Thursday, May 21, 2009

Last Day!


Day 16? 
40 Miles 
Beaufort NC to Oriental NC 
Docked. 

Good afternoon! 
This is regrettably my last posting. Dad and I arrived in style at Oriental Marina  around 10:30. We have washed the boat and relaxed, walked around town, had lunch and now we're relaxin! Rose Mary and Michelle should be here in about two hours and then we will re-provision the boat and I'm sure dine some where in town. So thank you for all that have read my blog! Don't forget to check out the rest of the 200 photos on the link a few posts back! Safe travels to all the boaters out there! 

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Day 14?


Hello All! 

Again, I apologize for not keeping a strict captain's (or, in my case 1st mate's) log. Its been a slow couple days filled with rain and a WHOLE lotta wind. We anchored in 40 knot winds two nights ago and decided it might be a time to tie up some where and get out of the rain. So here we are in Beaufort (Bo-fort, or Bo-fert as the locals pronounce it) N.C. We've spent one night here thus far and its a quaint little town with a very nice marina. We also met up with "Darling", a 44 wide body.
 Tomorrow we continue on t
o Oriental and Rose Mary and friend will board and I will get off and drive to Philadelphia for the weekend, and then home to Bethany Beach, DE. As for "Happy Feet" she will of course continue on to Norfolk, and up to her home port in Kent Island, Maryland. 

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Day 10




Day 10: 
Georgetown SC 
50 Miles

Hey Guys! I must apologize again! Dad and I went to a piano bar last night and then we had a gathering on Happy Feet, it was a late night and I needed to get some shut eye...
So anyway, we hoisted anchor and set sail for another day on the water. We cruised by Alligator Creek, which is aptly named because we saw at least 5 alligators! About midday we came up on Georgetown SC and decided to dock for the night. We stayed at Harborwalk Marina, which paralles Front St. of the town. We went ashore and had a great lunch at Buzzer's Tavern and went on a tour with Swamp Fox Tours. The guide was very knowledgeable and definitely had done his homework. Along the tour we stopped and were able to walk around the first African Methodist Church of the town, which just h
appened to be Michelle Obama's Gradfather's church before they moved to Chicago. 
After the tour we went back to the boat and hung out for a little while and then went to a fantastic piano bar right next to where we had lunch: Dockhouse Tavern. I highly recommend it. They have a website: www.dockhousetavern.com. Please check it out. It backs right up to the water and every Saturday night they have a live piano player and singer: Becca Baxon. She is a bluesy-pop singer with a great repertoire and takes requests!  Definitely check this place out if you are ever near the area (Georgetown SC). 
After dinner and drinks we invited some people back to the boat and had some laughs and called it a night! Today we are cruising north and will anchor somewhere in North Carolina. 

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Day 9

Day 9: 
80 miles 
Beaufort to Charleston 

Good Morning All! 
Sorry I didn't post last night, I got caught up in a movie... 
Anyway yesterday was a long day of cruising. Not much to report, except some rain and some dolphins. We anchored just north of Charleston in a creek in the middle of no where. But we did get to see Charleston from the water which was way cool. 
So to see ALL the photos from the entire trip please go to the website listed in the last post entitled: "Bulletin". Copy and paste that link in your browser and enjoy! 

Friday, May 15, 2009

:: Bulletin::

Hey all! Just to let you know: I created a mobile me account with apple earlier and I uploaded ALL 170 photos from the entire trip. So. To view these pieces of art, please go to: http://gallery.me.com/marinadindin#100030 ... you can copy and paste if the hyper link doesn't work! 

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Day 8


Day 8: 
0 miles
Charleston 
Docked. 

Good evening! 
Today was a great day! Dad and I took off to Charleston this morning. It was BEAUTIFUL. We took our carriage ride around town and it was absolutely stunnin
g! We got lunch at a place called TBonz. The wings were awesome! We walked the City Market which takes up about three blocks and the warehouses were converted from the seafood and beef markets to a wide variety of vendors. We also splurged and bought some of the hand woven baskets that are made from the sweet grass. It was a lovely day and I wish we could have spent more time there! But alas, the water way is calling and we must head on tomorrow mor
ning! We'll probably do about 50 miles because we will have a late start because we have to take the car back. As always I'll keep you posted! 

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

**FYI**

Hey guys! 
Please feel free to leave comments! I would love any feedback! 

Day 6!



Day 6: 
0 miles
Beaufort/Savannah
Docked. 

God Day, Good Day! 
First of all I apologize for not pos
ting yesterday. I kept pretty busy all day and went to bed early. Anyway, we are in the sleepy town of Beaufort, SC. Its so charming and beautiful here. I definitely recommend it for a weekend get-a-way. So yesterday we hung out, washed the boat. And when your boat is 53 feet over all, its a hefty job. And so we finished the boat and went to lunch and a little place called Hemingway's (which is ok, but I think we'll try something different next time). Then we went on a carriage ride through the historical district of town. We were in a buggy with 12 other people, pulled a lovely Belgian draft named Butch. After our tour
 I took a bike ride through town to do some shopping. Ladies, if you are ever in town, there is a wonderful boutique called "Beaufort Clothing Company" and a shoe store: "Divine Shoes".  To top off our day in Beaufort we went to dinner at "The Dockside" by a local suggestion. 

So today we spent a few hours in Savannah!! It was so pretty!! The city has done a lot to preserve the historical heritage of the city. Dad and I went on a trolley tour of the city and got off halfway to take a walk down river street. There were many cool shops and the architecture was absolutely stunning! If you are ever there I recommend that you take the Orange and Green Trollies... 
So its been an exciting few days here in the South! Tomorrow we head to Charleston for the evening! I talked Dad into going later in the day so we can catch a ghost tour!! I'll let you know how it goes!! 

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

:: Bulletin::

Hey All! If any of you out there have facebook accounts there are way more pictures of each day, so if you would like to view them, search Marin Hitch and they should be available for everyone to see! 

Monday, May 11, 2009

Day 5, Still Alive!


Day 5: 
100 miles, off shore
Doboy,GA to Beaufort, SC 

Good evening! 
Today was a long haul 12 miles off shore again. Nothing spectacular went down, no sharks or dolphins. Dad and  I just hung out in the pilot house and watched/napped through Casino Royale. We snuck in through Port Royal sound to avoid some weather and docked in the Beaufort Downtown Marina. There was a kindly dockhand who caught our lines and helped us tie up. So now Dad and I are going to go find some grub and relax...We've got a hard day of washing the boat tomorrow! 

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Day 4 Down!


Day 4: 
100 miles (off shore) 
St. Augustine to Doboy, GA! 

Hello All! 

Today was again, smooth sailing. I went outside of the water way and went about 12 miles off shore all day. Relatively uneventful but we did see 2 sharks, and skate, 2 turtles (!), and a really cool spotted dolphin! We jumped in the water for 5 minutes and kept on trucking.  

Later in the day we saw some super tankers. Both of them were at anchor and we really close to the one! Then we came in through a sound and anchored up the Doboy River. Dad and I just enjoyed some tasty turkey burgers and we are just relaxing. Tomorrow we head straight up the water way to avoid some weather and head towards Beaufort. 

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Day 3 on the Intra Costal Water Way!

Day 3:
New Symrna Beach to St. Augustine 
55 miles (off shore) 

Good evening loyal readers!! 
Dad and I just got back on the boat from dinner. We launched "Mumble" (the dingy)
 and went to shore for a tour and dinner. 

Today was an early day and we shot the Ponce de Leon Inlet and headed off shore at about 6:30 am. All of the fishermen passed us and gave us a heck of a wake and didn't think twice about it, thanks guys. Anyway, it was literally smooth sailing today. It was the calmest I've ever seen the ocean. We didn't see a single boat from the inlet until a few miles from the Augustine inlet. 

Once we anchored, about 80 feet south of the Bridge of Lions right up against the fort (see attached pictures). We settled in and made sure
 we weren't going to hit the bridge and
 surrounding boats. We launched "Mumble" and took a tour of the harbor and we saw a pirate ship!! As well as an awesome sail boat tied up in the harbor... it was a beautiful older schooner type thing (again see attached picture).  We also took a trolley ride around town that wasn't that great but it was a little informational.  Then we came back to the mother ship, had some appetizers and a drink and a shower and then went back to shore for dinner at a very cool local place called OC Whites. 
Tomorrow we are heading off shore again and haven't quite decided where we are going to anchor...Port Royal at the absolute most.  As always I will keep you posted.  

Friday, May 8, 2009

Day 2 ICW


Day 2: 
70 Miles
Melborne-New Symrna 

Good day all! 
Day 2 started out with a slight complication! During our anchorage last night we ran down our batteries way low somehow, we didn't run anything excessively, so we immediately started our engine to charge the converter and we hoisted anchor around 6:30 and we were off! 
Today was the day of bridges!! We went under/through 4 bridges. Luckily we didn't have to wait any longer than 20 minutes for any of them. There was however some traffic at each of them that we had to maneuver around because of some currents and wind. But nothing too bad. The operator at the Titusville Bridge remembered Happy Feet and wished us safe travels! 

As we chugged our way north toward Cape Canaveral we started hearing important NASA related things over the radio. They are preparing for a launch on Monday morning! As we passed we could see the launch site and how there were setting up the launch pad and we could see the huge NASA symbol on the building. No rocket though. 


So now, I'm sitting on the back porch of "Happy Feet" watching the sunset and some small vessels make their way home for the night. Tomorrow we tackle the big blue! We are going to shoot the Ponce de Leon Inlet here in New Symrna and travel off shore and come back in and tie up in St. Augustine so we can have a look about town and then its northbound for "Happy Feet"! 

Day One On the ICW






Day One.
So our day started at the harsh hour of 6:30 am at the Harborage Marina in Stuart FLA. Dad and I unplugged from the dock, and in the process we dropped the TV cable overboard. Who knew they didn't float? So, we untied lines and headed over to the fuel dock. $2,000 and 600 gallons later we were on our way!! We left the marina with perfect weather conditions that held up throughout the day. Within the first two minutes of enjoying the splendors of the ICW Dad had me driving, and turning around to get a feel for the massive Krogen, Happy Feet. I, of course, was a natural. From then Dad and I took turns at the helm and planned out our days on the water. We were visited on and off all day by some dolphins. Of which I have many pictures because you can never have enough! At about 6 pm we pulled out of the channel and anchored just north of Melborne in a place called Dragon's Point which is a terrible name for such a place, there were no dragons! Anyway, we dropped anchor and went swimming and made dinner and went to bed.
Day one: 75 miles, Stuart to Melborne FLA.
If you are on facebook, check out the corresponding pictures!