In June, Darren Hayes left Tierra Verde Marina Resort in St. Petersburg on a 22-foot pontoon boat for a 5,500-mile solo journey.<\/p>\n
The trip ended Sept. 12 at the same location after Hayes, 41, spent 94 days on the water. He celebrated the achievement at a welcome home party at the Island Grille & Raw Bar in St. Petersburg on Sept. 27.<\/p>\n
Hayes was able to travel around the Great Loop, a route of waterways in the Eastern and Central United States including the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Great Lakes, Erie Canal and Mississippi River.<\/p>\n
The \u201cMakin\u2019 Wake\u201d initiative was an effort to raise awareness and money for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tampa Bay, which provides families of sick children with a complimentary place to live during medical treatments as well as meals and additional resources.<\/p>\n
More than $12,000 was donated for the organization during Hayes\u2019 trip. This will make a difference for over a thousand families, he said.<\/p>\n
Throughout the trip, Hayes used social media platforms to update his followers. For the professional boat captain, the experience was about making connections.<\/p>\n
Spending hours in the heat driving the pontoon every day, Hayes would often dock it at marinas in the evenings. This allowed him to engage with other boaters and local community members.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see some smiling and welcoming faces that you didn\u2019t expect was kind of a relief at the end of my night, and it really did make the trip for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The magnitude of the journey attracted attention at various stopping points, Hayes added.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to see people in shock, that this is what we\u2019re doing, and this is why we\u2019re doing it, and for them to be inspired by this trip meant a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Early during the voyage, Hayes learned about the story of a young girl from Indiana named Birdie Rey Grezenko. Weighing only one pound and 10 ounces at birth, she received life-saving treatment at the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis \u2014 and recently celebrated her second birthday.<\/p>\n
Young Birdie Rey\u2019s mother shared her health journey via social media, and this inspired Hayes to name the pontoon after her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had the opportunity to interview her family and get the backstory and share that with people,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, it was very gratifying for us to name our boat after this strong little person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hayes has completed large-scale trips for Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tampa Bay and Riley Children\u2019s Foundation in the past. He drove a John Deere tractor from Florida to Michigan in 2013. The following year, he traveled across 48 states in a 1948 Ford.<\/p>\n
He is currently exploring opportunities for future journeys.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, we have five different options that followers suggested,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at things logistically and financially, as well as what\u2019s going to help us be in the spotlight on a more consistent basis than this trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is all about doing something memorable that people will not forget, he explained. \u201cYou can do things that are a little crazy, outlandish and uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n