Half-Collar Dove Family
We were fortunate enough this spring to spy a pair of half-collar doves checking out possible nesting sites in the rolled-up back deck rain curtains of the vacant steel trawler next door. The pair spent three days investigating the various nooks and crannies provided by the well-worn canvas and plastic hanging from the roof of […]
Christmas!
I know we haven’t written in a while (too long!), and wanted to get a couple Christmas pics of the boat posted. Although the temps are still in the low 70’s most days here, it only got to 50 degrees yesterday. It was cool enough that we got a nice fire going in the salon […]
Nights of Lights
Shortly after we arrived here in St. Augustine, we saw preparations taking place to dress up the downtown area with annual Christmas cheer. We’d heard that St. Augustine did a particularly nice job at this, but were totally unprepared for what we were about to see. Lights and decorations adorn the city from November 19th […]
Becoming Floridians
Once we arrived here in St. Augustine and got somewhat settled in our new surroundings, we turned our attention to the topic of becoming “legal” residents of the state of Florida. We’d done a fair amount of research on this before leaving Maryland since our situation was complicated by the fact that we intended to […]
New Home
After all the anticipation regarding our ICW trip and relocation to Florida, these first few days have seemed a bit unreal. Living on C Ghost has its own rhythm-tasks and routines which provides a sense of stability, much welcome in this new environment so different from the Chesapeake where we have boated all our lives. […]
The Great Fruit Fly War
Tuesday, October 4, 2016 at 9:00AM. It all began, as surprisingly many unfortunate things do, with a banana. Tom loves a morning smoothie, made with blueberries, spinach, strawberries, almond milk, and bananas. All these ingredients do well under refrigeration except bananas. So, just before we set off for our ICW trip, I bought a bunch […]
Kingbird Family
A pair of Eastern Kingbirds nested on the pulpit of a friend’s sailboat, which was not in much use this spring/summer. At first glance I thought the nest appeared awfully exposed-but closer inspection revealed that the pulpit seat shielded the nest from sun, rain, and sky-based predators, and the railing around the boat’s bow provided […]
Level of Effort
As new liveaboards, Tom and I wrangle daily with the increased level of effort that daily tasks require on a boat compared to an apartment. This hit me most recently during a hot Sunday morning grocery trip. Formerly, I would shop without thought of available storage space in the refrigerator/ freezer/ pantry as space was […]
The Murderous Drakes of Dividing Creek
Having long held the common perception of Mallard ducks as beautiful and benign denizens of the Chesapeake Bay, representatives of innocent nature, kinder than man, I was gobsmacked to learn that right in our marina lived a nocturnal roving band of fowl thugs. All seemed peaceful at first. During rainy spring mornings, I explored our […]
The Significance of Unregarded Sounds
My life on land carried with it the luxury of being able to ignore small noises. A squeak in the hall while I’m trying to concentrate on a patient’s chart? Not important, tune it out. A couple of low thumps outside our apartment late Saturday night? Probably some party goers returning home. Roll over, resume […]