Erben Renewal: Weather and Wildlife

Maybe it could be time to talk about knots – the ones I need as I hurriedly tie on the fenders, the ones I haven’t learned yet (when the fenders fall off?), the ones I will never learn… but I will save that for another day. We are overdue for a talk about tides, wind and current – in fact most things weather related. (If you get to the end of this you will be rewarded with my photos of ICW wildlife)

In my normal life I may have noticed the temperature just to prepare a jacket or scarf, but truly – my exposure to the WEATHER was brief – limited to a dash from the car to the office, Publix or my door. I certainly never really cared which way the wind was blowing – if that wind was brisk, a gale or just a soft breeze, other than once or twice when a hurricane threatened to rearrange my yard ornaments. Now tide is a concept that I understand – it is related to the moon, you have to be on a coast next to a big ocean rather than just a big lake, and it goes up or down. Precisely how much it goes up or down, and exactly when and how many times a day AND what speed of current this tidal change might generate was not something on my radar. For the last three plus months, I have had an education – up close and personal with these elements of weather. Rain or the lack of is not a huge issue, but we do pay attention to the potential since along with that rain is often WIND. WIND direction is very important to us on the ICW where large shallow bodies of water are easily churned up by even a little 15-20 knot breeze. 20+ is a problem – it not only kicks up the water, which makes waves that Frankie and I find “unsettling” to our stomachs, but it shoves this big sail of a boat around in unpredictable ways making navigating in a straight line a challenge. Oh, yes there is the noise – Now, I know many of my friends have experienced the noise of a hurricane, but on our boat, even 15 knot winds set up harmonic thrumming in the sunshade and other assorted stuff above our heads which does not promote restful sleep or even peaceful TV watching. I am not going to complain about the wind since that lovely breeze off the water also keeps us cool and comfortable = bug free. A little breeze is great – it is the wind I have to worry about.

So far our travel in rain has been minimal – which I appreciate since the front window uses the human window wiper – ME! The side panels have wipers of a mechanical sort which mostly work if you are standing to the side. (I have trouble keeping the boat straight from that angle) I think downpours might keep us in port if we are clever enough to check on them before departure. Another thing we have had to keep an eye on is the tide – when is it going to be high and where. We have had to wait for the tide to assist us through a few spots on the ICW which is possible since in places the tide was seven or even eight feet. Now, those of you educated in these matters far beyond me, may already have figured out that such tidal swings also bring some interesting current issues. That rising or falling eight feet moves a lot of water quickly – it can slow a boat like ours 1.5 to 2 knots or if we get the direction right, it can zoom us along. Then there is getting that info correct – where exactly is that tide going – as in which direction and when? It might seem obvious, but it has not always been self-evident. We have been between inlets and assessing which way the tide is going has been hard to guess. Another small challenge has been getting tide info for where we are – most of the gauges are on the coast, while we are often inland – which makes the calculations tricky. We have several programs with tidal info and they seldom agree - all compounded by Steve almost never believing anything I say could be correct – suffice it to say – we have bumped a few times, but made it through due to the captain’s great skill (but my gray hair multiply-ith if that is possible). All in all I have had an education in WEATHER and have been living more intimately with these elements than I ever imagined possible and I realize how “sheltered” my life has been from the world of Mother Nature. Just one more learning experience courtesy of Erben Renewal!

Now for the photo library on ICW wildlife.... enjoy

BIRDS