Saturday April 30th 2016

Today was a day to enjoy the campground and the canal. The temperature got up to the low 50s, but the wind off the water was strong. If not for the full sun all day it would have been miserable, but once you found a spot in the sun out of the wind it was quiet comfortable.

Fuel barge with its tug pushing in the slot. A second tug follows for backup.

Closeup of the fuel barge with the tug in the slot.

I walked the canal service road and sat along the canal watching the action in the water. The bicycle remains at the site waiting for the wind to be less of an issue. I got a couple of miles of walking in over several outings. Each walk wasn’t very long in distance but with the long pauses on a bench or a fence to watch the action they consumed the day.

Small boat that looks top heavy. It is short in length but tall out of the water.

East bound boat.

Sailboat in rough water caused by the wind and the wake of a passing boat.

Fishing boat heading east

There was more than a little action for an April weekend. I’ve included pictures of several of the sights. Two of the more noteworthy occurrences were the passage of a fuel barge with accompanying tugs and a small boat boarding by the Coast Guard.

Fuel barges are common in the canal. In the last few years they always have an additional tug boat accompanying the main tug during the passage through the canal. This is a response to an oil spill a few years back. The theory is that the security tug would be able to help if the wind or current caused problems.

Coast Guard boat moving east in the canal.

Coast Guard boat standing by as two guardsmen are on board the pleasure boat.

As far as the Coast Guard boarding a boat, I’ve never seen that before. Seeing Coast Guard is not unusual, they have a base at the east end of the canal. Why they boarded the pleasure/fishing boat is not clear. It may have been because of speed in the canal or possible just a standard safety inspection. Perhaps a safety inspection because of unsafe operation i.e. speed.

Hawk in a pine tree.

Hawk flying away to another tree.

During one of my pauses to watch the boats, I had a visit from a hawk. One large hawk of unknown variety landed in a tree behind me. I caught a couple of pictures including one as it flew away.

In the campground the seasonal campers are setting up their sites. They rake up the leaves and pine needles then bring in wood platforms to be covered with carpeting. They stack fire wood into large piles and position chairs around the fire rings meticulously. All for the weekends between now and the end of October. I’m sure many of them will be here more, but there are very few that will be here all the time. In October they take it all apart and crate it home or to a storage yard. As much as I like this campground, I wouldn’t want to be a seasonal resident.