More Pictures and Some Commentary

Well, my paddling partner has returned home to the Great White North and has left me here to build a boat and dream of saltwater. I wish Paul Pilon all the best and hopes he has safe paddling as soon as the lakes and inlets thaw out. In the mean time I will wait to see if he makes it back down for the East Coast Canoe and Kayak Festival in April in Charleston. It looks like it should be a good time with lots of other paddlers, demonstrations, and test paddles in the latest boats. This is one of those festivals I always read about in my Sea Kayaker Magazine but never thought I'd get to attend. Here are a few more pictures of our trip to Charleston Harbour, along with a little more commentary. A close up of the two Canucks. We were the only kayakers out that day. I think the Coast Guard patrol we say near Fort Sumter thought we were nuts. This picture is for my Dad. This is how they keep their boats clean from barnacles and seaweed down here. Each pier had one or two boat elevators at the end of it. Most of them were electric but a few were manual. I suppose they also keep your boat from getting bashed around in the waves. This is a view from beach where we stopped for lunch. The houses and cottages were lovely. I bet this place is pretty popular in summer. While we were there we only saw a few locals fishing and walking. The old double did a great job of getting us around the harbour. It's times like this when I'm glad a bought it. The two of us really had it moving along a few times when we were crossing the shipping channels. It was a very busy harbour. We saw two container ships leave and one arrive while we were on the water. A relatively big cruise ship also slipped out to sea while we were eating our supper at the bar (bar as in pub, not bar as in sand). This is the USS Yorktown. It is moored at Patriots Point at the Naval and Maritime Museum, just below the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (an impressive sight on its own). The ship was unmistakable as we drove past it on the way in. It was quite the sight from the water (this picture doesn't do it justice). The flight deck was covered in helicopters and military aircraft. As I found out later the Yorktown is just one of the many ships on display. I hope I get to go back and have a closer look someday. After I posted a shot of a Great Egret on a recent blog entry my paddling partner commented on it and said (and I quote!): "not bad but you need more bird and less boat." Well here is the cropped version of the same picture. It certainly brings out the bird's features even though it is a little fuzzy. If the focus had been right on this could have been a great picture. Finally here is a picture of Paul. It seemed like every picture I have of him in the boat he's doing exactly what I am doing...taking pictures. In the end we had a great time and I look forward to doing it again, whether its here in South Carolina or back in Nova Scotia.

Back a Step

A few weeks ago when Sammy and Peter were here Isabelle had a Gymnastic End of Session Event. Usually at Gymnastics parents sit in the observation room and hardly get to see anything because of the pillars and windows and stuff in the way of the kids. Well this time we were invited to the floor. I took some personal time from work and met Jane and Peter there. The rest is documented below. Isabelle has come a long way with here skills. She could hardly roll on a mat without help when she started and now she' Skinning the Cat, hanging like a spider, and bouncing on trampolines (safely and mostly in control). She enjoys it so much we've enrolled in another session. This is in addition to the swimming lessons at the YMCA which she also likes. I hope you enjoy the show as much as I did.

The Kayak Gods Smiled Upon Me

It has been 258 days since I moved to South Carolina and I have finally been to the coast to sea kayak. It took a visit from an old paddling partner (old as in I've known him a while, not old as in senior citizen) but the curse is broken.

Saturday Paul and I went to Charleston Harbor and paddled around Charleston and Mount Pleasant. The day was typical paddling weather for the two of us, overcast and rainy. It took over three hours to get to the coast and we only spent a little under four hours on the water, but it was worth it. Below is a shot of our path with Google Earth. We saw pelicans, skimmers, herons, and harbour porpoises. This egret was poised on a shrimp boat and turned to pose just as I was taking its picture. The launch site on Shem Creek was just upstream from some of Charleston's shrimp fleet. It was interesting to see commercial shrimp boats tied up on the creek next to million dollar homes. It really had a nice charming feel to it, being so close to the water, the boats, the docks, the birds, the smell of the sea. One of the interesting landmarks in Charleston Harbor is Fort Sumter. It is the site of the first shots fired during the American Civil War. The fort has an interesting story behind it. We didn't stop (instead we ate lunch on the beach in front of Fort Moultrie across the mouth of the harbor) although the boys in the local paddling shop assured us we could. (I have to say stopping in to talk to the locals about currents, put-in spots, and the area in general was well worth it. They certainly sent us in the right direction and even suggested a spot called Vickery's as a spot to eat.) Next time we're there maybe we'll take the ferry and visit the fort properly. At Vickery's Paul and I both had the Low Country Saute. It was fantastic. I've never had grits that were so good. It was basically crab, shrimp and crayfish, sauteed in bourbon butter and poured over a large helping of grits. The whole thing was topped off with a couple of deep fried oysters. You couldn't have asked for a better meal after a hard day on the water. Along with a nice salad and a bottle of cider it was pure heaven. Of course no visit to Charleston harbor would be complete without a float past The Battery, or Battery Park as it is officially known. It is a historic district in Charleston known for its proximity to the harbor and the beautiful old homes. The place is very popular with tourists was very nice from the water. The last thing we did as we left town was stop at a little fish market right on Shem Creek. The place smelled just like the markets at home. I got some flounder and some fresh peeled shrimp (which were both great the next day for supper-thanks Jane). It reminded me about how one of the things I miss the most about Nova Scotia is the seafood.

Back in the Swing of Things

We have a new president...or at least they do. It certainly was interesting to hear all the hype and coverage. The world here just sort of stopped for an hour on Tuesday as the inauguration took place. Jane watched most of it on TV while at work the cafeteria was crammed with people watching on TVs there. At Isabelle's school they even did a little section on President Obama and his family. Isabelle came home knowing the girls' names. It certainly was a piece of history. Other than that we've had company for a few weeks. Jane's parents arrived not long after New Years and stayed until last Sunday. They did all the usual things and a whole lot of shopping. We ate out a few times and generally were very busy. I couldn't take any time off but did manage a few early days. Last weekend we had a cocktail party with some of the neighbors. Everyone wanted to meet the visitors. It was nice to finally have a few people in who have been so good to us since we moved here. I hope we get to do it again sometime. Next visit will be my parents. I hope they get good weather and don't have any issues with their flight. I think they will have a good time. I already have a plan to keep them busy while they're here. We'll see if it works. Speaking of busy-Peter did a lot of work while he was here. Jane's dad is a bit of a furniture buff and knows his stuff. He also knows how to polish, repair and cover. He managed to recover one major and two minor items with some fabric we picked up at the local stores. This part of the country seems to have a large number of furniture stores and along with that goes all the trimmings. Here is a before and after of the sofa he did first. It looks fantastic!

Before...

...and after.

I'm starting on a new project this week. On Sunday I lofted out the lines for a small 12 foot kayak called the Sea Flea. It's not for me, it's for Isabelle. It's a simple design based on traditional Greenland style boats. It should fit her for at least a few years and promises not to be too hard to make. We'll see about that. The design is a skin-on-frame so there is no fiberglass or resin to worry about. Here is a shot of the lofting process and some pictures of the stations partially cut out. I'm glad I decided to bring my workshop with me when we moved.

Next I'll be cutting out the centers and the notches for the stringers. I also need to sand the edges to make sure nothing gets caught on them including the skin boat and the skin on little feet. The link to the website I got the plans from is here. If you're into boats have a look at some of the other plans he has. This fellow even makes folding skin-on-frame boats and boats with plastic stations and aluminum stringers. He also makes it look easy. My reasons for building this boat are not unselfish. This is a little practice to get ready for the next project: an 18 foot traditional Greenland style kayak for myself. I'll keep you posted. I hope to document the whole thing here on the blog. A few last pictures of some of the goings on around here in the last little while. Contrary to popular belief it does snow here in South Carolina. I'm not talking about inches and inches, but it is snow. This picture is all that I could find in the backyard. The other thing that happens in South Carolina is that pretty little girls sometimes fall asleep and actually become fairies. If you don't believe me have a look below. I found her like this when I went to bed the other night. Do you believe in fairies?

A Long First Week

Just a short post to say "Hello". The new year has started and the first week was brutal. It's hard to go from two full weeks of vacation to a full week at the office. I suppose it wasn't a complete week since I did knock off a little early today. I'm sure I'll make it up, somewhere. We have more company visiting this week and are doing lots of things with them. It has been great having a steady stream of people visiting since late November but I'm sure the house will feel empty when we are back to just the four of us. That might be a while yet though as a very good friend is headed this way this weekend for a few weeks of training. It promises to be a good couple of weekends for adventures if the weather is good. There are still so many places I want to see. Next week is a busy week for us with lots of classroom time for me and the usual stuff besides. Isabelle starts swimming again and we have a school function on Tuesday night. Work for me sure has been interesting so far. I already have lots of travel to look forward to. Anyway, here goes another year...and here's hoping it's a good one for you and yours!

Digital Diary

Between posting on my computer and Jane keeping the pictures on the desktop, it seems like I don't always have the pictures to prove everything I talk about. Well, here is the proof. This post is all about pictures. There some stuff from before Christmas when we had friends in, some from in and around Christmas, and some from our road trip to Connecticut (including that little bundle of energy-my nephew Sam). So here goes...

Greenville has a very nice Christmas Parade. This year Mona, Graham , and Hayley were here so we all went together.

We also went to the Georgia Aquarium.

Saw some pretty neat creatures.

The girls did crafts there too. They're pretty serious crafters!

After the aquarium we ran around outside the World of Coca-Cola. The girls enjoyed it but it was unseasonably cold. We also took everyone on a road trip to Caesar's Head. The view was great and we managed to get a family picture out of it.

The girls had a good time running around together.

Remember my post about Hollywild? This is some of the lights.

Papa and his girl on Christmas eve.

Jane and Isabelle, again on Christmas Eve. Maggie had a good Christmas too. This bone is still keeping her busy. On the road to Connecticut I saw my dream vehicle. It was a Jeep with a huge P&H logo in the back window. P&H is a British company that makes kayaks. My first kayak was a P&H.

After Christmas we hit the road and saw lots of things. This reminded me on one of my most memorable Christmases when I got a fire engine under the tree. In Gettysburg Isabelle found some sushi she really liked!

..and we saw some amazing of American history at the Gettysburg Battlefield.

Gettysburg was very pretty at night. This is Lincoln Square.

The Crayola Factory and Museum in Pennsylvania were neat too. In Connecticut Sam made his uncle and his grandfather proud.

We celebrated New Year's Eve.

And came back over the George Washington Bridge in the middle of New York-it was quite the drive-865 miles in 17 hours.

Christmas and a Road Trip

Christmas was nice and quiet at the Melanson household this year. It was just the four of us this year and we had a very nice time. I must say it was special getting gifts in the mail from all over the place, Isabelle even got on from England. We did have a very festive Christmas Eve with some time at the neighbor's for good food and drink. In the end we didn't make it to any kind of Christmas service but there's always next year. I should mention the official Christmas meal was on Christmas Eve this year since we were going to hit the road on the day after Christmas (they don't call it Boxing Day here). Christmas day was spent in the usually way. We opened stockings, had breakfast, and then got to the gifts. Isabelle enjoyed it and it didn't get out of hand. We spent a little more time with the neighbors and ate and drank some more. In the end we had a good holiday and spent the night packing for the road trip to Connecticut. The first night on the road was in Leesburg, Virginia. Jane picked Leesburg because of the shopping. We both needed clothes and the girl seems to be outgrowing everything we throw at her. The shopping was good and we hit the road again in the afternoon for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Why Gettysburg? Why not. The town itself was very much oriented to the Civil War with costume shops, antiques dealers, and battlefield tour guides. The downtown is very quaint and has a neat little square (which is actually a traffic circle) called Lincoln Square. We ate in town that night at a little Chinese/Japanese place called Ping's Cafe. Isabelle devoured her California rolls and Jane and I shared some Chinese. After a quick dip in the pool and a little more shopping at the outlets we settled in for the night. Off course Gettysburg is famous for Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address (Four score and seven years ago...) but also the reason for the address. It was the sight of a major battle in the American Civil War with 150,000 troops from both sides fighting over three days. The casualties were very large on both sides as well. In the morning before leaving town we popped in to the new visitors center and got an auto tour map. The tour lasted about an hour and a half (we did it quickly and didn't get out to walk around much) and takes you through most of the battlefields. There were many regiments and divisions fighting in Gettysburg and there are monuments to all of them. Apparently there are over 1300 monuments. It seemed like everywhere you looked there was someone standing in a field (it turned out most of them were statues!). We hit the road again after the tour and headed for Easton Pennsylvania. The objective that day was to get to the Crayola Factory and Museum for Isabelle. We didn't tell her what we were up to in case it didn't work out but in the end it was easy to find and was lots of fun. There was painting, colouring, crafts, and some other neat things for kids of all ages. I have to admit the place was a little rundown and the staff a little disinterested. The demonstration of the manufacturing process was very good. I'm glad we went but I don't know that I want to go back. There are lots of other interesting places that might be more bang for the buck with a preschooler. The drive to Quaker Hill in Connecticut was longer than anticipated due a few traffic snarls. In the end we arrived safe and sound. My sister's place is very nice and spacious and it was great to see most of the family again. Isabelle had a great time with her cousin Sammy and we got to eat Rappie Pie. We did some sightseeing, more shopping, and stayed until New Year's day, then it was on the road yet again back to South Carolina. Near my sister's I did find a great outdoors and outfitting store. It was rated best retailer by Canoe and Kayak magazine a few years ago. It had a whole basement full of kayaks and canoes and a main floor with all the usual stuff plus a fishing department and a shooting department. In the end we bought some neat stuff (books, toys, magazines, a gift for Peter, and even something for Maggie). The store was called North Cove Outfitters and was in Old Saybrook, just south of my sister's place in Quaker Hill. So here we are Friday the 2nd. We drove the 14 hours back from Connecticut yesterday in one fell swoop. Isabelle was very patient with us and we just wanted to get home. By the time we got in at one past midnight the bed was looking very good.