On the2 July 2009: Thursday
After breakfast I started on my wood with the first glossy coat. It is looking really nice. Sapele, according to Wikipedia is a wood from Africa and often used in the making of guitars and Hawaiian ukuleles.
Later in the morning a single handed sailor-lady entered the lagoon. She anchored and then climbed in her dinghy and started to row out a stern anchor. She had misjudged her anchor drop and she was blown down on a piling. She pulled up both anchors and reset the bow one and decided she didn't need the stern line. I rowed over in Pashmina to see if she needed any help. She stated this boat was new to her and she is practicing alot. I invited her to visit when she got settled.
Mid-day we had a nice chat and she has her 27 ft Erickson in Scapposse. She is in her 60's, retired on a meager income, doesn't own a car, but is sailing everywhere on the river. She pointed out some places to anchor that I have missed. She said she has been aground several times already and is gutsy in her endeavors, while I tend to be more cautious. However, it is great she out on th
e water, owning her own sailboat and living a simple life. She bought the boat for $4000 and has put alot of work into her already. Hauling her out, doing her own yard work, rewiring it and has been up the mast 3 times. Good on you girl.
While waiting for the wood to dry, I took Pashmina for a good row up Martin Slough to the wing dam and
the Columbia. When the tide is out there is a beautiful beach to explore and gather pumice stones from the Mt St Helen's explosion. It is about 3 miles total run. As I got to the wing dam I flushed 2 eagles from the shore line, 4 killdeer birds and numerous ospreys were flying overhead.
These bird prints in the sand were interesting. I believe they are eagle because of the size. They were made in a reciprocal gait pattern which I'm not certain how eagles ambulate, but I don't think they are hoppers. I have seen them hop to take off from standing stationary, but I have never seen them walk. Someone suggested they could be Great Blue Heron. Actually this makes sense as they are slow, methodical walkers who come down and enter the water to fish. The tracks represented this behavior quite well. While it was fun thinking about the eagles, this is more a probability. The size of the print made me not think of the GBH, but I forget how large they are.
Upon my return to the lagoon inlet the wind was blowing quite a bit and there were small waves to face. A vessel was about to enter with me, so I held back knowing I was in the slow boat. I was pulling on the oars with all my might and gaining inches on the shoreline. I decided that I would empower my strokes with saying Om with each stroke. It was as though Pashmina leaped forward and we began to make impressive headway. I "omed" all the back to Shatoosh and it became an effortless undertaking.
I had a curious encounter with another dragonfly. This one was a brilliant blue, smaller than the other one and had landed on my arm. I watched closely and discovered he had brought his meal with him. He was chewing on a small insect. I watched in total fascination as he slowly chewed and gobbled down this insect. My last vision was the disappearing 2 flapping antenna of the insect, as they went down the dragonfly's gullet. Then just as quick as he came, dinner finished, he flew off.
The late afternoon heat coupled with the severe cottonwood blowing created a tough few hours. I was very happy to see the sun go down, wash my hair and soak my feet in a bucket of water to get the dug in river mud from my toenails. The solar shower made the water too hot so I added some cold out of the tank. All in all it was another delightful day.
After breakfast I started on my wood with the first glossy coat. It is looking really nice. Sapele, according to Wikipedia is a wood from Africa and often used in the making of guitars and Hawaiian ukuleles.
Later in the morning a single handed sailor-lady entered the lagoon. She anchored and then climbed in her dinghy and started to row out a stern anchor. She had misjudged her anchor drop and she was blown down on a piling. She pulled up both anchors and reset the bow one and decided she didn't need the stern line. I rowed over in Pashmina to see if she needed any help. She stated this boat was new to her and she is practicing alot. I invited her to visit when she got settled.
Mid-day we had a nice chat and she has her 27 ft Erickson in Scapposse. She is in her 60's, retired on a meager income, doesn't own a car, but is sailing everywhere on the river. She pointed out some places to anchor that I have missed. She said she has been aground several times already and is gutsy in her endeavors, while I tend to be more cautious. However, it is great she out on th
e water, owning her own sailboat and living a simple life. She bought the boat for $4000 and has put alot of work into her already. Hauling her out, doing her own yard work, rewiring it and has been up the mast 3 times. Good on you girl.While waiting for the wood to dry, I took Pashmina for a good row up Martin Slough to the wing dam and
the Columbia. When the tide is out there is a beautiful beach to explore and gather pumice stones from the Mt St Helen's explosion. It is about 3 miles total run. As I got to the wing dam I flushed 2 eagles from the shore line, 4 killdeer birds and numerous ospreys were flying overhead.These bird prints in the sand were interesting. I believe they are eagle because of the size. They were made in a reciprocal gait pattern which I'm not certain how eagles ambulate, but I don't think they are hoppers. I have seen them hop to take off from standing stationary, but I have never seen them walk. Someone suggested they could be Great Blue Heron. Actually this makes sense as they are slow, methodical walkers who come down and enter the water to fish. The tracks represented this behavior quite well. While it was fun thinking about the eagles, this is more a probability. The size of the print made me not think of the GBH, but I forget how large they are.
Upon my return to the lagoon inlet the wind was blowing quite a bit and there were small waves to face. A vessel was about to enter with me, so I held back knowing I was in the slow boat. I was pulling on the oars with all my might and gaining inches on the shoreline. I decided that I would empower my strokes with saying Om with each stroke. It was as though Pashmina leaped forward and we began to make impressive headway. I "omed" all the back to Shatoosh and it became an effortless undertaking.
I had a curious encounter with another dragonfly. This one was a brilliant blue, smaller than the other one and had landed on my arm. I watched closely and discovered he had brought his meal with him. He was chewing on a small insect. I watched in total fascination as he slowly chewed and gobbled down this insect. My last vision was the disappearing 2 flapping antenna of the insect, as they went down the dragonfly's gullet. Then just as quick as he came, dinner finished, he flew off.
The late afternoon heat coupled with the severe cottonwood blowing created a tough few hours. I was very happy to see the sun go down, wash my hair and soak my feet in a bucket of water to get the dug in river mud from my toenails. The solar shower made the water too hot so I added some cold out of the tank. All in all it was another delightful day.
