My relationship with the ocean and other bodies of water ...

I should start off with my relationship with the ocean; before Jim, there wasn’t one.
Jim grew up on the water; I grew up sitting on a beach looking at the surf. He never had to wear a ton of sun screen - I was coated. He maneuvered boats in the waterways of the Potomac River and Aquia Creek; I strategically placed my chair just out of reach from the surf to give the impression of enjoying the crashing waves. We were definitely not navigating with the same set of charts.


When I was little, in Kill Devil Hills, NC, dad told me the undertow would take me out past Avalon Pier then return me to shore miles down the beach. I connected that little nugget with watching fishermen catch sharks off the end of the pier; I was a solid ‘play in the surf’ kid.


My cousins from Gloucester County, Virginia, were always on the water. One Thanksgiving my hero-like-cousins, Gregory and Phillip, had to watch over us younger cousins. After a rousing game of yard darts, why that game went away- I still don’t know, the cousins decided to teach us something useful. They tied a jon boat to a tree, settle us into the boat with 14+ life jackets, and gently shoved us off the banks with a cheshire cat smile. The learning came next; they bellowed orders telling us how to pull ourselves back to safety through a muck of deadly stingin’ nettles. I was in awe of my country cousins, I was not about to show them my near paralyzing fear of those nettles.


Side note: The Gloucester cousins could talk me into anything! The tree swing over the swamp is for another time (Byron would yell, with that chuckle and that sunshine smile, ‘Motivation to stay on!” just as I jumped onto the swing). Gloucester would come back into my life when I met Jim Beck and his fraternity brothers: Chigger Carmine and Johnny Hogan.

      

      https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/   Aunt Nancy & Uncle Jerry's House in Gloucester, VA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

DAYS 22-23 Cortlandt Yacht Club to Kingston, NY & Lighthouses

Image
Cortlandt Yacht Club (Montrose NY) to Kingston NY: 10.0 mph; 51 miles; 5:07 hours Traveling the Hudson River is peaceful and quiet. I wouldn’t compare it to the Cheasapeake because the ecosystems are completely opposite: saltwater vs freshwater. There is so much history here ... I’ll need to come back - bypassing New Jersey completely. Kingston, NY We docked at the Hudson River Maritime Museum and met some wonderful people. July 13th was Jim’s 55th birthday and the museum was closed! While we were exploring the area, I asked a group of people if anyone thought the museum would open for Jim - being that it's his birthday and the reason for this stop. A man named Jack Weeks said, "I have a key." Little did we know that Jack, a UVA-grad-retired-doctor, was the president of the museum. I was so grateful - this was Jim’s day - hell, it's Jim's YES YEAR. Once inside the museum, you could see the thoughtfulness everywhere: every age group had something to see and do. I
Read more

DAY 54: Put-In-Bay OH to Sugar Island, MI

Image
Jefferson Beach OH to Sugar Island MI (Grosse/Dearborn Michigan):  11.6 mph; 38.2 miles; 3:17 hours In this picture, Canada is on the right and USA on the left - pretty cool. Sugar Island: ANCHORAGE   Sugar Island is just past the entrance to the Detroit River, west of the shipping lanes, and off the Meso and Hickory Islands. It's a safe little anchorage with room for a few boats. If you decide to use this spot, be careful with the depths, slow and steady is the course. A colorfully off-centered local boated over in a skiff to tell us there was a barge upstream we could dock off - was that a hint? It sounded a little shady so we stayed put. After setting the hook, we attached the snubber and never budged.  Free Spirit is here with us but too far to go in the dinghy with the current.
Read more

DAYS 301-303: Deltaville to Tangier Island

Image
Deltaville to Middle of the Bay: 8.2 mph; 10.3 miles; 1:15 hours Middle of the Bay to Tangier Island: 8.5 mph; 17.7 miles; 2:05 hours LEVI BEFORE THE CROSSING We are traveling back across the Chesapeake Bay to Tangier Island. This will be Levi’s first crossing - hope the kiddo can handle the ride … he had waffles, bacon, and eggs for breakfast. LEVI AFTER THE CROSSING He was just fine! Parks’ Marina: $30/night for boats under 30’ and $35/night for over 30’. Electric, water, shower/bathroom.  You have to call Mr Parks and hell direct you, with great detail, how to enter the harbor and 'stay off the beach'. The island is quiet in April and doesn’t really get going until May. Two of the three restaurants, and one of the two ice cream stands, will not open this year because of financial hardships caused by COVID.  There must have been an island meeting recently because there was a lot of local talk about redesigning the town to resemble ‘the old fishing village’ and tidying up the
Read more