Day Two, the sand spit

Morning came clear and glassy calm.  Bruce and I didn't need to talk about plans for the morning, we both knew we wanted to explore the sand spit that curves around Cod Harbor.  We raised anchor and motored the hundred yards to pool of deep water behind some dunes.  It was 7 a.m. as Bruce hopped out of Spartina and pulled the bow up on the sand.

We had the place to ourselves and just stood there for a while soaking in the beauty.  From up on the dunes we could look south to Chesapeake Bay, to the east was Tangier Sound and to the north was the village.  The dunes themselves wrapped around a winding shallow creek, just deep enough for a waterman to lay out a string of crab pots.

Pelican prints and crab pots caught my attention.

Bruce headed down the spit to an osprey nest just off the beach.

Here are a couple of Bruce's photos.  When we are on the boat he has time for just a frame or two as we pass by, but here Bruce could take his time and wait for the right moment.

I experimented with the designs, both natural and man made, found on the beach - a barnacle encrusted crab pot, above, and stranded jellyfish, below.

I could have spent all day out there.

This photo below, grains of sand and the light catching the pattern on a sea shell, was made with the close up function on the Pentax Optio W90.  Pretty nice for a point and shoot camera.

After walking out to the end of the spit we turned and headed back to Spartina.

Both of us remarked on how Cod Harbor reminded us of our visit to Cape Lookout Bight last june.  It felt so tropical and pristine.  Our good luck was to have been there on a Sunday morning.  Everyone on Tangier Island, including the watermen, goes to church on Sundays.  There were no rumbling diesels to disturb the peaceful morning.

It seemed like we had been out there all morning, but it was only a little after 8 a.m. when Bruce pushed Spartina off the beach and we headed across the harbor to the village.

steve