Wet, but looking well nonetheless
Rescue At Sea/New Crew Member
We have a new addition to the crew! The wind has been blowing north 20-30 for the past few days. We are one of only 3 boats who have anchored on the south side of the bridge for protection. There are 20+ boats on the north side in 3 foot whitecaps. We decided to go for a ride today in the dinghy since we had been onboard for a couple of days…we put on full foulies and headed out. The water was a good bit calmer here than the north side but still splashy. Ok, a good bit calm means 2 footers plus windblown spray. We had gotten good and wet and taking spray in the face, we’d had enough fun for the time being and heading back to the boat we saw a brown lump floating in the water. Turning around we retrieved a new animal for the Ark…a rescue mission. Looking around we have these critters galore…monkeys, two frogs, a salamander, several bears of Teddy and Grateful Dead form, a turtle in an origami paper hat that Heather made, an octopus crafted from Brian’s mother, R2D2, a Jawa, Yoda, a goblin, and two felines that might as well be stuffed as little as they have moved today.
Heather wants suggestions for a name for this “lost soul”
Heather’s All Creatures Great and Small
When we left St. Augustine last year after 2 weeks we had an ecosystem growing on our chain. The deck wash did not even begin to remove that nastiness that had accumulated…shrimp, barnacles, and other moving mud creatures covered the deck.
We have crows that pull off our spreader tape. An osprey recently perched on top of our wind speed gauge and now it is malfunctioning…I don’t want to know how he perched there with the antenna on top of the mast. We’ve also had osprey leave bones and bits of fish on deck.
Crabs that climb up our chain, into the dink, and even one adventurous Crusoe of a Crab who lived in our head (bathroom) sink drain for months.
Spiders decorate davits, lines, lifeline netting, and such with their webs. We usually leave them since 99% of them are small and harmless…they eat the mosquitoes and no-see-ums. So they’re okay by us.
Ducks hang out in our dinghy and leave a terrible mess, specifically on our life jackets and Brian’s sandals that he left in the dinghy overnight. New Bern, NC and Annapolis, MD compete for the worst. (Hey Greg. QUUUUAAAAACCCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!)
Seagulls have messed on everything possible, have brought chicken bones scavenged from a nearby park to our deck, they occasionally give a fly-by to check out the cats, and in the Neuse River, one flew smack into our side, it landed belly up and did not fly off. I suppose the word got out and now they’re all after us.
Otters leave their ottery delight smeared all over the dinghy docks in Fernandina Beach, FL and Charleston, SC.
Mullett have flung themselves into our dinghy where they remain to bake on the floor in the summer sun.
Jellyfish : ouch, manatee : my favorite, dogs that hop out of the dinghy to swim after dolphin, Pelicans diving so close to the boat that it sounds like they hit us…there are also the occasional bioluminescent creatures that come into our head with the raw water flush, it is quite entertaining after dark…we’re simple people, There are plenty more animals waiting out there for us so that the fun can continue.
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