To start the New Year off right the Laughing Pirates crew is charting its 2017 sail plan into New England through exploration by car. The Branford CT 
area has many fine breweries like Stony Creek, plus marinas and restaurants including “The Stand” which features BBQ and excellent and healthy-choice side dishes like beets and shaved Brussel Sprouts.
While this week Spain celebrated the adventures of Cristobal Colon, the crew of the Second Wind discovered the city of Barcelona and will be visiting the SalonNautico Boat Show now being held. A year ago the crew was working the Annapolis Boat Shows (the 2016 Annapolis PowerBoat show is now in progress), and this year we will be visiting and promoting the Laughing Pirate brand of air fresheners/deodorizers to a whole new continent of boaters from here in Barcelona.
Our thoughts go out to our friends and colleagues on the eastern seaboard of the US as they work to recover from Hurricane Matthew.
The wimpy cardboard tree swung lamely under the towel rack in the busy head onboard the capewatertours.com boat. Its alcohol-based perfume had long since expired. Captain Dave knew he had a problem and was ready to make a quick switch to the superior, long- lasting deodorizer and fragrance of the Laughing Pirate. “What a great idea, and it will last a long, long time”, he enthused after being presented with a sample and having the concept of the time-releasing nature of the special polymer explained to him. “I plan on having it on all my boats next year.” The tour and sightseeing fleet is based in Lewes, DE.
The seasonal service began in the years when there were few roads in the rural southern Wisconsin lake area and many homes could only be reached by boat. The boat captain would pass as close to the home’s dock as possible and the delivery person would jump off onto the dock, quickly drop mail in the box and run and jump back on the ever-moving boat. The delivery job is normally handled by high school or college kids during their summer breaks.
Rock Hall, MD – steaming temperatures didn’t keep the boats and crowds from building in anticipation of the 2016 Pirates & Wenches Fantasy Weekend this August 12th – 14th. The full weekend log of activities can be found at http://www.rockhallpirates.com and include the Decorated Dinghy parade on Saturday at the Rock Hall Beach and the Buccaneer’s Ball from 7 to 12 PM at Waterman’s. If you’re in the area, hope you can join in the fun, and you are encouraged to come in costume! Check back later this weekend for more photos.
A rare double rainbow was sighted this past week over the skies of the North Point Marina in Rock Hall, Maryland. Just a few days later the Laughing Pirates air freshener/deodorizers were seen for sale in the ship’s store at the popular Chesapeake Bay area marina just in time for the long holiday weekend. It will be a busy weekend for the marina, which provide its residents and guests with a great view of the upcoming Fourth of July fireworks in Rock Hall Harbor on Sunday night. (updated 7/4 see photo below)
You can find out more about Joe and Lori Campbell’s clean and convenient marina at northpointmarina.net.
For those outside of the area you can purchase your pirates at the ORDER HERE section of this website.
It took a spectacular sunset over St. James Island off the Little Choptank to remind us of the natural beauty that we had experienced over the past 23 weeks of our travels. Unfortunately it becomes almost a little routine to see the beautiful sunrises, sunsets and dismissive of the dolphins that come by to look and play in the wake of our bow. So it makes it a good time to return to land for a little while after our Quest to the Keys journey that covered over 3000 miles round trip.
It’s great to be back in our home port of North Point Marina in Rock Hall, Maryland.
After a journey of over 1400 miles by water, the crew of the Second Wind reached the destination of Key West on February 25th. It was a celebration of long-lived goal to sail south to the Conch Republic. But it was nothing more than an extravagant half-time show and crew change as Second Wind left just a few days later for its return journey to its home port of Rock Hall, Maryland. While the pictured performer on Sunset Pier stated that the easy part is getting up, not the getting down, we will see how our crew fairs on what has been a relatively easy trip getting down to the Keys vs. the return trip up north (where it is still cold and snowing).
There were many interesting ports and experiences along the way which I had hoped to recount on a regular basis, but lack of good internet connections and the time to merely report rather than enjoy new experiences conspired against me. Perhaps with time and connectivity all will be revealed.
Second Wind is now in the inland coastal waters of the Carolinas as it heads north for a late April rendezvous.
As seen along the ICW just south of St. Augustine, February 2016There is nothing more frustrating then coming into a marina with a pressing need for internet speed and finding a system undersized and ill equipped to handle the traffic and range of all slips. While you have been desperately waiting to upload/download and maintain necessary communications with the outside world, you find the advertised FREE WIFI to be basically worth its advertised price. And if you are hopeful and optimistic, you only fully realize this after a few wasted hours of effort hanging just outside the restrooms where you can get a signal. So you default to your cellular monthly data plan but only to find that your 15 GB goes very quickly (even without NETFLIX!).
But the GOOD NEWS is that I have found a marina with fast, reliable service that will allow me to catch up with speed from the comfort of my own boat. Congratulations to Harbor Master Stephen and the LoggerHead Marina of Vero Beach for the great system installed last month through OnSpot WIFI. If you have found other marina locations with great internet service, please let me know, they deserve our business!
The Laughing Pirates are offering the first pirate-powered solution to persistent, malodorous areas, such as typically found in marine toilets commonly known as “heads.” The products feature state-of-the-art odor neutralizers combined with a choice of three gentle fragrances in a soft, compact solid-gel pirate form. Each includes its own noose so that it can be hung where you need to ruthlessly attack odors. The products will be available at both marine supply stores and water-side resort and gift shops during the 2016 season. Retailers are invited to request complimentary samples as well as pricing and availability information. Maybe you will even get a chance to see one around the Grand Strand Gift and Resort merchandise Show this month!
the laughing pirates 