figs and photos

The first figs ripened yesterday.  With three trees I'll have hundred of figs over the next few weeks.  Plenty for me and for birds too.  I shot the photo above with my Pentax Option W90 camera.  It is a good camera, not a great camera.  But I am learning how to use it a little better.  (Now that I think of it, the flower photographs I posted a while ago were with the same camera, so maybe it is a better camera than I think.)
Bruce shot the photo of me, below, using the camera in the water off of Dobbins Island on day six of the spring trip.  It is a good camera for being around water, for being wet and for being bounced around on hard decks.  When Bruce and I travel together we bring that camera plus one of Bruce's professional level cameras.  When I sail solo I bring just the Optio W90 - a second non-waterproof camera would be too much to worry about when I'm sailing by myself.

But I think I've got the hang of the Optio W90 well enough that I should get some good photographs.  I hope so.  In the meantime I see that the W90 has already been supplanted by Pentax's new camera, the Pentax Optio WG-1.  It is hard to keep up when it comes to digital cameras.

steve

windless; the burning swamp; the fall trip

The summer is notable, at least to me, for a lack of wind.  There is not a shortage of wind all the time - it is only when I go sailing.  Yesterday I was out for about five hours.  At first is was glassy calm.  Eventually light breezes ruffled the surface, then they disappeared.  It was cool and dry, even a hit of fall in the air, so I did not mind the calm water.  For about an hour my friend Paul joined me.  I'm glad there was at least some wind when he was on board.  It was not a day for great sailing, only a day for relaxing on the water.

There is a fire raging in the Great Dismal Swamp just to the east of where I live.  I do not know the convention for naming fires so I cannot explain the name, but it is known as the Lateral West fire.  You can see the plume of smoke billowing to the ESE in this satellite photo below.
Swamp fires are interesting in that it is the ground itself that burns. Peat, the decomposing vegetation that makes up the "ground" in a swamp is often ignited by nature - lightning.  Water can be used to put out the fire on the surface, but the burning can tunnel beneath the surface of the peat and reemerge elsewhere.  There is no easy way to extinguish a swamp fire.

Adding to the intensity of the Lateral West fire are the thousands of cedar trees that were downed by Hurricane Isabel in 2003.  The trees, their bleach white trunks spread out across the thousands of acres of swamp, have been drying out for eight years now.  Perfect fuel for the fire.
The experts says it could take six inches of rain - a tropical storm is what they are talking about - to put out the fire.

This hint of fall - cool, dry air coming in from the north - has got me thinking about the fall trip.  It is about five weeks away.  I've got a busy work schedule between now and then but should be wrapping up a few projects just in time to load Spartina for the drive to the eastern shore.

I've been going back through the logs of the our spring trip up Chesapeake Bay and my solo trip on last fall.  The logs give me ideas for routes I might like to take, places I might want to visit.  Above is a photograph Bruce shot as we entered the channel to Tangier Island in May.  I do hope to visit Tangier Island on this next trip.  Anchoring in Cod Harbor was magical.

And this is a photo of Spartina's JW pennant, a gift from my Mom, from when we were anchored on Reed Creek on the last full day of the spring trip.  I won't get as far north as that this fall.  But the photograph now makes me smile.  The pennant was fluttering in the, yes, wind.  Those were the days....

steve

white heat

Hot, hot, hot in Ocracoke yesterday.  It was the kind of heat that glares off the water, the sand, the concrete.  The kind of heat that makes your eyes hurt.

There was a breeze, but not much of one.  I hid in the shade.  I did not get much work done.

I did find this pier, above, with free three-hour docking.  The other park service piers charge by the foot, a boat can tie up to this one for a short time at no cost.  A few hours would be enough time to get off the boat, clean up, shop for supplies, maybe have a nice meal and a cold drink at one of the nearby restaurants.  There is plenty of room to anchor out in the harbor, called Silver Lake, for the night for free.

I will keep the pier in mind for future trips.

steve

Ocracoke

begin the beguine

Looking over the charts today I've selected, at least for now, Crisfield as the starting point for the fall trip.    Spartina has sailed out of there twice before, back in the spring of 2007 on the first cruise and then again in 2009 on the Crab House 150 with Bruce.  There is Spartina, above, at the dock in Crisfield on the '07 trip.  I sailed from there to Great Fox Island, Watts Island, Tangier Island and then back.  No SPOT, no gps (at least in my budget) back then.  But it all worked out fine.  You can read about that trip at Duckworks here.  

Somers Cove has some pluses and just one minus.  The pluses seem to outweigh the minus for this trip.

As for the pluses...

• well protected harbor, regardless of wind direction
• nice secure, paved parking lot, right next to the coast guard station, with restrooms 
• excellent ramps and dock
• located anywhere from 8 to 15 miles from South Marsh Island, Smith Island and Tangier Island - those are all perfect distances for the first day's sail and last day's sail
• nearby hardware, tackle and grocery stores in case I forget something
• lots of nearby restaurants for when I get back in, a nice lunch is a good way to end a trip

and the minus.....

• $35 annual ramp permit

In '07 I paid the money.  In '09 the folks at the nearby hotel kindly let us leave the jeep and the trailer in the field behind the hotel.  

Rumbley, a few miles to the north, is free.  But it is a bit far from Tangier for a first or last day sail.  Onancock is to the south and costs just five bucks, but it is a little far from South Marsh or the northern end of Smith Island.  Crisfield seems about right, even for $35.00. 

Tropical Storm Emily, which had disappeared, has reformed as Tropical Depression Emily.  It is forecast  to head northeast away from the coast.

From wikipedia...

The beguine is a dance and music form, similar to a slow rumba, that was popular in the 1930s, coming from the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, where in local Creole Beke or Begue means a White person, and Beguine is the female form. It is a combination of Latin folk dance and French ballroom dance, and is a spirited but slow, close dance with a roll of the hips.

steve

gone baby gone

That is the story of Tropical Storm Emily.  It has disappeared.  The tropical weather page from WeatherUnderground shows no activity right now. 

 Which means I'm going to Ocracoke.  Just for a quick visit.  But any trip to Ocracoke is a good trip.

Sometime Sunday morning I'l be crossing the tortured shoals of Hatteras Inlet on the Hatteras to Ocracoke ferry.  No Spartina, no sailing.  But I'll visit some friends, have a good meal or two and enjoy one of my favorite islands.

I can't wait.

steve

weekend weather, Solomons Island

Still watching Emily.  The tropical storm is approaching Haiti right now.  Forecast is for her to cross the eastern tip of Cuba, head of the Bahamas and then curve to the northeast.  Early Monday morning the storm, possibly a small hurricane by then, could be off of the Outer Banks.  I think I'll head down to Ocracoke regardless.  Either I'll get some work done or maybe just watch the storm.

Saturday looks decent for sailing, possibly the best wind I've seen in weeks.

A couple of blog visitors, Shawn and Laura, are heading down to the Outer Banks for a break.  They say they will give The Paper Canoe, the restaurant I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, a try.  I hope they will send me a review.  They are, I believe, from Maryland, somewhere in the mid-Chesapeake Bay region.  In a comment Shawn mentioned Solomons Island as possible sailing grounds.  That has got me thinking about the area.  It is near the mouth of the Patuxent River, just across the bay from the Hooper Islands where I'll be this fall.

There appears to be a couple of nice waterfront restaurants there, maybe a spot to grab a lunch.  I do remember seeing the Tiki Bar last year when I was picked up by a launch at Solomons Island for some work on a research boat.  I posted some photographs from that trip here and here.  I remember the crew hoping the boat would spend an extra night at the anchorage so they could visit the Tiki Bar - but no such luck.

That was the second time I had visited Solomons Island.  The first time was a couple of years earlier when I was on board the tugantine Norfolk Rebel with legendary captain Lane Briggs during a Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race.

That was a very rough trip.  After getting bounced around we pulled into Solomon Island for some maintenance.  It was mid-October and I remember thinking that the entire waterfront looked like it had shut down for the off-season.  But that was just a quick look on a grey, cold day.  I'll need to research the area a little more.  But it does look like an area worth visiting.  Thanks for the tip, Shawn and Laura.

steve

chiseled in stone

My friends in the Outer Banks tell me I have no reason to worry about Tropical Storm Emily.  Nothing will come of it they say.  But just thinking about the storm made me take a look at the "stormy" post.

This photo caught my eye.  I shot it as Bruce and I were sailing north under small craft warnings to Kent Narrows on the Crab House 150.  I had been disappointed in the photo because I thought I did not convey the strength of the wind and the size of the waves that followed us up Eastern Bay.  It was quite a ride on a blustery day.

Now that I look at the photograph again I like the texture of the wave, it looks like chiseled stone to me.  It seems I could reach out and run my hand over the rough granite.  The wind sculpts the waves, the sculpture constantly changes to the wind.

steve

never hope for a hurricane

So last night I make my reservation for a quick overnight trip to Hatteras and Ocracoke Island this coming Sunday and Monday, I've got a little work to do down there and want to visit some friends.  Then I come home, relax, check the email and make my daily visit to Weather Underground's Tropical Weather Page.  And with my usual good timing I see I could be driving down Highway 12 on Hatteras as Emily, now a tropical storm but possibly a hurricane in a couple of days, heads up the east coast.

Who knows?  Five or six days is a long time when it comes to tropical storm forecasts.  Dr. Jeff Masters titles his blog entry "An Uneasy Future for Tropical Storm Emily."  The forecasts models are literally all over the place.  From the Gulf of Mexico to the east coast of Florida and up the east coast.  So I'll wait and watch, probably not taking anything too seriously until Thursday or so.  But I really would like to go to the islands this weekend.

I have to say I do love a good tropical storm.  I've been to the Outer Banks for a few, including last year's near miss by Hurricane Earl.  That was an interesting storm in that south of Hatteras it was up to Category 3 or 4 - something that made even the long-time islanders a little nervous.  A day south of Cape Point the storm veered NE and just brushed by Hatteras.

And Hurricane Bill, a couple of years ago was another near miss.  Flooding, wind damage, erosion are the typical results of near misses, something the folks on Hatteras take in stride.  The access roads will flooded and be left covered in sand, blocking traffic to Hatteras and giving the islanders a day or two to clean up before the tourists return.

Hurricane Isabel in 2003 was the most recent direct hit, cutting Hatteras in two and leaving Hatteras Village an island, called Little Hatteras by the locals, for a few months.

In 1993 there was another Tropical Storm Emily that became a hurricane and quickly intensified into a major hurricane just before hitting the Outer Banks.  I missed that one but have some good friends down there that rode it out.  When visiting Hatteras to this day I still see "high water" markers in homes and restaurants that storm.

Hurricane season is here.  Let's watch, wait and see what comes our way.

steve

under a falling sky

I almost did not go sailing yesterday.  In the morning the forecast throughout the day called for chance of rain.  Not our typical chance of afternoon thunderstorms, but possible rain all through the morning and afternoon.

I really wanted to get out on the water.  I looked at a few more detailed forecasts, reports there showed 20 percent chance of rain in the morning, increasing in the afternoon.  So I went sailing.

The air was thick, the winds less than forecasts.  But there was enough of a breeze to keep me moving.  Sometimes it is good to sail in light winds.  There is a mental aspect to it.  Lowered expectations, looking for and enjoying the little shifts in the breeze, enjoying just being on the water.

  Late morning clouds streamed up from the south, they reminded me of the clouds Bruce and I saw on the SkeeterBeater coming up in a line across the Pamlico River.  Rain followed those clouds, I expected it would follow these.  I headed back to the ramp.

The first raindrops fell just as I finished breaking down Spartina.  The sails were in the covers, everything stowed away.  The thunder arrived just as I backed into the garage.

I did get try out a couple of modifications to Spartina's trailer.  I've added a spare tire carrier, above.  I've always carried a spare tire in the back of the jeep on out of town trips.  I've never carried the tire for day sailing in town.  That doesn't make sense - I could get a flat anywhere.  I could have mounted the tire on the side of the trailer tongue, but chose to mount it below.  It is harder to get to there, but hopefully I won't have to access it too much.  Mounting below lets me shift the weight farther aft, reducing slightly the tongue weight of the trailer.  Plus it give me an added area to step when I'm walking out on the tongue to pull the boat into place.

I also added new guide posts to the trailer.  I found corrosion on one of the old guide posts to the point I could have broken it off by hand.  I bought a new set at the trailer shop.  These are angled out at you can see, the old ones were vertical.  I don't think it makes much of a difference either way.  And I was able to use the old pvc covers on the new posts, the ones with the stickers that I have collected on our trips.

It is about time to renew my SPOT account.  I think it happens automatically but I'm not sure.  I'll confirm that it is activated for the fall trip.  I use the basic service, plus tracking, plus the BoatUS link for "need assistance" calls.

I'm starting to focus a little more on the fall trip; debating starting points - Onancock or Rumbly, thinking about goals, places I want to visit.  It was cool and dry this morning, a little hint of the coming fall.  I guess that got me thinking about the trip.

steve