Beachcombing and Dolphin Watching with Captain Chris

Our boat trip was rescheduled for the next day (Wednesday).  We watched the weather all day.

It was sunny and hot.  There was fun on the beach as we waited for the tide to go out.  We had to do our boat trip at low tide to do all we wanted to do.



The weather was perfect!  We were ready for our adventure with Captain Chris.



Do you know what all those things are between the water and the "grass"?  Oysters!



We have been on the water many times but not in a boat this size.  The kids loved it from the start!



Captain Chris grew up on Hilton Head.  He knew lots of fun facts to share with us.  He also showed the kids how to cast a net.  One cast gathered a few shrimp, a "see through" minnow and some other things I can't remember.



"So this is what a shrimp looks like out of the water!?"



Yesterday, we climbed the Harbor Town Lighthouse.  Today we got to see it from the water.



Captain Chris assured us that we would see dolphins.  We saw them!  One even came up to the boat and "talked" to us.  We could not pet or feed him - that's the law - but he was so close we could enjoy him for a bit.  Meet Nick!



We went to Vanishing Island which is a sandbar.  Captain Chris times his tours for low tide so we were out in the early evening to maximize our time on the sandbar.  The kids were not disappointed!  They found more things than I could keep up with on my camera.

Sand clover (I think...need to check this one's name with the kids.)

This tube sticking up from the sand is from a crab.  That is how it breathes while buried under the sand.  We could see these little tubes sticking up all over the sandbar.

We found several whelks during our week.  The kids were great about putting them back in the water if they were alive.  H found a very tiny one just before we left that did not have a live creature in it so she has one to take home.  The "foot" of this one is sticking out.

Another living creature H found.  I can't remember exactly what it is.

The "foot" of this whelk is sticking out really far.

C found something else alive.  God's creatures are amazing!!

We found several live sand dollars.  They finally found two skeletons we could keep.  This was the first skeleton found.

The view as we walked around the sandbar that still had a little water over it was clear so we could find things rather easily.

Our dad walks on water!  :)

Our boat is in the background.  Vanishing Island was larger than I expected it to be.

Mom and C finding some treasures.

After visiting the sandbar Captain Chris took us looking for more dolphins and seeing other sights on the water.  Dad and B were enjoying the boat ride.  They are two peas in a pod!

Mom and E hanging on!

Can you see the outline of a dolphins?  This was on the mud where two had gone ashore chasing food then slid back into the water.  We didn't see it happen but our Captain said they were "fresh marks" from that day.

Captain E

Captain C

Captain B (a.k.a. Captain Hug-E-Face by his loving sisters)

Captain H

Just before we docked at the end of the tour, Captain Chris took over his boat again and did a couple of "donuts".  The kids loved it as you can see from the look on B's face.

This was definitely one of the highlights of our week on Hilton Head.  Thanks, Captain Chris!