the morning walk

an artist's memoirs, the complete collection

It was to be, I now recall almost two years after the event, a clandestine visit.  I drove north with the approach of wintery weather, a light snow falling as I crossed a bridge over a river, a rough map sketched out on a piece of paper as I looked for a narrow path leading east off the main road.  Next to the instructions of where to park my jeep I had noted not to drive to fast as stirring up dust on the dirt lane, I was told, would bring the ire of neighbors.  Privacy was much valued, maybe I should leave my camera at home.

I am told not many people get to visit the sail loft of Dabbler Sails, yet Stuart had invited me to pick up my sails in person after a mutual friend had vouched for me.  At the home on a small heavily wooded hill I met Stuart Hopkins and Dee Carstarphen, Stuart's partner in sails, sailing and life.  I remember Dee's almost shy, quiet smile, and her sparkling eyes.  In the loft Stuart showed me the sails, explaining that Dee always checked over his work stitch by stitch to make sure there were no faults.  And perfect they were.  And then he gave me a gift, Dee's book "Narrow Waters, An artist's memo of sailing through sound, swamp, city, forest, marsh and glade."  It was the first of four books that Dee and Stuart would send me over the next year, the books being my only complete collection from single author.  Each book is signed with a personal note from Dee, making the books a collection that I treasure.

I had meant to write about Dee before, but had not because I had met her only briefly in person.  I felt as though I did not know her well enough.  But I do know her now from reading and rereading her books.  It's all there - the joy, the humor, the willingness to follow the path less traveled.  (Dee and I have a little history together - we were both on Coronado Island decades ago, maybe a few miles maybe a few years from each other.)  She has led a life that would be the dream of many.  Dee spent 10 years sailing the windjammer  "Maverick" in the Caribbean with Captain Jack.  (Again, more shared history - On Maverick they welcomed aboard a new young deckhand by the name of Danny Moreland; just a few years ago I sailed from Martha's Vineyard to Norfolk on board the square rigger Picton Castle with Captain Daniel Moreland.)  

"Maverick Sea Fare", Dee's book about those years, masquerades as a cookbook.  Her words are the recipes, her drawings are a story of life sailing the tropical islands.  The sketches are of storms and pirates, a ship with a bone in her teeth, palm trees, tuna, dolphin fish and spiny lobsters.  What an adventure it must have been!

With "The Conch Book" Dee seems to be a biologist, ethnographer, economist and environmentalist all in one as she studies the Queen Conch from the Caribbean to the Keys, Panama to Bermuda.  Written and drawn in her own hand, the only way she does a book, she tells the story of the conch and the role it plays in history, nature and culture.  And of course there are a few good recipes thrown in.  

"Windjammer Cooking" is the story of Dee's time as a sea cook on Down East Windjammers.  Presented once again as a cook book, it is the story of sailing tall ships off the coast of Maine.  The chapter "Life Aboard A Dude Cruiser" is a primer for and a delightful look at shipboard life, both for experienced sailors and novices.  

I love all the books, but my favorite of all is "Narrow Waters."  It  is the story of sailing  from the Chesapeake Bay to the Dry Tortugas and then back to Stuart, Florida, a modern day version of Henry Plummer's The Boy, Me and the Cat, the 1912 sail down the coast in a catboat.  It is a leisurely winter trip down the intracoastal waterway on board "Sea Wind" with her partner Stuart, known as "The Skipper."  Dee shows that she is an artist with the eye of a naturalist, making wonderful drawings of the waterway, swamps, forests, birds, alligators, fish and boats along the way.  (Again, shared history:  I've sailed much of the water  traveled in the first 30 pages of the book - Norfolk, Elizabeth City, the Alligator River, Oriental and Beaufort.  I can tell you she captured it - from the ospreys to the early morning mists - just right.  Dee mentions a seafood processing plant on Cedar Creek off of Adams Creek;  the same seafood processing plant with a noisy cycling refrigeration system that would have kept me awake all night had I not moved Spartina around the corner out of earshot.)  

"Narrow Waters" is the story of a journey and the story of love affairs - a love affair with water, nature and a love affair with the Skipper.  Dee and Stuart have a relationship that I will always envy.  

I was telling a friend last summer that one of the true joys of Spartina was the people I met along the way.  Dee and Stuart are two of those people.  I went on that clandestine trip to pick up a set of sails, and instead found new friends.  Stuart, thank you for the fine sails.  Dee, thank you for the wonderful books, and thanks also for making sure that Spartina's sails are, stitch by stitch, perfect!    

crossing the James

evening

Daughters at a graduation party. 

Mom and Dad celebrate in the bar at the Jefferson hotel.

the graduate

Mr McGuire: I just want to say one word to you. Just one word.

Benjamin: Yes, sir.

Mr McGuire: Are you listening?

Benjamin: Yes, I am.

Mr McGuire: Plastics.

the super star

The Super Star at Hanaki Sushi, just one of many nice plates served tonight.  It is the start of a very nice weekend, 21 years in the making.

the load out

Dock lines, spring lines, fender, life jackets (six), anchor, spare anchor, flares, fire extinguisher, vhf radio, spare weather radio.

It's amazing how much gear was tucked away on Spartina.  I spent the afternoon pulling all the gear, piece by piece, out of Spartina.  It was bungeed in place underneath the foredeck, under the bunk flats, beneath the thwarts, in the water tight storage areas below the aft cockpit seats and inside the day storage area near the transom on the starboard side.

Air horn, knife, tool kit, spare lines, reef lines, oar, foul weather gear, gas can and extra hat.

GPS, spare GPS, sun block, towels, spare spark plugs, emergency strobe, am/fm radio, emergency throw rope, flotation cushions, a little bit of seine line that comes in useful now and then.

It all had to come out as I get ready to sand down and repaint the cockpit interior.  Sanding will happen this month, painting not until warmer weather in March.  For now all the gear is cleaned, organized and bagged in the big closet in the room over the garage.

As I took out the gear I wondered if I really needed it all.  Some, like the safety gear, is required.  I think most of it I use at some point or another.  Some, while needed for cruising, is on board even for day sails.  I suspect, though, that I can sort out the gear and leave some behind.  This will be a good chance for some house cleaning.

The day was as grey as Spartina's interior.  Cold, windy and rainy outside.  How much longer until spring?

sweet dreams

The first piece of my new sleep system, the North Face Aleutian Sleeping Bag, arrived yesterday.  (It arrived very late.  I had noticed on the tracking system it was "out for delivery" at 5 a.m., but did not get dropped off until almost 8 p.m.  The woman who brought it to my door said she had 177 packages to deliver yesterday.  Merry Christmas!)  I was immediately impressed with the sleeping bag - light, compact and well made.  Just what I would expect from North Face.  

I had intended to order a compression sack for the bag, but then realized that the long narrow green storage bag that came with my therma-rest sleeping pad was perfect as a stuff sack.  Above are the two sleeping systems, my old sleeping bag on left and the new one at right.  Half the size and probably a third the weight of the old bag, the long narrow shape of the stuff sac makes it perfect for tucking up under the bungees beneath the foredeck.  The therma-rest pad, deflated, rolls up and fits neatly next to the sleeping bag under the bungees.  There's probably enough room in the green bag for the sleeping bag liner too, which I ordered last night.

Can you tell I'm thinking about next year's trips already??

the first, the last

It was a wonderful day on the water.  My first December sail, my last sail for year.  I could not have asked for a better day.

Since my local ramps are blocked, one due to maintenance and the other for unknown reasons, I drove south to Elizabeth City just across the North Carolina line.  It was a nostalgic trip for me.  Elizabeth City is where I kept the first Spartina, a Devlin-designed Nancy's China, there at the old Elizabeth City Shipyard in the late 1980s, before kids, before a mortgage and before work seemed to get more and more complicated. I have sailed the new Spartina down there a few times, twice to begin cruises (here and here) and a couple of times to sail down to Albermarle Sound and back.  But this was the first time I spent a lazy day just tacking back and forth on the waterfront.  I was pleased to find I still recalled the wind shifts behind the buildings on shore, the same wind shifts I used to sail 25 years ago.

I put in at the nice public ramp on Charles Creek, the wind feeling stronger and more out of the west than expected.  We cast off and headed down the Pasquotank River, past Cottage Point and Hospital Point, then ducking into the lee of Cobb Point as the wind picked up even more.  Reefed and then double reefed, we sailed across the river to an open bay, dropped anchor for a nice relaxing lunch.  Then back to Cottage Point to tie up at a dock to see my friend Millie.

Back on the water by early afternoon the wind had swung to the southwest and the gusts disappeared.  Tacking back and forth I was joined by Mike in his Flicka "Virago."  I've always loved the Flicka design, I've seen the boats tied to dock but never under sail.  It was a treat to finally sail alongside one.  

The December sail was perfect.  Somebody said it was 70 degrees, maybe better.  Friendly conversations on the waterfront, from the couple walking their dog to the two fisherman - one who had caught his limit of stripers over the weekend and the other who was skunked.  A young boy ran along the docks as I sailed by shouting that he really liked my boat.  And at the sub shop where I stopped for dinner on the way home the young man behind the counter called me "Brother" as in "How's your day, Brother?" and "What you need today, Brother?" and "You have a good evening, Brother."  Home by dark, the warm southwest wind still blowing.

It has been a great year on the water.  A memorable cruise to Ocracoke and back in the spring, a delightful fall sail on Chesapeake Bay and I don't know how many day sails on the Elizabeth River.  If a season has to end, I can imagine no better way to end it. 

December