Super Moon in Yorktwon (8/10/2014)

Well, it was “super moon” night last night, and what better way is there to watch it come up over the Chesapeake Bay/York River?  It seemed that a lot of people had that idea and there were literally hundreds of people at the Yorktown Beach.  It was the place to be, that’s for sure.  Yorktown is slowly becoming the attraction our county administrators always wanted it to be.  I just wish that there were a few more places to eat and drink, or should I say, more diversity.  The few places that are there have American fair, and I’m not sure if the sushi place ever opened.  No I don’t want another Mexican chain, or any other chain as such, but a few more terraces where you can sit, relax and drink something would be great; maybe a bit more European flair.  However, last night finding parking was even at a premium.  But for sure Yorktown was the place to be last night. 

Everybody was out there, taking photographs.  It was amazing seeing all the flashes from cameras when we were standing on the fishing pier and looking back into town.  It is actually insane, people taking flash pictures of the moon.  I guess most do not know that it is probably better to turn off the flash when taking moon pictures; our flashes in Yorktown are not going to make the moon extra bright.  It reminds me of what we experienced when I worked in Nepal in the early 1980s.  We were in a hotel in Pokhara looking at the full moon reflecting on the snow of the Annapurna Mountains.  All the sudden a tour group of Japanese tourist came out and the photo flashes started going off like crazy.  They were trying to catch a photo of mountains at night that were at least 40 some miles away.  Pity this was the time before digital cameras, so I bet there were a lot of disappointing faces when they came back home and had their films developed.  But then you still see it in stadiums during sporting events.  People would make such better pictures when they take one or two photography lessons instead of opening the box and start shooting.

Waiting for the moon was probably the most interesting.  It was approximately two fingers thick held at arm’s length above the horizon before you could actually see it.  I guess the humidity (light fog) or pollution over the water obscured the moon for a bit, before we could actually see it.  I am posting two pictures I took last night that I particularly like:  the one with the grasses and the one with the reflection of vehicle headlights in the sand (timing is perfect).  It was a nice evening; I still can’t believe what a great summer we’ve had.

Farmer's Market (8/9/2014)

Every Saturday in the spring, summer and fall we have a farmers market in Yorktown.  We go at least a couple of times a month to buy vegetables, fruit and occasionally some seafood.  We either go by bike, or we go by car.  When we go by car we bring the dogs and take them for a walk along the waterfront.
There is all kinds of things available at the market, from wine to BBQ spices to art; you name it.  there are even a few home bakers that sell their ware.But truthfully I am not that interested in that.  In the past years I served on the board of the Virginia Food Systems Council a great organization that encourages the reduction of food deserts, the consumption of regionally grown food, and in that way keeping the carbon footprint as small as possible.  An organization they worked closely together with was the Virginia Farm to Table group.
Both groups are wonderful and I really encourage people to explore their websites.  One campaign they had was the $10 per week campaign, where people pledge to by at least $10 worth of locally grown food.
Anyway here are two photos of our market.  It was a great day and yes we took the dogs.  There were all kinds of dogs; most of them were friendly.  There was even an older gentleman taking pictures of all the dogs.

Chesapeake Bay (8/7/2014)

Came home last night, ate a quick left over/reheated or as we say at home second hand dinner and we went sailing.  It was a beautiful evening; the wind was from the northeast and there were some waves.  Just floating along, with only the main up.  Absolutely wonderful evening.  All the ospreys and their chicks were panicking when we sailed to close to their nests on the channel markers.
On the way out, one of the scallop boats was either ready to go out or doing a test run.  I shot this photo of the boat.  A great sight indeed.  We were back at the slip by 8:30 just in time for it to get dark.  A wonderful evening, absolutely worth repeating.

Jellyfish (8/3/2014)

This week Back Creek was invaded by jellyfish.  They are amazingly beautiful creatures that have a nasty sting at times, and some species even have a deadly sting.  Thank goodness our species in the Bay are not that bad, yes they sting but the hurt is gone fairly quickly.  A fellow sailor who anchors out and goes swimming tells me that there are none in the Bay, but that the creeks are teaming with them.  I really wonder if it is because of the waves and the choppiness of the water, temperature or nutrients in the water. 

The first time I really ran into jellyfish was as a child.  I grew up in the Caribbean, and one day my brother and I were sailing with my father.  I was around ten and my brother is three and a half years younger.  My brother and I were hanging on a line that we had thrown overboard and the sailboat with our father in it was pulling us along.  I was the last one on the line and all the sudden I got stung by jellyfish and I yelled “kwal”, the Dutch word for jellyfish.  My brother starts screaming and crying and pulls himself to the boat as quickly as possible and my father pulled him out.  I was right behind him.  I had some beautiful lashes on my body, while my brother had nothing.  I remember it was stinging a lot and immediately fascinated by the urban legend that the pain would go away when you urinate on it (no I did not try it).  But it was just one of those incidences I will never forget.  I got stung, and my younger brother was not, made more commotion than I.  I’m sure that’s what happens in a lot of families, just interesting and fun to reminisce about.

Anyway the Dutch word “kwal” has two definitions.  For one it is a jellyfish, but it also means a yucky, slimy, difficult person (another thing that just popped up in my mind).  Probably not far off the mark when we look at this picture I shot of the once floating by my boat in the marina.  They look pretty slimy.

 

Chesapeake Bay (8/2/2014)

 Despite all the calls for rain and nasty weather, the Admiral’s Regatta was pulled off without many problems.  The regatta consisted of a sail boat race that I participated with as a crew member of one of the five boats that raced Saturday.  Saturday was nice.  It was overcast but there was no rain, at least until we finished.  We came in second, and the race was shortened somewhat.  However, looking at what weather came in, the boats behind us did get rained on.

This was very unlike what happened last year when we were hit by this tremendous thunder storm and we were almost knocked down by a gust of 60+ mile per hour.  Knock down means the tip of the mast hit the water, and that did not happen, but my wife who was down below reported that the ports (windows) were under water.  I guess you have to experience this once, in order to appreciate the nice windless days.

I have noticed that me recounting this incident of last year is something all sailors do.  Whenever we get together we never talk about the great sail we had or the windless day we had on the water.  We always talk about the near misses, the horrible weather, you name it.  It almost feels like we always want to have experienced worst conditions on the water then the person you talk with:  “Let me tell you about that one time when …“, and you can fill in the blanks.  It is so bad that a sail magazine that I subscribe to has a monthly disaster section where someone tells about a major accident or difficulty and how they lived to tell about it.  These sections also have a “lessons learned” part to it.

This is very much like what we were told in church yesterday by our minister.  How when greeting someone you tell them “I’m fine, but my big toe hurts,” they will always try to better you and say something like “I’m sorry to hear that, but let me tell you about that time that my whole foot hurt.”  During the past month I’ve actually thought a lot about this and have been telling people that “this is the best day of my life,” which usually gets me a blank stare, but I really believe in living in the moment.

Anyway this photo was taken at the beginning of the race.  The boat in front of us is ready to unfurl it jib (or head sail)