Century Club: Suzanne Fryberger
Western Sambo Reef
Free Diving at Looe Key
Sailing "Agility" in Boot Key Harbor
Happy New Year!
Looking Southeast from Mill Creek, toward Turkey Point
Me and My Sweetie, Happy to be Floating
While chilly - a high of 34-degrees coming up from the previous night's low of 19, the day was sunny and the wind light. Dobbs and I couldn't pass up such an opportunity to get out on the water in February.
After wrapping up work early at 2:30pm, we tossed our kayaks on the roof of the truck and drove over to Perryville's Community Park. We put in at the launch and paddled north around the ice-crusted perimeter of Mill Creek. A handful of seagulls stood on a floating ice sheet. Beyond them, to the east, flocks of ruddy ducks paddled out of the creek, wary of our approach. A single common merganser female brought up the ranks. Geese flew in V's overhead. I spied two eagles perched side-by-side high in a tree while great blue herons - something like ten of them - took off from the shore. We continued east to Shipley Point and then southwest across the mouth of the creek to Stump Point. We spotted a couple bufflehead and groups of common mergansers flew by. Out toward the eastern edge of the Flats, we could see the long necks of tundra swans rising above the horizon, and hear their high-pitched hooting. We rounded the corner and paddled just a little bit west along the shore, seeking to inspect more closely a small flock of greater scaup. Then, it was time to return to the boat ramp - the park closes at 5pm, and the sinking sun plus our grumbling stomachs were telling us that was nigh. I took only two photos - just general shots. It's too cold to expose my hands!
Out With The Old...
100 Days - Done!
An Eagle Hunts From a Mud Flat
North East, at the Head of the Northeast River
Nosing Into Stony Run
Sun Highlighting the Banks of Stony Run
...she rested!
Yesterday I achieved my goal (Dobbs did too) - 100 days on the water, on my own boat (since I work on other people's plenty), in 2020. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it. First, COVID-19 kept us away from recreational boating. Our 31' sailboat was on the hard until September as we made major improvements. I had to WORK (sigh), and usually what I do for Walden Rigging is so physically demanding that the idea of one more hour on a boat at the end of the day is unappealing. Then, the weather turned windy and cold. Duck hunters stalked our favorite paddling places.
I logged most of my 100 days between September 15th and the end of the year, 2/3rds of it on "Grace", our 1966 Columbia 31 and the rest in my kayak or occasionally "The Pea Green Boat", our 10' sailing dinghy. Is it worth it, spending so much time on the water? YES! - it's time that challenges me physically, enriches me mentally, and calms me emotionally. I think of it like Mahatma Gandhi saying, " I have so much to accomplish today that I must meditate for two hours instead of one."
My last boating day of the year entailed an hour spent in my kayak, in 41 degree air and a Small Craft Advisory, poking around the head of the Northeast River.