The ethereal morning fog was dissipating as I paddled across the Intracoastal Waterway heading for the entrance to Venning Creek. Actually, several entrances beckoned, and more channels split off, eventually all joining. Though the sun had shrugged off the fog, the marshes were swollen with the high tide, just beginning its ebb toward Bulls Bay […]
One decision made – the destination for the sail, a hammock south of the Bull Island public dock on Summerhouse Creek. The second decision – the course, as I headed out Anderson Creek toward Bulls Bay. The speed of the northeast wind had reached the predicted 14 -17 knots, so I took a peek out
Island in the Marsh Read More »
The kingfisher on a flyby rattled a call as I prepared Kingfisher for a sail out to Bulls Bay. With doubts about the weather and the all important wind, I would take the encounter as a positive sign, along with the breeze coming across the extensive marsh separating the mainland from the Bay. Completing the
A point on Bulls Bay Read More »
The hole was gaping, as were others where the pulleys were mounted on the boom for the line controlling the sail. It was way past time to replace these aging corroded aluminum booms, both upper and lower. I had convinced myself that replacement must happen before the next sail.
The tops of pines were beginning to sway and even dance at mid-morning, the bright greens contrasting with the cerulean skies generated by the high pressure system camped over the Southeast.
The muffled drumbeat was insistent on New Year’s Eve morning, the surf sound on the distant barrier island calling me toward the landing. On this daily ritual of going to a place with vistas to the east and south, I turned off on a wooded path and took a brief look at the old Andersonville
I stepped onto the public dock on Bull Island at 8:30, briefly talking to Wayne Tucker. He had spent the past two days working on the island, and was waiting for his boat ride back to the mainland and out of the cold. My relative warmth was a function of what awaited me on the
The closing of businesses resulting from the pandemic included the Audubon Center at Beidler Forest in Harleyville, SC. The 1,763-acre virgin swamp forest is part of Four Holes Swamp. After it’s reopening In October, I made the drive up I-26 for a visit.
Sliding Kingfisher into the water at high tide was different that Sunday morning. The local news would report “sunny day flooding” in Charleston, with a number of downtown streets closed due to the king tides. At the landing,
King tide for Kingfisher Read More »
I had last sailed out to Bull Island the day after the equinox, March 20, an astronomical event overshadowed by the onset of the U.S. pandemic. Several surprises had greeted me before I set foot on the island: a surfaced cormorant gripping an eel in its beak at the Shark Hole, and the news at
The sail out Andersonville Creek was into a moderate ENE breeze, and without other boat traffic. It was pleasant sailing, continuing downwind to the SW after bearing off toward the ferry route. My thoughts turned to my last sail,
A sail into solitude Read More »
It would be a day of heat; any wind would do. There seemed to be a light west wind most favorable for my sail to the Northeast Point of Bull Island. I had imagined
