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It's usually hard for me to get out in March because I am working seven days a week. This year I volunteered for nights and as a result, I managed a few short trips which really helped me through the month. The highlights were an otter sighting and a trip out with Andrew where we saw dolphins. Trips this month: 5
03/10/03 Well, I volunteered to stay on night shift for the duration of the outage so that I would have lots of time to paddle during the day. I didn't anticipate the atrocious weather we would have the first couple of weeks though so I've spent the last two weeks ashore - yearning to get out on the water. I woke up today to a cloudless, windless day and set out about 11:00 in Hannah Mills. It was so nice that I went without my spray skirt and fleece and had to remember to put sunscreen on before I left shore. I had a nice easy paddle without much birdlife to view as I headed due north to the camping island I discovered a few weeks ago located a few hundred yards to the south of the white pelican pool. I arrived at the island in about 30 minutes and set my hammock up on the interior of the island where I swung in the warm breeze and enjoyed the peace and quiet as my soul healed and rejuvenated itself. I had been curious about when the white pelicans would leave their winter home and, as far as I could tell, they were not at the pool - so some time in the last three weeks - they have departed to points unknown. The signs of spring were everywhere. After a week or more of heavy rains the sea daisy islands were a lush green although the first buds have yet to appear. The live oaks have now had the heavy rain and wind to aid in pushing the old leaves off the branches and now on every island you can see the bright green of new growth peeking out from the surrounding dark green cedars that dominate the vegetation in the Timucuan. I took some time to explore the interior of the island a little bit and I discovered the first signs of human habitation aside from me. On the south side of the island there was a ring a large cedars and in the clearing were two large galvanized wash tubs turned upside down. The bottom of one of them was rusted completely our but the other was intact save for what appeared to be a gash made by and axe. Also, there was a large, heavy black tarp - not the cheap plastic kind but a much heavier kind that you don't see around much any more. I started to wonder if this site may have been an old still that I heard you could occasionally find on these remote islands. It was pretty obvious that it had been many years since anyone had brewed any "shine" or done whatever it was they were doing. I can't imagine why anyone would come to this location for any other reason - it is so inaccessible. Anyway - I never heard the banjo playing or pigs squealing. I wanted to stay longer - a lot longer, but the bad thing about working nights is that any paddling I do in the day has to be done with an eye on the clock. I reluctantly packed up and eased back home. I did take a few photos but they results were disappointing - doubt they will see the light of day.
03/11/03
Another glorious day! I thought seriously about heading toward the FGR but as I passed Hannah Mills I saw there was plenty of water so I decided to put-in and paddle over to the ICW and veg-out in my hammock. As I headed east, I stopped at one of the sea daisy islands that the birds are usually roosted on and as I sat there I saw the hind quarters and wisp of the tail of a large aquatic mammal disappearing beneath the surface of the water. My first thought was - Otter, but the fur appeared almost a musty yellow so I wondered about the possibility of it being a muskrat. What I saw of it's tail seemed way to small for an otter too. As I sat there, a couple of birds on the other side of the island raised an alarm and so I paddled to the other side and saw it surface. This time it was unmistakable - definitely an otter. When he submerged I was able to follow the trail of bubbles he left as he skirted the edge of the marsh grass and I could easily follow him, snapping pictures when he surfaced. Each time he surfaced he would look around and when he spotted me would head back under. Finally, he hopped up into the grass and disappeared. My original intention was to head to the spot on the east bank of the ICW that I have been enjoying lately. As I approached the ICW, however, I decided to stop at the island directly opposite on the west bank. I know that I have visited this island before but for some reason not very extensively. There was the usual cactus barrier to negotiate along the tree line but it was fairly sparse and once in the interior I found a beautiful place with huge cedars. The land went quickly upwards as it headed to the northwest and peaked out in a large oyster midden. There was the usual trash scattered about but it was surprisingly free of any evidence of consistent visitation even though it seemed to be an ideal location. I eventually found a great spot on the interior of the island where I strung the hammock and read my new Michael Crichton book before reluctantly heading back. The northern harrier that has been in the area swooped over the tree-tops and I was able to get a good shot of him. See the Pictures From this Trip
03/12/03 I guess I'm making up for all the time I lost to the bad weather last week. Three glorious days in a row with the temperatures each day a little warmer. Today was supposed to be up in the 80's so I thought I just might take my first swim of the year in FGR. I got out there and paddled down to the plantation where I sat on a sandbar and ate lunch, lay in the sun and read. Just as I was about to brave a dip, the breeze picked up a tad and the sun was ever so slightly obscured by some haze - just enough to make me chicken out. Tomorrow's another day and next week will be even better. Not much to speak of in the wildlife category. I only took a couple of nondescript photos. I did run into an acquaintance on my way back and stopped to have a nice chat. The weather may be iffy tomorrow so I may give it a rest. If I wake up and see blue skies though - chances are I'll make it four days in a row!
03/19/03
God blesses us in funny ways - even when we would rather he not bother. I realized that today after spending a couple of hours out on the water with my 15 year old son, Andrew, who has not been out with me in two or three years. In fact, he has very recently told Hope and I that "it's just not his thing" when we offer to bring him along on our paddle picnics. Well, yesterday, I loaded my boat before I headed in to work because I knew that today was going to allow a very brief window of opportunity to get out and I was looking forward to it after another several days of bad weather that was made worse by being sick as a dog on my only day off. Andrew is on spring break and I made a standing offer to do stuff with him during the day knowing that he probably wouldn't take me up on it. Well, when I got home at 2 this morning there was a note on my desk from him saying that he "would like to go paddling or do something". I was pissed! I know this sounds bad. I claim to be a guy who "goes with the flow" but I realized how much it irks me to have my plans changed. I guess I'll go with the flow as long as it's "my flow" I go with. After a few seconds of venting to a dark, quiet house, I realized how stupid it was to be angry at Andrew for wanting to spend time with me and so I calmed down and resolved to wait and see what the dawn brought. Knowing Andrew, he wouldn't want to get out of bed before noon and would likely change his mind. I waited as long as I could come morning and then woke him up. I gave him the option of what to do figuring he would see the breezy conditions and opt for another "hammock" session at the beach. After hem-hawing around, he finally said "let's go paddling." Ok - so be it! I loaded the extra boat and we headed toward Hannah Mills knowing that even though the tide would already be going out that we weren't going to be out long enough for it to matter. We set out into a 15 knot breeze but made good time up to the big turn and stopped to rest at the old cedar. The water was quite rough at this point but with the current aiding us it was manageable. When we got to the tree, Andrew had a big grin on his face and I realized that, unlike others I take out, he is a big strapping 15 year old boy that I could put through some abuse. We discussed the options and, not surprisingly, he chose the longer trip out to the ICW. We headed up the parallel stream and soon saw the Northern Harrier who hangs out here. We stopped and watched and took pictures of him as he swooped continuously up and down looking for rodentia in the mudflats surrounding the island. We then made it to the ICW and finding a favorable current and conditions that were not too bad, we headed south to my latest new campsite where an Osprey was sitting in a tree overlooking the water on the backside. I hadn't brought the hammocks on this trip because I didn't expect to go this far so we sat on our PFD's on the slope under the trees had a snack and talked (a little - we ARE McCharen men after all!). We called Mommy on the cell to let her know we were out male bonding and then packed up. As I was debating our route back, I suddenly saw fins rise on the opposite bank of the stream we were in. I pointed quickly to Andrew and yelled "Dolphins!" He was thrilled - so was I! I missed most of last summer's paddling and therefore it had been at least a year since I had seen them in my boat. We watched as three fins rose and then two more. It appeared that there were four adults surrounding one juvenile and as we paddled toward them, they changed course and came directly at us exhaling furiously and continuously. I believe they had perceived a threat to the youngster and were checking us out. They quickly dismissed us and continued on out to the ICW as Andrew and I drifted with the current and took pictures. Andrew was grinning broadly when I told him we should head back. The rest of the trip was uneventful - I chose the easiest way back but I don't think it would have mattered. Every time I looked back Andrew was paddling steadily like he was a pro and grinning like he was still enjoying himself. I don't often find things to connect with Andrew over. When we bought our boats 4 years ago, I thought he would be my 1a paddling buddy and he was the main reason I bought the Ocean Kayak a couple of years ago. It hasn't turned out that way but he has recently been bitten by the photography bug and I think that has peaked his interest in the outdoors. He may not be back to being my 1a paddling buddy but it looks like he may be a fairly frequent accompaniment on our trips. And that's Ok with me. See the Pictures From this Trip
03/24/03 I've been a little sore lately with things heating up at work but I decided to hit the water for a quickie. I got going a bit later than I had planned so I basically, headed straight for my new island where I vegged in the hammock and headed back. Unfortunately, my digi-cam started to act up on me and so I could only take pictures with my Nikon. There weren't many opportunities but there was an Osprey on the island I was on who hung out very close by and I could have had some great shots. This island is a favorite hangout for Ospreys and I am looking forward to camping there soon. |
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