I arrived directly from Indonesia, and 3 months aboard the Indies Trader 3.  Flying straight to Myrtle Beach South Carolina, no two places could be more opposite one another. One, a beautiful tropical island setting, the other "The Red-Neck Riviera" and it was Red -neck.  Each week through the summer Myrtle Beach prides itself on a different demographic arriving and partying till they are almost dead then dragging their sorry asses back to where they came from and then letting the next mob do the same the following week. 

The shops all sell tacky beads, T-shirts, stupid hats and just about anything to help that weeks partying individual feel right at home amongst thousands of others doing exactly the same.  It's a good look.  I spent the first 24 hours camped right amongst all of this and wondered what the hell I'd got myself into.  After calling the boat repeatedly I arranged to meet them in front of the local surf beach where a surf camp was being held. Sure enough there she sat in all her glory straight off shore bobbing around in the choppy onshore conditions. A few Quik people were buzzing around but no-one really knew anything about who I was or how I would get out to or back aboard the boat, so I sat for the entire day waiting for some sort of instruction. Finally I was told the boat was headed for Cape Fear for the evening and that I would be able to join her there. Next challenge, how to get to Cape Fear. Luckily some random surf shop owner offered to drive me the hour north and drop me at the marina. Ta.

Back on board it was great to see Dave Kinder and Dave Barnett, knowing both these guys from previous times on board and from Indo it helped make me feel comfortable again. I also met Capt. Jason Soderquist, Tyler and Luke and they were all very cool. A big relief when you know you are about to live in tight quarters for the next few months. I also met Simone Kelly our host, she was busy with doing her thing so it wouldn't be till a few stops further that she would join the boat full time.  
From Cape fear it was a blur of towns along the coast. We stopped at Wilmington, Nags head, Pirates cove and Wanachee all in the Cape Hateras region.

This area is renowned for its surf and severe ocean conditions. We didn't really see any of that but still enjoyed a few big nights out with the Quik bus and some pros doing DVD promo nights. It dawned on us fairly early that as for surfing, we were not going to see much for the next few months due in part to the season, scheduling and the fact that we were needed around the boat most every day for tours and general crew work. That said we didn't seem to mind because we were all enjoying the different towns and complimentary parties being thrown in our honor. During most days we were anchored in front of surf camps and dealt with dozens of kids paddling out to the boat climbing aboard to jump off the bow. It was a stable for the entire East coast. Just seeing the joy most kids got from such a simple thing help make us realize this boat has affected a lot of people. 

As we moved further north we arrived Virginia Beach, spending a week and having a "Major port stop Party". It was a good stop for us all and proved that the entire east coast is not bead and t-shirt shops.

Next was Maryland and again more of the same, very excited people and party party party. After that, we arrived in Atlantic City New Jersey and had a night playing in the casinos with Tony Roberts, our photographer. Next, Point Pleasant beach, perhaps our most refreshing stop due to the fact when we first pulled in and tied up we were all looking at each other saying what's this joint but after nearly two weeks we were all sad to leave having met so many wonderful people and made lots of new friends. To this point it was everyone's favorite stop.

Next stop New York City. Aside from the sheer impressiveness of the city and overall excitement of the boat being there New York was quite impersonal, and all of us stayed close to the boat the entire time. Of course there was the mandatory wander through Greenwich Village and Soho for a shopping mission and a jog around Central park. There was also Kelly, VK, Strider, Fuller along with scores of press and cameras. Next Montauk, Long island. Again this was a small stop but turned out to be one of the best. Charlie Weimar is a client of Martin's and pretty much rules Montauk. We were treated like kings and enjoyed our stop there very much.

Next on the schedule were Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine. All were good stops with small tour days and excited locals loving the chance to get on board and have a look around. Leaving the Northeast we headed south for another fun stop in Boston Mass. It was a really cool city with lots of history and an all around good feeling about the place.

 After Boston we returned to Montauk for a week, did a bunch of outstanding jobs then onto NYC, up the Hudson past some amazing scenery. From there we entered the Erie Canal system. This was a really cool leg. The views were insane, the steaming smooth and steady and the excitement of going to Canada was affecting us all. In all we negotiated 40 locks during this stretch. Crossing Lake Ontario in a day, the sight of Toronto's CN tower was a glorious sight and Toronto proved beyond a doubt to be everyone favorite stop. The people were different, the city clean and very cosmopolitan, everyone hooked up, everyone had fun and everyone was really sad to leave.

The next leg took us into the lakes. From here it was constant moving we traveled to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and traversed the state of Michigan stopping at Cheboygan, Leland and then meeting with the lake surfers of New Buffalo.

This was a real eye opener for all of us. Being a keen surfer we were all shown up by how enthusiastic the lake surfing community is. They drive from all corners of the mid west to surf shitty gutless wind swell waves………and love it. It was a touch unnerving at first but once we were embraced by all of them shared a few waves it turned out to be a fun stop. I also got to go to my first MLB game watching the Chicago White Sox defeat the Montreal Expos…..Tres cool!! I had to keep my families Montreal roots under wraps for that one.

From new Buffalo we pushed across Lake Michigan to Chicago. For the first 4 days the boat had to be positioned off a popular beach in front of a national beach volleyball tournament. After the tournament wrapped we moved the boat to Navy Piers for the remainder of our time in Chi town. It was a cool position and we had heaps of interest from all the foot traffic. This was also the first time Martin joined us for the project in mainland USA and his visit was a good chance for us to show off the boat and how well we had maintained it in the Indo boys' absence. There was also a major port stop party but unfortunately the space was too big and Chicago's famous winds nearly blew everyone off the roof top setting. Shame really because there was lots of cool people there that night and it had the potential to go right off!

Leaving Chicago we then set about taking on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Martin was along and as usual injected a fresh batch of stoke to things and sight we may have overlooked if he wasn't there. Funny thing about the man is he can always find something interesting to shoot or some type of adventure to tackle.

 After 10 days of steaming, crazy redneck riverside marinas, karaoke nights and deer and eagle sightings we arrived in Alton IL. Alton is about 40 miles north of St Louis and is famous for it's abundance of haunted houses. Not much of a surfing community but due to the events that happened during our stop it will now be part of surfing history. Unbeknown to everyone aside from the Captain, Martin and the powers at be had arranged a sea plane to rendezvous with the boat and mobilize Tom Carroll and Pete Mel to Canada for some surf exploration from the air. Seeing this amazing plane land and take off was a sight I will never forget and to run into TC, Peter Mel and Jeff Hornbaker while on the Mighty Miss was pretty neat too. A huge goal was kicked that day and a small soiree that had been arranged by Simone turned out to be one of the most intimate evenings in some time.

Leaving St Louis/ Alton we continued along the river system, leaving the Mississippi and beginning a maze of canals and rivers including the Ohio, the Kentucky, the Tennessee and the Tom Bigbee. It was interesting for the first couple of days but soon the realization that this was it for the next 3 weeks and all of a sudden the boat seemed even smaller. Of course there were still some cool things to see, interesting folks bewildered by the boat, a very special anchorage with a radical rope swing and a big bonfire at night. For me this was one of the best nights of the summer with just the crew, 2 guitars, the couch, some drinks and a huge bonfire to stare into and drift away. I'm sure all the crew would agree it was a special night.