Marcel

Urbanna Public Library
No LL

On the way south, off the coast of Delmarva, we had a visit from a very nice little bird. I named him Marcel. Marcel was very tame and he stayed with us for several hours. Marcel hunted the boat from stem to stern for insects to eat. We had a full cargo of spiders all over from our month up on Lake Champlain. Therefore Marcel found good eating on board Tarwathie.

Marcel even crawled up Libby’s arm to search for insects under her collar. A bit later, Marcel perched on top of my head and searched for meals in my hair. I hope he didn’t find any there, but if he did, I hope he ate them all.

After a few hours, Marcel disappeared. Sadly, his survival was questionable. Clearly, Marcel is a land bird, not a sea bird, and we were 20-25 miles off shore at the time.

A few hours later we had a visit from a much larger bird, also a land bird, not a sea bird, but I’m not sure what kind. We wonder how many birds die in this natural, yet sad, scenario every year. Regular blog readers will remember accounts of other birds from years ago, notably the one we called Num Num. All of these bird encounters happened off the coast of the Delmarva Peninsula.

In Urbanna, we’ve been enjoying the company of Gary and Nell. Gary is retired from the US Coast Guard. He builds wonderful scale model sailing ships. In his garage, Gary is building a 26 foot wooden schooner with a design reminiscent of Slocum’s Spray. He has been working on it for a long time, and he hopes to launch her in late 2008. Gary and Nell have dreams of cruising the Chesapeake and the ICW on this boat, and they’re getting anxious to enjoy the benefits of their long labor after she’s launched.

The other day, I was putting air in the tire of my bike when it went BANG. I cussed. When would I find a chance to get to a bicycle shop to buy a new tire? Graciously, Gary offered to take me to a shop across the river about 15 miles away. So off we went, Gary, Nell and I on a morning jaunt.

A Model of the SS America Under Construction

Gary's Boat Project

Last evening, we had Gary and Nell onboard Tarwathie for dinner. We had a great time. Ness especially was interested in life onboard a sailboat since she hopes to do it soon herself. Gary’s eyes wandered around the boat looking at features and dimensions. One could see the wheels turning in his head. He was assessing what features could and could not be adapted to his boat. Gary’s boat will only be 26 feet long so there will be much less room than Tarwathie gives us. Nevertheless, much can be done. I get the impression that Gary gets most of his fun from planning and designing this boat and selecting the fixtures and features. For him, it might be an anticlimax when she is launched.

p.s. This picture of Manhattan illustrates the futility of night photography from the deck of a sailboat. Libby thinks the picture is pretty anyhow. I don’t.