Sailing along with the west wind through Andersonville Creek, I passed my neighbors Hal and Yogi in a johnboat returning with a large basket of blue crabs. The wind was predicted to be southwest from 10-15 knots with 20 later, but at the time the west wind was favorable for the sail out to the […]
Approaching the summer solstice Read More »
I beat the heat with a pre-sunrise run this week, starting a little after 5. My runs in the neighborhood always have a leg taking me to the boat landing. The pier head provides a fine platform for stretching and observing,
My first loggerhead sighting of the day took place before 8AM, when my friend Brantley and I stopped at the landing toward the end of a morning run. I saw the distinctive head of the loggerhead right next to the pilling of channel marker #68 before it submerged – in the last week I had
Sailing free among loggerheads, (and walking with flies) Read More »
The building of hatcheries for loggerhead turtle nests on Cape Island has been an annual event in April that I have experienced since 2005. This year’s crew brought a number of years of experience, not just from the USFWS staff but also the volunteers. It was led again by wildlife biologist Sarah Dawsey, now in
Greeting on Cape Island Read More »
I had earlier seen the impressive tide range of this March 19th at Garris Landing, with a tiny shallow ditch between expanses of pluff mud creating a gauntlet for boaters to run toward the ramp. It was an stronger pull from this closer than normal orbit of the moon – perigee, and coinciding with the
Pull of the Super Moon Read More »
It was not my usual Bull Island experience of sailing Kingfisher and walking solo around the island. On this Saturday I rode over on Island Cat and walked with a group of twenty people, in fact leading this group on a guided walk. The ferry carried over 38 people that morning. Captain Will Christenson was
The tide was high Sunday morning February 20 when I arrived at the landing. The wind whipped down the Intracoastal Waterway from the northeast. It had been so long since my last trip out on the water (Jan. 1), and today was a window of opportunity for making a Bull Island trip. But the wind
A rare fog, gracing New Year’s day, blanketed the marsh and creeks on on my arrival at the landing. The predicted south breeze was not present, but by the time I had launched Kingfisher and prepared to cast off, a breeze had sprung up and the fog had dissipated. We were sailing to windward,
Tall birds amidst a changing atmosphere Read More »
After a long run of work, home responsibilities, and general busyness in my life, a Bull Island window opened wide: winds forecast for north at 15 knots changing later to northwest at 5-10 knots, low tide at 1:02 PM, and clear skies. It was a Monday, and the day prior to the winter solstice. The
Approaching a winter solstice Read More »
8AM at the Romain Retreat landing on November 20, I was looking at a glassy Intracoastal Waterway, and feeling the irritation of no-seeums. I set off with the outgoing tide (low at 12:40PM), without wind but with faith that the predicted light east wind would arrive. Paddling into Andersonville Creek, following the group of ibis
Floating on a fall day Read More »
I almost missed a fine day for a sail out to the Northeast Point of Bull Island on a day off from work. Over the weekend, another great adventure in plumbing had turned nightmarish. Thankfully, help came before I anticipated, and with hot water running again in the Raynor household I was free to set
I wondered if it was just a coincidence that the weather continued to be spectacular, carrying on what I had experienced the previous weekend in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Sunday was the annual special tour of Bull Island led by Rudy Mancke, and I was along helping as a board member of the Sewee
“The was-ness of the is” Read More »
