Dolphins we see almost every day. Same with seagulls and pelicans. What is more rare is running ten miles off the coast and getting a visitor. A few days ago we were off the coast of SC on a gray, overcast day. We were on the flybridge (enclosed and warm) and I saw a bird flying right for us. He flew over the front of the boat but never emerged off the back. Hmmmmm. Investigation showed a two foot tall bird clinging to our radar array.
Gary chased him off and he came right back. Consultation with our family avian expert leads us to think it was a glossy ibis that rode along for a good ten-fifteen minutes. He must have been tired with a long flight ahead.
While anchoring out the other night we saw a pair of Black Bellied Whistling ducks. Noisy critters kept buzzing our boat. But they sounded cool.
By far the funniest we’ve seen are the seagull “looters”. The pelicans were feeding one morning as we were leaving, dive bombing for fish. Each pelican had a seagull or two nearby. When the pelican brought up a fish the seagull would land on his back and try to steal the fish.
We arrived in Hilton Head the day after Thanksgiving just in time for the tree lighting and concert at Harbortown. We also snuck in another round of golf.
We decided to skip Charleston and anchored last night just northwest of Blackbeard’s Island in SC and now we’re headed to Brunswick GA for an overnight at a marina and some necessary provisioning. Amelia Island may be next on the itinerary but it’s pretty fluid depending on weather and what we feel like that day.
Although there is some planning involved we’re staying pretty loose. I’m edging Gary closer and closer to the Star Trek version of navigation “out there…somewhere”
