach with her family to check one more item off her bucket list.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time.” she said, “and I was going to be here rain or shine!”

Her mother, Eva Kobeck, also from Vero Beach, was a former Pursuit employee and very excited to see the show.

There was a collective gasp from the still-growing crowd when the 300 drones lifted off at 8 p.m. in perfect unison from their launch site at nearby St. Andrew’s School.

As they hovered over Marina Square, Drone Pilot Sydney Paulsen from Aerial Illuminations manipulated the drones into amazing figures such as three small boats that appeared to be racing each other, and a larger boat spraying water off the stern as it cruised the waves. There were even leaping dolphins and a small island in the sky where several boats had dropped anchor to enjoy the island life for a day.

Glen Daugherty from Front Row Audio Visual provided the perfect soundtrack to accompany the show, a curated playlist one might describe as ‘yacht rock.’

Chris Gratz, president of Pursuit Boats, spoke after the drone show, thanking everyone who has made the company’s success and longevity possible.

“It’s truly a great accomplishment,” Gratz told the crowd, noting that the Fort Pierce community continues to be an integral part of the company’s story.

For a company that has called the Treasure Coast home for half a century, it was a fitting celebration: boats, dolphins and island scenes lighting up the night sky above the community that has been part of Pursuit’s story for so many years. And despite the weather forecast that threatened to put a damper on the evening, the skies cleared just in time, giving Pursuit and the crowd a memorable way to mark 50 years on the Treasure Coast.