The American Coot

Posted on by Brenda under anchoring, photos, wildlife

I’d heard of coots. I’d seen a few coots. But, before we anchored at Mildred Island this month, I never experienced entire flocks of coots swimming and dancing on the waters around me. Here’s a link with information about the American Coot:
http://www.arkive.org/american-coot/fulica-americana/

You never know what the flock is going to do. After a few days anchored, I did notice that they were especially fun to watch at sunset. So I turned on the video setting in my little camera and this is what I saw. Swimming, dancing, and chasing each other. That’s what they do, it seems.

The Coots of Mildred Island from StartupAnywhere on Vimeo.

The Busy Person’s Photo-Essay

Posted on by Brenda under anchoring, brightwork and paint, misc, photos, Projects

I’ve been too busy to write about a variety of events, adventures, and the ordinary daily-grind activities aboard Mahdee. So, here are some photos taken in the last 2 weeks. More to come.

Beryl played the role of the bored kitty while we were busy with all our activities.

While we were in the Georgiana Slough, I continued onward with the varnishing. This time, I did the three 24″x24″ butterfly hatches and and associated hatch openings on the deck midships. David was threatening me with more sanding dust (see sander in hand?) and enjoying the chaotic deck with wet varnish everywhere in this pic:

Every night we’ve had lovely sunsets and moon risings to enjoy.

My favorite case of the Raspberry Pi, the Pibow, finally came out in wood! So, I ordered one and assembled it around our Pi. I really like it, and so does David. It matches the wood interior and I got a nifty VESA mounting back so it can be mounted to a monitor back or it can be screwed onto a wall, bulkhead, or somewhere “discreet” …

Among all the her days of boredom and lazing about while we’re busy, Beryl has also become very good at stealing my favorite afghan for her own lounging pleasure.

The entire time we were anchored in Georgiana Slough we knew we’d caught a snag with the main anchor. Since we were tied off to so many trees ashore and had the stern anchor out, we weren’t worried about going anywhere by accident, though. What we didn’t know is that we actually caught a tree. When the fateful morning came to raise anchor(s) and leave, we were attached to something heavy that was raising bubbles 50 ft in front of the bow as we pulled at the chain entering the water directly below us. A few running starts (in reverse) and we would find Mahdee’s bow dipping low in the water and then would hear/feel the breaking of a big branch while bubbles would rise up far in front of the boat. This happened three times and finally we were free of all except a lone branch (admittedly 6″ to 8″ diameter across at its widest point and maybe 20 ft long…) that David had to untangle from the chain before we could move on.

After spending a day in Walnut Grove, we headed down the Steamboat Slough and were thankful for the Interphase FLS. With the system set up to look ahead 50 ft we could avoid sandbars and underwater obstructions — although at times like this, it seemed that the entire slough was too shallow for us to travel. Where there is a will, there is a way, and we always made it through.

For those of you who know about my love of blue and white china and in particular my Spode collection, you can understand why I was thrilled to recently see a melamine tray with a Spode Blue Room pattern on it! I tracked down the product and ordered it. With no more elegant food aboard, we enjoyed eating junk food (Hansen’s Raspberry Soda and Oreos) served on my new tray.

We’ve seen a lot of birds in the last few weeks–and sometimes we startle them from their comfy perches.

We did enjoy two nights in Horseshoe Bend behind Decker Island. We took Beryl for a dingy ride and met some nice folks aboard a CT anchored there. That’s a story for another day.

I’m out of time and pics are now uploaded. More later.

Hello Autumn Days

Posted on by Brenda under anchoring, living aboard, Musings, photos

“The days pass happily with me wherever my ship sails.” – Joshua Slocum.

For these past several weeks, our ship sails the waters of the California Delta. Fed from the Sacramento River, the Georgiana Slough is our anchorage for now. The rich agricultural history of the Delta is still here: Pear farms, grapes, fields of ripe tomatoes, corn ready for harvest stands dry and golden in the fields. New Delta friends tell us that in the days gone by there were packing sheds alongside the sloughs and docks everywhere because the fruits were taken to market on the rivers and sloughs–not by truck. Today, we see the farm trucks going by with their loads of hay, grapes, tomatoes, and other good fare. Heavy equipment on the levy road; it makes me smile and remember growing up in a farming community in Indiana. River otter, mink, muskrat, woodchuck, familiar furry neighbors. The birds overhead include eagle, falcon, swallows, phoebe, egrets, heron, and the usual assortment of songbirds and unidentified little brown birds. Fish jumping, big and small, but no anglers are successful in luring them to hook. I call out to the passing fishermen “did you catch anything?” and I hear “no, not today” even as I see a big fish jump near Mahdee.