I'm Having Fun Yet...


We may have found a new favorite place to RV.

Hilton Head, SC has something for everybody, whether you are filthy rich or any ordinary person. The place is low key and well preserved in it natural state. Any development is well hidden.

We stayed at the RV resort and Yacht club. The site we stayed on was waterfront with a floating dock. The site was owned by Mark Martin, any NASCAR fan will know that name.

The dock allowed me to set up my little boat Origami II and continue with the motor break in and getting familiar with boating.

I learned many lessons over the many hours I spent on the water:

Things can go wrong quickly, have a plan b.

Tie the anchor rope on more securely.

Add an anchor to the shopping list.

Salt water is very salty and sticks to everything. There was enough dried salt on my motor to collect. My skin had visible salt and my toenails were white from salt.

Reference a tide chart before heading out. The tide here changes 7 feet or so and makes some waters completely impassible.

Apparently the world renowned physicist, Dr. Stephen Hawking, has a part time job at NOAA announcing the weather forecasts for southern SC and the Georgia coast.

Get a local nautical chart and know where the shoals are. This along with knowing the tide will keep the prop out of the dirt.

Get more familiar with the loading of the boat and setting the trim. One person in this boat is very different than two people. It actually runs better with two people. Under power by myself, the nose would tend to plow after the boat planed.

All in all the boat performed well. I spent hours following dolphin. Sunday I took the boat all the way to the ocean to the wayward buoys. I saw a small sea turtle coming up for air and some black dolphin. In the shallows I saw many large horseshoe crabs, jelly fish, and schools of fish always swimming for their life from a larger fish.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

That place looks incredible! I'm glad you had a good time and loved that you shared some adventures on video.

Sorry about your anchor!

Jay said...

SHARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK! ;-)

That was pretty cool. Sitting out there watching the dolphin play would be a blast.

Ken said...

Great video!
It's good that you know there's lots to learn. Don't get caught on an outgoing tide at the inlet to the ocean with a broken down motor and no anchor. Also. buy a bigger anchor than you think, and put about 5 ft. of chain on it, using shackles.
You're going to have a blast with that little boat. Keep safe.

TerryC said...

I'm so glad you had Cedie out there to let you know where the dolphin would be.

Did she make "wookie noises" at them?

Way cool, Wreg!!

Michael said...

Hey! Looks like fun. Bummer we missed your call. It was rainy and gloomy here, we ended up staying home instead of going out on the water. I don't carry my cell around with me at home, because there is rarely a signal. Didn't get your message until the next day, just before starting a triathlete massage marathon.

Reggie Hunnicutt said...

Terry, Cedie ignored them. They were closer than the camera showed.

She looked, did a double take and denied their existence.

We are lucky to have these great animals in such abundance.

Micky, I respect the water more after this week. Nothing bad happened but things didn't go as planned either.

Jay, a beer was had during this fun. We drink rum on the Caribbean trips.

Michael, I had to call my first mate in celebration. I figured you'd be on the water too until I remembered it was triathlon weekend. Happy birthday dude!

none said...

Very nice. I've always heard good things about HH

Peach Pod said...

Ummm, am I the only one who noticed that your dog made it to the closing credits but not your wife?