Author: Chris McLean

August 5-6, 2024

Port Royal, SC (docked)

We prepared for Debby for a few days.  The forecast is more about torrential rain than any significant wind (although that’s always subject to change).  The major issue is that Debby is supposed to stall right off the coast for several days and just dump rain (potentially 20-30 inches) on this area.

In addition to securing our dinghy and filling out water tank, John prepped us the best by moving Lailia to an inside slip.  We’re a lot more protected from waves here. 

The waves on the outside slip weren’t terrible but they aren’t even an issue on the inside.  Debby’s winds are coming from the east rather than the south, which keeps the waves smaller.

Our school district sent employees home at 1pm on Monday and let us know they would be closed Tuesday and Wednesday.  Students were supposed to start Wednesday.

We had bands of rain most of Monday evening.   We ate dinner and watched Netflix through that.

The only nerve-wracking time was around 9:30 when we started getting alarms about potential tornadoes. 

My coaching partner texted me the weather maps  while John pulled up radar images.

The sounds in the cockpit were bonkers, because the canvas and isinglass amplify the wind and rain.  The cool part is that in spite of all of that, Lailia was steady.

This morning (Tuesday) we woke up to see that we missed another couple tornado warnings while we slept.  That’s good news – we slept well enough to miss all that and bad news – we slept well enough to miss all that.

A lot of Spanish moss blew down last night.  It’s even decorating our car. 

The rain continues and will probably be coming for days.

We’re safe here and so thankful for everyone who checked in on us, offered shelter, and sent good wishes.

April 10-23, 2024

How quickly a routine falls apart! Two days before spring break, I attended training in North Charleston and spent the night away from John and Lailia. Spring break rolled in and out usual Sunday night blogging thing went out the window.

It was a good couple of weeks.

While I was in North Charleston, I had dinner with my college friends, Bill and Deb.

John’s decision to turn Lailia so her bow faces south was excellent. We’re not getting wave slap and sleeping is good!

My spring break schedule means I’m out at different times than my usual early morning pre-dawn trek to the gym.

I get to go to Cypress Wetlands in the early morning. The light and sounds are different from my usual after work walks.

We’re out later in the evening, too, so we get to soak up the gentle last rays of sun.

Spring break also meant I could spend a day at Swan Lake in Sumter with my friend Samantha. We probably saw all 8 species of swans that live there – it’s not easy to tell all of them apart.

The gardens were starting to bloom, too.

There’s even a wetlands walk there.

I stopped to take a picture of the forest and while Samantha thought I was taking a picture of it, I only saw the hawk when it flew away.

Sometimes spring break weather is disappointing but this year it was amazing! John and I got some beach time in.

There’s an osprey nest in the trees at our favorite beach spot.

It was warm enough this past weekend that birds were doing weird things to cool down. Some held their wings in different formations

Some had their beaks open.

There are also so many nests at Cypress Wetlands! I love this little tri-color heron. A few weeks ago I watched these buddies build this nest

This nest is in a small tree away from the main nesting area in Cypress Wetlands. I always check on it when I walk through. I like how this pair just quietly established their spot.

How cool it is to see her eggs!

A few weeks ago, the first great egrets had eggs in their nest.

This week that nest has chicks!

April 1-8, 2024

Sometimes everything comes together: our friend Robert was in Beaufort during the solar eclipse – and we had perfect weather AND I had the day off.

Robert travels the country by road- we last saw him in St. Augustine about 16 months ago. You can check out his cool adventures at https://robertthenomad.com/.

Of course we went to Cypress Wetlands to check out all the birds but the highlight was the eclipse, even though we only had about 75% coverage.

We found a good spot on Little Hunting Island to watch the action.

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The birds in Cypress Wetlands have been really active. There’s lots of mating plumage on display – it’s avian spring break.

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Birds are everywhere, grabbing sticks for their nests and hunting for food.

My most fortuitous sighting was of very young gallinules. These chicks were super-tiny. They’re not the most gorgeous things, but I still think they’re cute. Gallinules are really distinctive birds with big yellow feet and a bright red beak.

Spring here also means that prevailing winds are shifting from blowing from the north to blowing from the south. Our marina slip is exposed to the south wind and waves (although the bridge helps break it up). We turned Lailia yesterday so that her bow is facing the south. This should reduce wave slap on our stern (we sleep right over the stern) and allow easier access to our dinghy davits which were bent by the large waves in the last big storm.

The davit repair will be a big job – just removing the davit will take time. It’s through-bolted, and as always with boat jobs, access will require all kinds of contortions.

March 28-31, 2024

New York, New York

One of the greatest joys parents can have is getting to spend time with adult children. Getting a few days to be with our Eric, getting to know his city, was a gift.

E lives in Brooklyn and we stayed in an Airbnb about a mile or so from him. We spent Friday walking around Brooklyn and checking out “the good parts.”

Even in this very high-density area, nature has some surprises.

So many flowers were blooming!

Friday’s step total was equivalent to 6.9 miles.

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I have been intrigued by the Met Cloisters for years: the idea of seeing art that’s almost a thousand years old seems like a dream. I mentioned this idea to Eric months ago and he remembered.

Fort Tryon Park is right next to the Cloisters; both are on the Hudson River. This is a part of Manhattan that’s far removed from the stereotype of a bustling urban area.

I probably could have spent an entire day here, looking at all of the art, architecture, and artifacts.

There were lots of sculptures from buildings and some effigies from tombs. I also found a painting of Christ in Limbo that seems to place his very near an alligator (although I suspect it’s a serpent of some sort).

The Cloisters also house the Unicorn Tapestries, massive wall-hangings woven in the 1500s. The detail on these is incredible – I can’t imagine the thought and time it took to create these.

Every room had stunning works of art. I was also drawn to this wooden sculpture depicting the death of Mary. It was carved in the late 15th century.

The Cloisters also has a small display of illuminated texts. Photos can’t do them justice. The detail on these show the determination and dedication of the friars who labored over them.

Very close to the Met Cloisters is Inwood Hills Park. Eric had previously mentioned how this park made it easy to visualize what the New York settlers must have encountered. It’s really serene there.

There’s a small marker here to commemorate the purchase of Manhattan. It’s smaller than I thought it would be, considering how important that moment is to present day.

There’s also a bunch of black squirrels here. Apparently they’re a little rare but not uncommon.

The Mysterious Black Squirrels of NYC

While we were in Manhattan, we also viewed a couple of independent movies. There was also an opportunity to hear a Q&A with the director of the second film, but since the film didn’t resonate with us, we left.

So many folks were on the train back to Brooklyn…

We walked seven miles on Saturday.

John and I are already thinking about the places we want to see the next time we visit Eric. Eric seems to have a mental map of the city with public transit lines memorized. Having him as our tour guide made our trip even better than I hoped. What a gift it is to have this time with our E.

March 18-25, 2024

March 11-17, 2024

John and I have been hearing odd sounds while aboard Lailia.  Sometimes we can even hear these sounds when we’re walking on the docks.  We’re used to the squeaking of the lines, the patter of the small waves, and the sound of the little snapping shrimp that click on our hull. 

This sound is different. It’s a low frequency sound.  We think we finally found out what it is: black drum doing their thing. 

Black Drum

It’s good to have this mystery solved!

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Cypress Wetlands has really come alive with the return of warm, sunny days.  There’s so much to see each time we’re there.

Great egrets are in full mating and nesting season.  Male egrets are showing off their plumage and dancing around.

Maybe you knew how egrets mate.  We did not.  Now we do.

The egrets who aren’t preening or mating are collecting twigs and vines for their nests.  They’re in bushes and under trees pulling and grabbing. After they get what they need, they fly back to their nests.

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Bull gators are warming up. A big one was walking through a neighborhood in our county this week. I really like gators but I don’t want to be that close.

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There’s a lot happening here…and it’s easy to miss the things that are a little bit hidden.

I think storks are going to be nesting here soon. They’re starting to hang out in the trees – in previous weeks they’ve been on the ground.

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Saturday was warm enough for us to head to the beach. Unfortunately, we left our beach chairs in our storage unit in Charleston.

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Spring is just really beautiful in Beaufort.

March 4-March 10, 2025

Spring is (too) slowly making its way into Beaufort.

One of the first signs of spring here? Pollen. It’s everywhere: on cars, in the water, and even on alligators.

Another sign of spring? Romance!

The great egrets in Cypress Wetlands are beginning their mating and nesting routines. The males have started fanning their plumage and showing off for the ladies.

They’re grabbing twigs and vines for their nests, too.

Spring seems like a great time to hang out and socialize, especially after the short, cold winter days.

Ibis gather daily to dig in the mud. They’re not nesting yet – they’re just socializing in flocks of 20 or more. As the mud warms up, more little critters surface for them to eat.

Little blue herons are gorgeously hued. There’s one tree they seem to have claimed as theirs, so it will be interesting to see if that’s where they nest.

I don’t know when baby gators hatch, since I have seen them throughout the year. This mama is watching her babies and hopefully protecting them from the hungry, hungry herons. (I didn’t even notice these four until I looked at my photos – her teeth were what I was checking out.)

Spring’s warmer temps also heat up the water in the wetlands. Last month, most of the gators were stationary, soaking up the sun on the shore. Now they’re swimming all over – and gathering pollen along the way.

Last week I noticed how many snakes were out (basically because they were being eaten). This week I actually saw a banded water snake who wasn’t being eaten! The warmer weather brought it out to find some food.

Red-winged blackbirds are back and singing their spring songs.

Bullfrogs are adding their songs, too. They’re not always easy to spot, especially with all of the duckweed that’s the same color as they are.

I’ve been enjoying catching the sunrise on my way to take a shower but with time change, it will probably be another month before I walk to the shower in daylight.

On Lailia, spring means getting more maintenance completed. John hooked up all of the Xantrex wiring and it works! We need to tackle cleaning the fabric cockpit enclosures, polishing the stainless, and refinishing the teak. Those are jobs for warm days.

February 26-March 3, 2024

John’s really, really great at problem solving and he’s really, really handy. Those two skills have kept Lailia functioning and no mechanical problems faze him.

John knew that mounting the new Xantrex wasn’t going to be easy.  The box weighs close to 70 pounds – and there’s not enough space in the engine room for two of us to work, so he couldn’t hold it while I attached it.

He wound up building a temporary shelf to hold the module in place while he attached it.

It’s really cool that John can do these repairs: it’s one of the many things I respect about him.

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Warmer weather is creeping in.  The warm, sunny days must bring out water snakes at Cypress Wetlands.  I kind of feel bad for them because those water snakes are bringing more birds to the yard – I saw both a hawk and a heron chowing down on snakes on the same afternoon. 

Gators are also getting more active. 

Alligators will always make me happy, but sometimes I want to see something new, too.

The Spanish Moss Trail is a paved trail built on  reclaimed railroad tracks.  It’s a bit over 11 miles long, running through Beaufort and Port Royal, with extensions planned on both ends.

Parts of it cut through neighborhoods while other parts cut through wooded areas and tidal marshes.  There’s a huge variety of habitats and critters.

In one area there are what seems to be camellias growing in the woods. They must have been planted years ago and have just naturalized there.

Spring is also starting to show up in all the blooming things …

And in the unfurling ferns…

It’s been a Tom Petty kind of week for me:

You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
You belong with your love on your arm
You belong somewhere you feel free

~Tom Petty

February 20-25, 2024

I really, really love my job as a district literacy coach. I get to travel to schools and work with their coaches and teachers to improve literacy instruction for our students.

I’m passionate about reading, writing, speaking, and listening and I am incredibly lucky to work with the folks here.

But…

It’s a big task and there are so many moving parts.

Stress is inevitable. I can dwell on a problem or worry about a colleague for hours. I try to not take those things home with me.

One way for me to let the day go is through exercise. Another is to practice mindfulness – to be present in the here and now.

When the weather is not great, I have the option of exercising at the Y.

When the weather is clear, I can practice mindfulness and exercise by walking.

My camera helps me stay present. I can’t check out the scenery of my mind is elsewhere. There’s always a moment that I can feel the stress switch flip.

The reward for being present?

Stress reduction means that I am pleasant when I get home. I don’t have to unload the day onto John.

I also get to see some beautiful and incredible things, like a heron catching and eating a water snake. This is only the second time I have seen this – and both times it’s been in this park.

On Friday, John joined me at the Wetlands, which made my afternoon even more wonderful. Some folks pointed out this barred owl – the squirrels were pretty much yelling at it.

Taking our time and looking gives us insight into how animal behavior seems to be changing with the season. The birds here are starting to get territorial – we watched a marsh hen (red beaked bird on the left) chase a coot (white beaked bird) for a minute or two. They’re both paddling birds, so I guess they compete for food. The ibis and herons seem pretty chill with sharing their space.

This young gator was trying to get in on the feather game, too.

The water must be warming, since we saw more swimming gators this week. For the last few weeks, they’ve mostly been basking in patches of sunshine.

We’re also more likely to appreciate the way the light changes throughout the day – and how the big sky in the marina lets us see so much.

My new camera has an incredible zoom lens. John was able to get a great photo of the moon with it.

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A really big and really necessary job is replacing the Xantrex sine-wave inverter charger. When we are plugged into shore power, this charges the battery. When we’re motoring, it inverts 12-volt power so we can use our 115 volt electricity.

Both the charger and inverter died so John decided to replace it.

John removed our old Xantrex from our tiny engine room. The system weighs around 70 pounds and is mounted on the wall. Installing the new one is going to take a lot of finesse since it’s heavy and a little bulky.

The parts of the Xantrex that were supposed to easily tap out didn’t so John had to get out the power tools.

This is an ongoing project.

February 12- 19, 2024

This has been the Februaryist February ever.

Those warm, sunny intervals have been good for sighting critters. Gators and turtles gather in the afternoon sunny spots.

The white ibis have been clustering around the shallow edges of Cypress Wetlands. They splash, eat, and preen. They’re entertaining to watch.

Fairly soon the birds will be building nests in the trees in the islands in the Wetlands.

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This weekend was typical low country February highs in the 50s and gray. Those cloudy days are rough on energy levels. Some days it’s difficult to even get off Lailia.

We were motivated on Saturday morning to workout at the Y before our regular bagel brunch. I even made it out to Crystal Lake Park for a bit since it’s on the way to the grocery store.

Sunday, however, was a true day of rest: I stayed on Lailia while John went to hit a pickleball for a while.