Whitehall Rowing and Sail - Whitehall Spirit 17 Loveletters

We have been having a great time in the boat. Over Christmas some friends came to stay with us and we went touring the Intracoastal in and around the Ponce Inlet area of Daytona Beach. Three adults and two kids with room to spare. The big cruisers with there big wakes and all of us dry as a bone. I think the boat likes a little weight in it, as we just rolled over those wakes.

I have this mint condition long shaft 1969 Mercury 6 that moves the boat really well and had no problem in the inlet where the current can sometime get pretty strong. We beached the boat at a place called Disappearing Island and wandered around exploring tidal pools with the egrets and herons. On our return we had a pair dolphins swimming 15 feet off our port side as we watched the pelicans come skimming over the top of the water, it was truly a day to remember.

We all went fishing the next day and left the motor home. We rowed into the shallow back waters where only a boat with a six inch draft can go. My guests had fun catching small sting rays which we threw back but we did catch enough flounder for dinner to feed the 6 of us. I've rowed a lot of boats in my day but nothing rows like this one. When you're in a boat that moves so effortlessly you can liken it to moving with the earth or the forces that occur naturally, like the wind or the waves. It may be a cliche but you do become one with the earth. Stress free exercise and dinner for the table too.

One more story before I go. As you know I have the good fortune of having a beach front home here in Daytona and I'm able to leave the boat on the beach at my house. I put in at Ponce Inlet which is 4 miles south of where we live. I rowed out into open water and then raised sail for a beautiful trip out the inlet and then up the coast to my home. The boat was perfectly at home in the ocean and sailed the way she rows. The surf wasn't to bad that day and I landed on the beach at my house without incident. I use an inflatable roller to get the boat up on the beach and on to my seitech dolly. It seems I always have someone offering to help but I can do it single handed if I need to.

My plan one morning was to go out for a row and take a bucket of live bait mullet and troll while I rowed. Well the surf was up a bit that morning but the waves were coming in sets with a little time in between them. We have a few sandbars so you have to row about 50 yards to get past that last break. I waited patiently to launch looking for that window that would let me get outside. Thinking my timing was good I gave a good running pushed out through the shore break. I climbed in over the transom and got to work pulling out. I looked over my shoulder to fined a big set coming in. I pulled hard and got through the first two waves. With one last look I could see I wasn't going to make it so all I could do was mutter a four letter word. As I plowed "through" that last wave the water engulfed me.

Well guess what, your boat does float really well even full of water and I mean full. It even rowed full of water, enough to get out beyond the waves. All I could do was laugh when I looked down to see my bait bucket tipped over and all the mullet were now swimming around inside the boat. My fishing incentive gone I used the bucket to bail and decided to send the mullet on there merry way back where they came from. Lucky them and probably lucky me! So what did I learn from all this? I don't ever have to worry about your boat sinking. Thanks for building such a great boat.

My next adventure I'm planning a sailing trip out to Nine Mile Reef (it's 9 miles out) to fish for red snapper, grouper and dolphin (the fish) when the conditions are perfect (if there is such a thing). I'll fill you in on how I make out after that voyage.

I decided to name the boat "StarFish". Our daughter's name is Star and the rest you can figure out.

All the best,

Mike