Ocean Havens

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to Food for Thought withBilly and Jenny, brought to you by
the Box Center. For more thanfifteen years, this dining duo has been
eating their way through New England,mixing it up with top chefs, jumping
behind the line of the hottest restaurants, and giving you the inside scoop on
where to wine, dine, andspend your time. So get ready,
it's Food for Thought giving you somethingto chew on. Hi, everybody,

(00:22):
welcome into Food for Thought. BillyCosta here, We're going to have a
lot of fun this week. Alot of you may know. I'm a
huge boating person. It is myabsolute passion. I keep my boat at
Charlestown Marina. But Charlestown Marina isowned by Ocean Havens, It's safe to
say, right, And Ocean Havensowns basically every marina in America. So

(00:47):
I think I'm with a good outfit. But I've got a group of people
here, and each of you,I think, for the most part,
works a different marina in and aroundBoston Harbor, but all under the Ocean
Haven's umbrella, so to speak.So we've got Natean Macon and Jack and
Matt and Grant and we're just gonnakind of have a group conversation. And
because we don't have six microphones,anytime you feel you want to chime in

(01:12):
or jump in on a conversation onany particular topic, let's just do that
and we'll make it very informal.But trust me when I tell you,
if you're listening right now to Foodfor Thought, you're gonna learn about a
lot of things you didn't even knoweven though you've lived here your entire life.
When it comes to Boston Harbor,places to go, things to do,

(01:34):
starting with boters. Okay, now, I don't know who wants to
speak first, since you're closest tothe microphone, Jack, availability of slips,
people who are listening right now,who always wait too long before they
make arrangements for their vessel, soto speak, What are the rules to

(01:57):
follow? Jack? When it comesto the marinas in and around Boston Harbor.
I think this is the time,Billy, where you really need to
make a decision. There's only afew weeks left before the weather starts turning,
and these slips are going to fillup quickly. So if you haven't
found a home for your boat yet, you should call around. Each marina

(02:17):
within Ocean Haven's offers something a littlebit different. So a lot of it
is location driven. Parking availability closeto the office, close to the home,
close to restaurants, nightlife, whateverit is that you want out of
your summer boating experience. You shouldpick a marina and book a slip if

(02:40):
you can find one, because they'regoing to fill up quickly. Yeah,
and I always wonder. I thinkI'm coming up with my fourth season,
maybe at Charlestown Marina. I thinkI chose the right one, Nate,
You're running the show pretty much overat Charlestown Marina. Am I at the
right marina? You know me?Step right up? Yeah, I think

(03:01):
Charlestown it's a nice spot to be, you know. It's a very family
oriented, gives you everything you need. There's restaurants right on site, Pier
six Restaurant. We have a vastproperty so you can get beautiful views of
the city. You can be tuckedaway, have some privacy, and it's

(03:24):
access right to the harbor right there. Yeah, there's there. There's so
much to do right from that marina. Like if you're into walking, you
get the Harbor Walk. You've gotall kinds of great places, historic places.
You can walk through Charlestown to thehistorical district. If you're a biker
you like to ride your bikes,there are blue bikes, blue bikes all
over the walkways and so forth.And like you say, a lot of

(03:46):
great restaurants. Speaking of which,before we go any further, I'm going
to put each of you on thespot and I'm going to ask you your
favorite places to eat and well,nate. Since you're right there at the
microphone, why don't you start.So I'm talking about around Boston Harbor or
around Charleston Marino so and Charlestown.Fig by Todd English is quite a good

(04:12):
spot Figs, which is right downYeah. Yeah, it's a little bit
tucked away, not right on themain drag, but it's worth searching for.
And then Reel House over in EastBoston. It's fun spot. You
get to take the boat over there, or a launch boat which goes right
out Charleston Marina. You see.Now, that's one of those things that

(04:34):
people even living here their whole life, don't realize they can do. And
it's kind of like a mini adventure. Right, So if you want to
go to Reelhouse, which is onthe East Boston side of Boston Harbor.
Right from Pier six. You canget the shuttle for free and it takes
you right over to Reelhouse right.Yeah, absolutely, totally free. It's

(04:55):
run by the Peer six restaurant group, which operates the Real House. It'll
bring you there in East Boston.It'll bring you over to Fampier Marina where
they have another Real House location,take you all over for free. Tall
Ship if you're a fan of that, it'll bring you there for free as
well. So this is the sameshuttle that's connected specifically to Real House and

(05:18):
Peer six. Yes, so ifyou want to grab the shuttle, you
can go any one of those stopsfor free. Yeah, you can stop
at any of those locations. Thelaunch boat they call it, goes from
each of the locations and it'll takeyou. It just does laps around the
harbor and you can hop on,hop off anywhere you'd like. I gotta

(05:39):
tell you, I tell this storyall the time because I don't know,
maybe four or five years ago,you know, six or eight of us
were getting together for dinner and Isaid, Hey, I wonder if I
can get a water taxi and paya flat rate and have the taxi be
mine for the night that I could. So we had four couples we get

(06:03):
on the water taxi and the wholeidea was, we're just gonna stop.
It was a restaurant hop. Wewere gonna stop at a different place,
grab a quick app and a quickdrink or a glass of wine, and
then back onto the boat and goto another place and do the same thing.
And would clock it, you know, say, okay, we got
ten minutes here, I'll say,order an app whatever you want, and

(06:26):
a glass of wine or a drink. Ause we're out of here in ten
minutes, maybe fifteen minutes. Wehave the time of our lives. And
the water taxi even had a boombox on the boat, so while you're
traveling to and front from the variousrestaurants, you're listening to music. Everybody's
having fun. And that's when itreally hit me. I said, this
Boston Harbor thing. People need toknow more because there are a lot of

(06:51):
people that have lived here their wholelives, and it fascinates me that they've
never approached the city of Boston bywater and we're a famous port city,
but we got to take a break. I'm telling you time flies on this
show because I usually don't shut up. But we won't take a break.
I want to get more of yourrestaurant picks for the Boston Harbor area.

(07:12):
And I know, Grant, you'redown at Peatown right peer Marina fan Pier.
Okay, but you also have Peatownall right, So we'll take a
break and we'll check some of theother marinas and places to eat. These
people work there, they live there, so they've got the best places.
We'll take a break. It's Foodfor Thought. I'm Billy Costa. We'll
be right back. You're listening toFood for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotelin Swites. Hey, folks, welcome

(07:36):
back to Food for Thought again.We're talking about Boston Harbor. We're talking
about boating. We're talking about allthe fabulous marinas that are available to you
in Boston Harbor, thanks in largepart to Ocean Haven's. And we've got
a bunch of friends of mine fromOcean Avans here. And right before the
break, we're talking about places youguys like to eat. I mean,

(07:57):
you live in your work there,you're there all day, every day,
so you've got to know the hotspots. Nate, you gave us yours.
Now, Macy, I'm going toask you to take the microphone and Macey,
what's your title with Ocean Havens.I'm the marketing manager of Ocean Havens,
so I kind of work with allour different properties across Boston as well
as in Provincetown, Portland and doingall things marketing. So if you follow

(08:18):
us on social media, we liketo post what's going on and we do
different events throughout the summer. Anythingmarketing related Ocean Havens, that's me.
Okay, So we're going to getback to you in a couple of minutes
so you can tell us all thegreat things that are going to be happening
in terms of events. But rightnow I need your picks for places to
go. Well, I'm glad wetalked about this water shuttle because I'm a

(08:39):
tall ship girl. I love visitingthe tall Ship in the summer. I
like that they have so many differentkinds of food and it's kind of in
these like containers, you know,different pop up almost like a food truck
kind of vibe. Yeah, it'slike a high end food truck. Yeah,
absolutely, and so there's so muchlike variety of the different types of
food you can get. And theviews of the Boston skyline are unmatched.
I love those East Boston and it'sjust so much fun. There's so much

(09:01):
stuff to do, there's always peoplethere, and getting on the actual ship
itself is super cool. At Yeah, it's a real life tall ship because
I remember Charlie Lerner, who operatesyou know, Realhouse in P six,
he was telling me the story beforehe went to Canada to get the tall
ship, and then told me howhe planned to get the tall ship from

(09:22):
Canada to Boston. He basically gota couple of tugboats right and tugged it
all the way from Canada. Andhe still didn't really know what the master
plan was going to be for thetall ship, but boy did that pan
out is an incredible hotspot, somuch fun, and the whole deck basically

(09:43):
is a bar and it's always packed. And don't they have an oyster bar
on board too, Yeah, theydo. It's really good. And then,
like you say, there's this giantpromenade that has a series of shipping
containers and each one of them isbasically a food truck. Yeah, so
there's food all along the pier.There's usually like cornhole and other lawn games.
I've played like you know, Jengathere with my friends. It's super

(10:05):
fun. Lots to do, andthey have out toward the water and what
a magnificent view from there too.Oh yeah, but out toward the water,
they have sections of couches that youcan actually if you're going to have
a private party or a group ofpeople, you can hire one of the
couch area. Yeah. They havelounge areas, so if you're you know,
getting together with a group of friends, if it's you know, you're
celebrating something and want to reserve thatprivate space out at the end of the

(10:26):
pier, they have that as well. And then they have that giant tent.
Now if people want to have abig event or yeah, a wedding,
and it's right out there on thewater. Yeah, right at the
end of the pier. So you'regetting that Boston skyline view. It's beautiful
at sunset. I mean, that'sthat's my favorite place. And I had
rumors that you folks are expanding thatwhole area eventually behind the tall ship.

(10:48):
Did I dream that one night oryeah, I think we have plans to
invest in our East Boss and shipyard. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
Yeah, because I hosted a moviethere one night last summer. Yeah,
we've done a movie night there thepast couple of years as a part
of East Week. So you know, keep an eye on our website and
social media planning events there. It'salways a big thing in the summer bringing

(11:09):
in the public in Fining Down.Last year it was a super Mario movie.
Yeah, the great turnout brought infood trucks, I think, Yeah,
it was, and it was alot of fun. It was a
great beautiful weather, good night inthe summer. You see, Week is
always fund a lot of programming allthroughout East Boston. And you know what's
great about that East Boston side,especially for boaters. For years and years

(11:31):
we heard stories about them finally startingto renovate the East Boston side of the
Harbor. And when you think ofit, the views from the East Boston
side magnificent. You get the skyline, and it's come so far already and
I'm sure it's going to get evenbetter. Absolutely so. So you're pickings
the tall ship and the food trucksthat surround it. Love it. Okay,

(11:54):
Matt, you're up next. You'regonna step up to the micro Now,
Matt, you hop around, Ithink to the marinas? Are you?
But do you spend most of yourtime at yacht Haven? So I
have changed since the last time.So I actually managed Charlestown now and I
also manage fan Puer Marina. SoI'm talking to the new boss at Charlestown
exactly. That's it. Yeah,So wait a minute, what does that

(12:16):
make Nate. So Nate is mydockmaster and I'm the marina director. Look
at you run on the show atthe world class Charlestown Marina's Okay, So
now you're on the spot, Matt. Give us a couple of places to
eat. Yeah, so if you'rein the Charlestown neighborhood. I'm actually a
fan of Dovetail me too. Sothat's a good spot to suffer a sandwich.

(12:37):
They have outside seating. That's agood good location to bring food back
down to the boat. Everybody thatwe've sent there has absolutely loved it.
Well, you know what's great aboutDovetail too, As you're approaching it by
foot, like we walk over fromCharlestown Marina. When you hit the cobblestone
area, you feel like you're inEurope or someplace different than the trees are
all hanging over here. It's reallyan awesome spot. Mark that down if

(12:58):
you're listening Dovetail, And by theway, shout out to Jessica the manager
there. She's been in the studioon this show. She's a great lady.
So go ahead, give me onemore. The other one would be
if you stop at our seaport spot. I'm actually a simple man. I
like Greco, the Greek. Ohyeah, it's a good spot. Nice.
Uh, you know, good snacks, nice little small bites and grabs.

(13:20):
Well, now I've got a tipfor you, since you're talking Greek
and Greco. We just shot DiningPlaybook at a new place there, Lamani
Grill, which is on that sameblock. Nice. You know, if
you walk all the way out tothe pier, you've got Woodshill Pier four.
Hey Christian, how are you?But then if you come back toward
the city more you get Greco.Right. But now there's a giant place

(13:43):
called Lomani Grill. Nice. Ithink it used to be that pasta place.
What do they call it. Uh, I know exactly what you're talking
about. But it's a great restaurant, huge bar. So there's a tip
for you. Okay, okay,who's missing? Grant right up to the
mic. I need your selections now. Grant you most of your time at
what Marina? Yeah? So Imanage fan Pier Marina. Oh boy,

(14:03):
Yeah, so we're a one hundredslip Marina over in beautiful Seaport of Boston.
I spend the majority of my timeover in Seaport, and for food,
I would definitely recommend Frank Anthony's isa great spot over there. It's
a specialty food shop. Oh isthat like a marketing kind of it is?
Yeah, it's like a high endmarket that you can go and you

(14:24):
can get sandwiches, you can getsalads. It's good grabbing ghost spot for
right before you go on the boat. So definitely Frank Anthony's. I would
also definitely give a shout out tothe Reel House Oyster Bar. There you
go. They just opened a locationthis past year in Seaport. It's right
on our property and we work reallyclosely with them. Definitely recommend them.
Same company or same restaurant that's managedby Navy Yard Hospitality, which is Charlie

(14:46):
Lerner that you were saying earlier.Oh yeah, and they got They have
very good food. Definitely recommend that, love love going there before and after.
Well. They also have Mastros bythe way. Mastros has one of
the best cocktails. They make,the giant martini, Like I can never
even finish it. So there's ahot tip. And then Davio's is right
out there on the water. They'vegot a huge outdoor dining spot. New

(15:09):
place we just shot dining playbook twoor three weeks ago called Hook and Line
and you'll know it over at theseaport. You know what's great about the
seaport the people traffic. There's somuch just people constantly jogging, walking,
biking, so they are you know, when you go up the ramp at
Fan Pier to the big park area, right at the top of the ramp,

(15:31):
you look right there's Hooking Line.Yeah. So hook and Line recently
just started there. I've been watchingthat development go for the last two years.
It's a giant facility. They havea very cool specialty market and they
also have I think it's one hundredseat dining room and a forty seat bar
and forty seats for a private dining. It's a very cool I tried their
clamchowder the other day. It wasdelicious. Oh no, it's amazing.

(15:54):
Tom Schlessinger owns and runs that.Great guy's got a history called Chris Lessenger
was a famous chef in the Bostonarea at a place in Cambridge called East
Coast Grill. He had a restaurantcalled Blue that was very popular in the
city of Boston. But Hook andLine, I think is going to do
well, especially with the market,because you can just walk in on your
way to the boat, or asyou're walking by. You get lobster rolls,

(16:17):
you get clam chowder. It's reallya cool place. So there's another
tip. Are we doing so far? Anybody suddenly thinking of another place?
I mean we want to try out. Well, we haven't tapped into the
North End yet. Here we gohard Funny, you should say, boaters
if you're listening, this is whyyou want to dock in Boston Harbor,

(16:38):
because like we'll take our a littleinflatable well you guys know you seen me
bopping around. We use that morethan the main boat because we can go
to the North End for lunch orfor dinner and just talk. Oh I
don't know. We can dock atFan Pierre. But it's just I'm telling
you, if you've not enjoyed theHarbor recently, you've never seen the Harbor

(17:00):
before. So okay, okay,okay, So the North End. Give
me a favorite place in the NorthEnd. I got a bunch, so
I'm kind of biased. I livedin the North End for a long time,
okay. And when our boaters arelooking for their my favorite recommendation where
they can go to dining in theNorth End, I pretty much go to
Pretza. Yeah we're not an alltime favorite, Mama Maria. What's that?

(17:25):
Go ahead, Mama Maria, Maria, Yeah, talk about feel like
you're in a European experience on theold cobblestones and there's the New Umbria that
several months ago bar Aria upstairs andyeah yeah, oh they've got that romantic
table right back. Oh god,we have to take a break, really,
aj we're in the middle of stuffhere. Oh I almost swore we'll

(17:48):
take a break. It's Food forThought. We'll be right back. You're
listening to Food for Thought, broughtto you by the Box Center and Sailing
Waterfront Hotel in swedes Hey, folks, welcome back to Food for Thought once
again. Billy Costa here and I'mhere a bunch of my friends from Ocean
Haven's who own and operate well prettymuch most of the marinas in and around
the Boston Harbor area, as wellas Provincetown and Portland and Portland, Maine

(18:11):
as of last summer. Macie veryquickly. I've heard a lot about Ocean
Access and this is a benefit forjust about anybody deals in discounts, right,
Yeah. Absolutely. Ocean Access isthe name of our loyalty program that
we offer to all our customers aswell as people just kind of popping in
around the harbor. So if youvote keep your boat at any of our

(18:34):
marinas, you can join and wehave lots of perks, discounts on fuel,
on your dockage, and we evenpartner with some restaurants, some that
you heard about today, that offerexclusive discounts when you show your Ocean Access
cards. So it's a great perkour seasonal customers. Billy, you mentioned
earlier you love to take the tenderover to a neighborhood. That's something you

(18:56):
know. We want to encourage ourcustomers to get around to the different so
you can, you know, callup Fan Peer and talk to Great and
say, hey, I want togo to the seaport for lunch. Can
I take my tender over? Andif they've got the room, you can
head on over for free as amember of Ocean Access, which is a
super cool perk. And even ifyou're not, you know, a seasonal
customer and just visiting for a weekend, you can still join as a gold

(19:19):
number and we offer discounts on fuel, our fuel dock Harbor Fuels in East
Boston or you know Docugent, anyof our partner marinas. So it's a
great program. It's called Ocean Access, and we would encourage any boater in
the area to join because that's actuallya good question. I've always wondered because
I'm one of those people that willcall from the tender. You know,

(19:41):
I'll call Jack or mattal Yeah yeah, haven well Nate, I'm already in
Charlestown. The same thing with FanPierre. Is it annoying what I call
and say, hey, you haveany space over there? Never, Billy,
We love when you call. Ohyeah sure, sure. The guys
are all talking about me much encouraged. We're always happy to chat with all

(20:03):
our customers, and you know,we can direct them in they're the right
spot to go and be expecting themso that we have some extra hands there
to help them tie up very quickly. People who all like they buy a
seasonal membership as a boater, right, can they dock at other marinas within
the company? How does that work? I mean, just for like a
trangent or a lunch, you knowwhat. Hold that thought? Just somebody,

(20:26):
remember I asked that we'll take abreak. It is a food for
thought. We're having a lot offun. We are introducing you to a
lot of the things you may nothave realized are going on in Boston Harbor.
And by the way, the springand summer are going to be here
before you know it. Voters,make your plans, book your slips,

(20:48):
book your seasonals. Okay, we'lltake a break. We'll be right back.
You're listening to Food for Thought,brought to you by the Box Center
and Sailing Waterfront Hotel in Sweets.Hey, everybody, welcome back to a
food for thought. If you don'tmind, I'm asking you all listening right
now to indulge me because my passionin life, well besides, my family
is voting, and I keep myboat at Charlestown Marina. I've never been

(21:11):
happier as a voter. I'm tellingyou. It is such a special place.
But it's a special place because it'srun by a special outfit, Ocean
Havens, and I thought it wasa good time to bring in a lot
of the folks from Ocean Havens thatoperate most of the marinas in and around
Boston Harbor. Macie. Before wewent to break, I was asking if
you are and by the way,you do have seasonal docks available for the

(21:33):
upcoming season? We sure do,Okay, So let's say you are a
seasonal you're a member of one ofthe marinas. Can you go and dock
at one of the other marinas?And if so, how Yeah, you
can absolutely make a transient reservation atany of our properties. You know,
contact our office, give us acall, you know, reach out online.
We'd love to have you explore allthe different properties, you know,

(21:55):
getting out of Boston, visiting Provincetoundfor the weekend, or Portland or even
just the other side of the harbor. Definitely, you know, contact those
other properties. And make your reservation. You know what else makes it extremely
convenient if you're docking in and aroundBoston Harbor and any one of your marinas.
I think one of the coolest fueldocks in the country is right in

(22:15):
the middle of Boston Harbor. Youguys operate that as well, right,
yeah, Harbor Fuels. It's inEast Boston. We also have what's really
cool is a traveling fuel barge mynext question called bumper. You can't miss
it. It's painted like bright yellowand blue. And so we actually do
fuel delivery. Some of you know, these larger vessels or just anyone around

(22:38):
our properties can order a fuel deliveryand they'll bring it to you. You
don't even have to leave your slipreally, which is always fascinated by the
castle. How does that happen?Like, is the fuel being pumped underwater
or matt what's going on with thatin regards to the fueling process itself.
Yeah, well, I know thegiant yachts that come in then their have

(23:00):
it come over to them rather thanbring that giant yacht across the harbor.
So every time a yacht moves inin Harbor, they have to pay for
a pilot to actually have that thatdone essentially, so he basically it depends
on the size of weight and soon and so forth. So it is
a lot more convenient to our customersthat have the actual bar going to them
dockside and provide the service to themright at the slip. So okay,

(23:22):
So what you just said is ifone of the giant yachts is in port
and wants to go for fuel,they need to hire a pilot. Typically.
Yes. You know what's funny,My son, Chris's best lifelong friend,
Nathan, is one of those pilots. He went to mass marit time
and loves it. Pretty awesome job. Oh yeah, yeah, because you're

(23:45):
a boat of all of you,were you the only boat captain here,
Nathan? Uh? Probably the onlyprofessional captain, I would say, shot
over the bow right there. Yeah, that's got quite a bit of it.
Yeah, of hours, trust me. Okay. So this unit it
leaves harbor fuelp and brings the fuel. What is it attached to? I

(24:11):
don't want to sound like an idiot, but so you have what's called a
pusher tug and then you have abarge. The barge holds the fuel inside
and has the pumps on board andas a generator and what not to run
the pumps and then the bar thepusher tug itself just pushes the physical barge
to the location where the fueling's gonnatake place. And how much does that
vessel draw draws Our Captain Neil candefinitely touched up one more, but I

(24:37):
would say in the upper probably tenplus feet maybe, yeah, yeah,
and how I think you'll see whereI'm going. How big a vessel do
you need to warrant having? That'sour favorite question. Actually, okay,
yeah, so we'll fuel any sizeboat. Really, yeah, we will,
yep. So basically it just youhave to send us an inquiry and
then we'll provide pricing depending on thetime of the year. And so Nate,

(25:02):
you're saying I could contact the officeand they're gonna hate it, right,
be honest. Thing is really bullyand said, anywhere we get the
fuel brought over to Charleston, theycan. Yeah, any anytime you you
need fuel, you just reach outto us and as Matt said, we'll
we'll get the pricing for you forthat specific time. And I'm guessing a

(25:25):
little pricier than taking the Yeah,definitely, But to show you the offerings
in the wintertime. We do haveseventy year round customers that live at Charlestown
on their house right. Yeah.Yeah, they rely on diesel heat and
electric heat because I've never seen itcome in. It comes in, it's
quick, but we fuel up fiftyforty those really Yeah yeah, okay,

(25:47):
Nate, be honest. I putthe call into the office saying, yeah,
can I get some fuel over here? You're all going to talk about
me behind my back, right andjust well, Billy, we always talk
a little bit about you back,but uh, you know, we were
We are happy to do so.It is a added perk of being a

(26:07):
customer of Ocean Haven's and we're alwayshappy to whatever we can. Honest,
honey, I'm not making the call. Yeah, it can be done.
I would say. The hardest partsare obviously the physical ability for the boat
to get into certain locations. Yeahyeah, so that's why typically it takes
an inquiry and are the captain tosee where. But it's a huge benefit

(26:29):
for like the two hundred three hundredfooters which Marina can hold the biggest yachts.
Is it yacht Haven Technically it wouldbe fan peer, okay, because
of the giant fished off and Iwould actually challenge that. Probably Charlestown can
probably push fan Peer too. Yeah, depending on how I Grant's given you
a look from. I can nudgingGrant here, but I can take over

(26:52):
five hundred foot yacht. Here wego. Now we've got ourselves in competition.
We already have our first three hundredfoot yacht booked this summer for Yacht
Haven. Oh yeah, anybody Iknow. No, we don't share those
stories. We're gonna take a break. Macy standby, because you guys constantly
have so many events coming into theHarbor, coming into the Marinas, and

(27:14):
we want to get that information outas well. So it's Food for Thought.
I'm BILLI Costa will take a break. We'll be right back. You're
listening to Food for Thought, broughtto you by the Box Center and Salem
Waterfront Hotel in Swites. Hi.Everybody, welcome back to Food for Thought.
Hope you're taking notes, by theway, and I hope you're gonna
thank me down the road because we'reintroducing you to Boston Harbor and all the

(27:37):
incredible things that go on around BostonHarbor. But the bottom line has come
so far, especially with the wholeEast Boston side now developed beyond imagining.
But so we've got the folks fromOcean Haven's here by the way, owners
operators of well. I was goingto say some of the best marinas in
the country. And actually Charlestown wasnamed best marina in the country. Did

(28:00):
I just make that up? Now, in twenty twenty two, we were
named Large Marina of the Year byindustry publication Marina doc Age. Now that's
a national award, national award atall in marinas across the United States.
Charlestown came out on top Large Marinaof the Year. And what you're telling
me is the number one large marinain the country may possibly have some seasonal

(28:26):
openings for this coming season. I'mtelling you exactly that, Billy. I
can promise you that we do currentlyhave openings available. So come on down.
Oh awesome, awesome, Okay,ma see you guys. Also,
Oceanhaven's, you constantly have things goingon. I get my email constantly have
things going on around the harbor.So you want to give us some of
the highlights for the upcoming season.Yes, I am so excited for the

(28:51):
summer. We're manifesting weekends full ofsun a nice fun summer this year.
We earned it after last summer.Oh god, the whole half of the
summer was So we're super excited andwe've got a bunch of stuff on deck.
Early in the season, we doan annual Kids in Boating Day at

(29:11):
both Charlestown and East Boston. That'sgoing to be early June. Definitely keep
an eye out on our social mediaand websites, and that's important to get
kids comfortable on board. Yeah.Absolutely, it's a great opportunity to get
you know, kids and families downto the water. You teach them about
boating safety and fun and learn someof these habits early on. And we
kind of do similar like a Touchof Truck event, but a touch a

(29:34):
boat and you get to see what'sgoing on on Boston Harbor and even get
aboard some of these vessels and it'sa lot of fun. Could you make
sure they're not touching my boat?No, I'm kidding, we'll make sure
first. We got it. You'rethe first stop on the tour. No,
And it's a great opportunity for notjust kids but families to see some
of the options that are out therethat you know, aren't owning a boat.

(29:59):
Yes, fractional boat ownership. There'sboat clubs, there's down there.
They must have like twenty different boatsdown there. Yeah, they're a number
of our location. So it's ait's a great opportunity to see the options
for you to get out on theharbor without owning a vessel. Yeah,
give me another one. May seewhat's coming up. I'm excited for Harborfest,

(30:19):
a big tradition in Boston right aroundfourth of July weekend. There's so
many events, music, food,the big fireworks display. That's going to
be a big weekend. So definitelymake your reservations at the marina as early
as possible. Now, the Harborfestfireworks in the harbor, there's a there's
two spots I believe there's to July. They do on the Charles River.

(30:41):
Yeah, they do it the Slalnautand then from a barge on the harbor
as well. So you know,a board a boat at one of our
marinas is going to be the bestspot to watch that kind of fireworks.
Yeah, yeah, say something.Yeah, the breakwater at fan Pier Marina
is a beautiful place to watch thosefireworks. I've done at the past couple
of years. Is they launch themfrom over on the East Boston side and

(31:03):
we are directly across from them,so definitely it's public access, so definitely
come by and check us out atthat time of year, and so much
to do over there. Fan Peerin the Seaport, Oh God, the
Seaport district. When you think tenyears ago or less, it was a
ghost town. There's a parking lotand it's now it's just magnificent and it's
constantly growing. To my dockhand jobat Boston really and the ghost town.

(31:29):
Yeah, and now it'll cost youabout forty bucks to park exactly. Yeah,
just to speak to that a littlefurther. The location of Seaport is
fantastic and fan Pier Marina, wegot the Institute of Contemporary Art is right
there that we just shot our showthere, New show Meet Boston we just
shot at the Ica. Yeah.Absolutely, they have a beautiful harbor Walk.
It'll take you all the way overto you know, you can even

(31:52):
walk all the way to yachtaven overin the North End through the harbor walk.
We're right, we're right next tothe Financial District there, and so
it's definitely a great location for youknow, we've got businesses and organizations as
well as conference space. That's somethingthat's been highly sought after recently. So
and you can spend an entire daywalking the Seaport district. I recently was

(32:13):
down there for a shoot and Iventured off further deep into Seaport district and
there were hotels I didn't even knowwe're there, And there's a restaurant called
Moxie or Moxie's. I'm like,when did they put this up? It
was like another addition to Seaport andI don't even think they're done yet.
Yeah, there's a pretty cool timelapse over the past ten years of Seaport,

(32:34):
the development that's gone on over there. And it literally was a parking
lot. It started as a parkinglot and now it's got high rises everywhere.
It's new, it's beautiful. Sodefinitely definitely come check us out.
And you've got the Red Bull CliffDivers. Are they coming back? Yeah,
so it hasn't been announced, butdo we need to edit it for
the West Coast feed? Yeah?They might be coming back, you know

(32:59):
what they Yeah, you know,if not, we'll all just dive off
there. Yeah, absolutely, don'tlaugh. Partner Jenny Johnson did it.
The first year they had a mediaday to jump the cliff dive. Well,
it was more of a jump forj Yeah, yeah, it was
more of a jump actually the secondyear, uh not this past year,

(33:20):
the one before of the Red BullCliff divers I did bring my boat over
to fan Peer and we docked forthe weekend. That's another thing I wanted
to share with boaters who are inalready members. You can take your boat,
like if you're docked in Charlestown,you can take your boat over to
fan Peer and make arrangements whatever itis, and you'll feel like you left

(33:40):
the country. It's like it's aten minute cruise across the harbor and like
you're spending a weekend in the seaportdistrict and it's like it's like you went
someplace four hours away. Yeah,and just a quick plug for fan Peer
Marina. We actually won an EliteFleet Club award through doc one marinas dot
Com this year for the first timeever. So these guys got the Large

(34:04):
Marina of the Year award. ButI like to know that's the goal.
We said, well, look atthat It's good to see this heated competition
between the marinas. You know what, it keeps everybody working. So what
was your award? Grant is theelite Fleet Club. I believe that Boston
Yachtaven also won that, so wegot to give them a diligence for Boston.
Right, this was the first time. Yeah, so I was very

(34:24):
proud and Nate you wanted to jumpin. Nate's got the large marina.
Yeah, I'm just saying Grant andI shared an office in the winter time,
so that the camaraderie is definitely there. Oh so you saying that you
had a part in the fleet awardtoo because you share the office. I'm
just saying that there's some good jujuthat he got rubbed onto him from Charles

(34:45):
Marina there got his award motivated usto get that. Macie, give me
another event? What else can welook forward to in the harbor WHI you're
in East Boston, we do annualthe Movie Night again. I would keep
an eye out on our our socialmedia and our website for more information on
that. Typically in July. It'ssuper fun community event. It's pretty exciting.

(35:09):
Beyond that in Provincetown, if you'reever thinking about getting out The Portuguese
Festival every year in June, lotsof amazing food, plenty to do,
Carnival in August they do a bigparade, super exciting. There's plenty to
do. In Portland they do youknow, music and arts festival, main

(35:29):
Oysterfest. Super fun. Actually,I was just talking to Lauren from Portland
and she was telling me about puppetsin Portland. That's a big international puppets
in September. Yeah. I waslooking at it the other day. It
looks incredible, so super exciting stuff. And by the way, I should

(35:50):
have done this earlier. But shoutouts to Chucking in Lagassi, Yeah,
who brought all this to Boston Harbor. I was fortunate enough to get to
know them years ago to keep myboat in Newburyport, and that's where I
first met Chuck and Ann and wedid some charity events together. And I
should mention that, you know theLagassees and Ocean havens. You guys are
involved with a lot of different charitableevents, so we didn't want to leave

(36:14):
that out. But when Chuck oneday told me, well, I can't
stay much every time I talk toyou guys, it's like, you know,
I really can't stay much right now. But and he was hinting around
at Portland, Maine, and Iwas so excited about it because I missed
the rendezvous this summer in Portland atthe New Marina that my wife Michelle,
and I drove all the way upone weekend a couple of weeks after,

(36:37):
and I took a picture of thegate. I couldn't find the marina.
I kept driving. I was like, well, the hell is it?
And then I saw a sign onthe fence. Yea, And I said,
honey, it's right over here,and I posted a picture. Because
Portland, Maine, I also spentseveral seasons there. Portland, Maine is
an incredible cities. So it wasso genius of Chuck Ann to add port

(37:00):
And to the repertoire, so tospeak. We've got a few minutes left
in the show, so I wantyou guys to gather your thoughts and think
about anything we're missing. Again.We're selling people in the Boston, New
England area on a lot of thingsthey may not realize are available to them
in Boston Harbor and Ocean Haven's andyou people make most of those things available
to everybody, So we're going totake a break. When we come back,

(37:22):
we'll close with all the information youneed to get your slips, to
get your dockage, to get yourseasonal, to get your overnight whatever.
We'll give you all the information andthe people the contact right after the break.
So we'll take that break in we'llbe right back. It's for Thought
and I'm Billy Hostin. You're listeningto Food for Thought, brought to you

(37:43):
by the Box Center and Salem WaterfrontHotel and sweets. Hey, everybody,
welcome back to Food for Thought.We've got a few minutes left. Something
we haven't even mentioned. I don'tknow who wants to jump in. You
Maycy or anybody else? Are youhiring? Absolutely? You are mentioned other
ways to get out on the harbor, no better way than to get paid

(38:04):
to do it. Charlestown Fampire.Yeah, Haven. I'm sure all of
our uparties are looking. So ifyou're interested in dockhand position or any any
aspect, just give us a call, look at our websites, give us
an email. Any way to getin contact with us is a good way,

(38:27):
and I have to imagine it's agood gig for college kids coming back
for the summer. Oh yeah,absolutely, Yeah, all right, now,
Aj, we do have breaking news, if you could be so kind,
Grant. Earlier before the break,we were speculating about the Red Bull

(38:47):
Cliff Divers. You weren't sure ifthey were coming in. Do we have
an update or you want to leaveit to me, You can leave it
to me. I don't want toget anybody in trouble. I heard a
rumor, this is only a rumor, okay, that the Red Bull Cliff
Divers might be coming back next season. And if that's not okay, because

(39:08):
I'm getting the look now from Macy, we can always delete it from the
West Coast feed Grant and the fanPeer crew. Yeah, but it is
a great event and I'm fascinated.There's a little tiny circle that they have
to land in from way up therein the sky, and you got a

(39:28):
time it just right. It's prettyinsane to watch it, Honestly. They're
jumping from ninety feet in the airand they it's always funny. They have
these little bags that they throw tojudge the wind and to see what direction
it's going. Half the time thebag will land on the dock and they
will still jump anyways, So it'syeah, pretty crazy to see able festival

(39:52):
atmosphere around Fanpier in Seedport. Okay, what else do we need to get
in yon Haven and Marina. Wealluded to it quickly earlier on the show.
My wife Michelle and I got marriedat Yacht Haven and it was one
of the most magical weekends of mywhole life. Is it available for private

(40:12):
events, Jack? It? Itcan be. You know, we only
hold a few years, so ifyou are interested in holding a wedding such
as you did, we try tobook as far out in advance as possible
because we'd like to reserve all tenguest rooms. Yeah, we wouldn't want
to hold your event while another that'swhat we're doing. It was awesome,

(40:38):
Yeah, so it It is aspectacular venue. It's so intimate, so
beautiful Florida ceiling windows, right inthe center of Boston Harbor. It's refreshing
and it's designed beautifully. Every roomis different architecturally. It's a it's a
master piece. Really. Yep.It's so close downtown Boston, all the

(41:02):
restaurants in the North End. It'sjust it's a perfect location. It's a
perfect escape. Whether you're coming fromnorth shore, south shore, out of
state, out of country. It'sfamily members coming in from out of state,
and you want to put them upinstead of a giant hotel, a
charming in right on Boston Harbor,Macy. What do we need to get

(41:22):
in information websites, editing people needto know? Yeah, absolutely. You
can reach all of our properties fromour parentcompany, Oceanhavens dot com. Find
out about all our different marinas,book your slips, preserve your transient weekends,
sign up for our newsletter, keepin touch on social media. We're
gonna have a lot going on andwe'd love to see you this summer.

(41:45):
All right, we'll see you onthe water summer twenty twenty four. That's
it for food for thought. Thankyou so much for tuning in. I
hope you got folks, got alot of valuable information. And up next
is sixty minutes. We'll see you