Kingfisher had a major addition, or replacement, on this day – a new daggerboard. True, I felt nostalgia for the old board of fine mahogany, extensively weathered, cupped, gouged, oyster-impaled, repaired, sanded, and varnished over and over. The new board Continue reading →

It was a somber atmosphere Saturday morning when I cast off before 9: gray skies and brown marsh, in stark contrast to the blue skies and golden marshes of my last sail, seemingly a long time ago. Water covered Continue reading →

The view at the deserted landing was spectacular: a low sun was blazing and reflecting off the moving water. It was blowing already from the northeast – small craft advisory, and Kingfisher is on the small end of qualifying in that category. Weather reports had quite a wide range, from 10-15 knots to 20-25 knots. The passage to Bull Island Continue reading →

The sunrise would arrive a little after seven. A cloud bank in the east held the sun’s emergence a little longer, and was illuminated from behind, looking like some craggy Patagonian mountainscape. I would return later with Kingfisher to launch for a sail out toward Bull Island. Along the ecotone just above the marsh flying insects Continue reading →

July 7, 2012. Marine forecast: SW 10-15 knots, with 15 knots later.

I arrived down at the landing at 1PM, and was disappointed to find that the sea breeze had not filled in yet. The heat and humidity approached oppressive. South down the ICW, a neighbor’s flag was limp. Further to the south, beyond Garris Landing, the surface of the water appeared darker. The flag soon came to life, Continue reading →

I made my preparations for heading out to Bull Island early one Sunday morning.  In my yard the leaves of oak trees were still; the reverberation of the island’s surf wafted through the air. Both were indications of no wind as yet. Kingfisher’s deck Continue reading →

Kingfisher had not been in the water since November of last year, and the deck was coated with a thin layer of dirt. I used the sponge to clean the area around the cockpit before I raised sail and headed out Andersonville Creek. The wind was out of the north and the tide falling, conditions quite favorable for my plan Continue reading →

Saturday
Perhaps it was missing the ideal voyage window last Sunday out to the island – outgoing tide and southwest breeze. The conditions were there, but circumstances did not allow. I counseled myself on patience. So Saturday I waited for the wind to come up, and waited. Not the best tide – it would be outgoing all afternoon, and I would have to come back against it. The marine forecast was not giving me the solid breeze I wanted to return to the mainland. Having resolved to wait until Sunday, the trees stirred in my yard in only a way the new sea breeze can move them. I turned in a flash, finished grabbing necessary gear and trailed Kingfisher to the landing. Continue reading →

My first loggerhead sighting of the day took place before 8AM, when my friend Brantley and I stopped at the landing toward the end of a morning run. I saw the distinctive head of the loggerhead right next to the pilling of channel marker #68 before it submerged – in the last week I had seen a four feet alligator swimming here twice. After a long interlude of months, I set sail on Kingfisher around 11AM, and on the Intracoastal Waterway headed up to avoid crossing the bow of a fast moving Sea Hunt outboard. In the interval between us rose first a horseshoe crab, but in the jaws of a loggerhead, Continue reading →

The tide was high Sunday morning February 20 when I arrived at the landing. The wind whipped down the Intracoastal Waterway from the northeast. It had been so long since my last trip out on the water (Jan. 1), and today was a window of opportunity for making a Bull Island trip. But the wind gave me pause. I had been recovering from sinus surgery, at an unexpected snail’s pace, and had just gotten back to work full time in the past week. I had felt a resurgence of health Continue reading →