TOO LONG ON THE SHORE

I spent the last week out on the east end of Long Island. Where my girlfriend likes to take a beach vacation now and then. It was a nice week full of chowders, wine, lobsters and such. But, I also was reminded it's time to get BIANKA in the water. Reminders were everywhere I looked. We would be dining at one of the local restaurants at the Inlet to Lake Montauk and my eyes would be fixated on a sailboat a few miles out after rounding the nearby point. It got me wishing I was out there on BIANKA. A walk along the beach had me looking out to sea and once again thinking of doing a solo around Long Island cruise.  Well the vacation is over and the prop is polished. I have my 2017 copy of the Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book already on board. The boatyard should have painted the bottom this past week. All that remains is to put on the new zinc on the prop shaft. So I expect to have BIANKA floating at her mooring this week. Both of us have been too long on the shore.

A TASTE OF THE SEA

My girlfriend had the week off from her teaching gig because it was Spring Break. So we jumped in the car and as we often do head to a place where we could be by the water. In this case it was Ocean City Maryland. A few days in a hotel with an ocean front view over looking the Atlantic Ocean can do wonders for the soul when one still has the boat stored on land for the winter.

Just watching the waves, having the smell of the sea and the sound of the surf can rejuvenate ones plans for the up coming season. Add to that the taste of fresh seafood at meals and one feels once again close to waters that surround us. Though for me the most impressive part of the day is the sunrise:

You can get a feel for how impressive and vast things are by noting the person on the beach in the lower left of the above picture. On another morning I may notice a local fishing boat heading out at dawn to get the catch of the day:

I'll watch the boat pass by and wish I was out there with BIANKA.  In another few months I will be.

IN REHOBOTH BEACH

I've been in Rehoboth Beach Delaware for a few days. It was a little getaway but, it has also kept me away from finishing up the spring outfitting on BIANKA. But, at least it has given me a front row seat watching the Atlantic Ocean. Though tugging at me is the desire to be on it. Still, it's hard not to enjoy it no matter where you are when you get a sunrise like this:

or enjoy a walk down the beach:

If the sand is too soft for an extended walk there is a fine boardwalk:

A main drag filled with all kinds of shops, restaurants etc...

Of course the boardwalk has the ubiquitous Salt Water Taffy emporium:

I'd like to know who is the person who came up with this great idea for the benches that line the boardwalk:

You can move the the backrest so the bench either faces the ocean or the boardwalk so you can people watch. Personally, I'd choose the ocean every time.

SHOWTIME ON THE BEACH

You never know what will happen when you head down to the boatyard to work on the boat. You might get distracted in an extended gam with another boat owner talking about various boat projects or other such boat related items. Sometimes a little local knowledge or scuttlebutt piece of info might come your way. That's what happened recently after I had finished the first phase of my stove conversion project. I was putting the ladder away in the car when another sailor asked me if I was going to head over to the beach to see the seal release. I had not heard about this event but, since it was taken place just across the road from the boatyard I thought why not stop and check it out:



 The seal named Steve was rescued and released by The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research & Preservation

DAMN YOU BILLY JOEL!

Sometimes on these fall cruises I walk the beach looking for some items that have washed up that I can recycle and use on board. For example items like these:

This year I was hoping to find a replacement lid for some of the five gallon pails I use on board then I found this tweet on Soundbounders twitter site:

Billy Joel, Guv Clean Up Oyster Bay http://t.co/RzYQDqARhd
— Oyster Bay NY Patch (@OysterBayPatch) September 21, 2013

Looks like it might be harder to find these treasures on my walks this fall. Especially with all these beach cleanups going on where even Billy Joel is getting into the act. But, in the big scheme of things it's better that there is less plastic and other debris on the shore and in the water.

WHY BOATS SINK: Things that go bump in the night!

I was sitting on a beach chair out on the eastern end of the Isle of Long staring out into the Atlantic about two weeks ago. About fifty feet away from where I was sitting was this:

It was part of a tree about thirty five feet long that was partially buried at the high tide mark another 12 foot piece of the same tree was lying a few feet away. It looked pretty nasty down by the root end:

As thought about the tree and wondered where it came from. I was thinking it is probably a traveler left over from Hurricane Sandy's vist to the area last fall:

I wondered how many other tree trunks were floating out there in the Atlantic vagabond leftovers from the storm? Depending on  the boats construction and how it hits such a piece of debris it could severely damage a boat or maybe damage a prop. It would be hard to see to especially at night. Just another thing to be aware of out on the waters. Coincidently, the tree was located at almost the exact spot that I saw an immense log rolling around in the surf a few years ago. Here is some video of that hull crusher I took with a cell phone:


As I sat back down in my beach chair I made a mental note myself to remember even on a beautiful sailing day there are still things lurking just below the surface that could ruin your day.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Here in the states it is the three day Labor Day weekend. If you are to believe the mainstream media it is the end of summer.  But, a quick check of my Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book  tells me this is not so. Still millions of people believe it and so make a mad crowded traffic filled dash to enjoy it. That goes for those on the water too! Where many harbors and anchorages are very crowded with boaters trying to squeeze in some boating during the last three day holiday weekend of the summer:

Not me. I sometimes live a complicated life, this summer was no exception. These days I work freelance and work when the phone rings. This summer I worked about five weeks between July and August and then my girlfriend wanted to spend a few days on the beach on the eastern end of the Island of Long where I stared at the seagulls and they stared at me:

I'm not complaining by any means. Even though I did not get to spend much time on board the boat in July and August. Having some money coming into the wallet from the work gig and spending two weeks on the beach is not such a bad thing. But, it's not the same as being on board the boat. So today I finally get back on board with nothing on my schedule for the next several months. But, I'm not going to be joining the crowd on the waters just yet. I'll be hanging out on the mooring until at least Tuesday. I've got a few projects on board that can keep me busy until then.  I'll let the crowd of boaters get their frenzied last licks in while BIANKA stays attached securely to the mooring. I'm happy to wait until the crowds leave.While for many this Labor Day weekend marks the end of the sailing season for me it is just the beginning.

CAPT. MIKE IN OCEAN CITY MARYLAND

Capt. Mikes companion wanted to head to  Ocean City Maryland for a few days in the off season to walk on the beach. As always Capt. Mike goes along to get along. Actually, if I can't be on the water an ocean front room looking out over the Atlantic Ocean is not so terrible:

As with shores on the East Coast man often has a prolonged battle with trying to make the restless ocean halt or at least postpone it's efforts to move the beaches further inland. You can see this most vividly at the Ocean City Inlet. The inlet was made in 1933 by the Chesapeake Potomac hurricane.   You can see the offset where the undisturbed Assateague Island shoreline has moved further west when compared to the Ocean City shoreline at the top of the picture which has been replenished over the years by dredging:

From my 11th floor room I also noticed how the paths to the beach are arranged in a chevron like pattern:

Looking a little closer you can see why this pattern makes sense when storms threaten. The chevron pattern makes it harder for ocean waves break through:

 This pattern might very well help the sand build up on the path in storm conditions rather than have a straight path to the streets of Ocean City.

One day we took a drive over to Assateague Island  where there are two kinds of horsepower on display in the beach parking lots:

The hurricane that opened up the inlet also opened up the opportunities for the local residents to participate in one of the east coasts major fishing industries. The inlet allows easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. While heading back from lunch one day this boat caught my eye:

Is it a sailboat or is it a fishing boat?  The answer it's both! While it was built when fuel prices were cheaper and is currently just sitting at the dock. With today's rising fuel prices it will probably be out on the ocean again doing some long line fishing before too long.

SUN OF A BEACH

Well my girlfriend has dragged me off the boat for a few days. Forcing me to sit on beach here on the Isle of Long. But, I think I'll be able to survive.