October Onboard 15' Norseboat @ Sunset Chincoteague

Went across the bay with Wolf and Jane in their 15′ Norseboat, and shot this photo on the return.  The lighweight Norseboat slides through the waves very nicely, and easily sails back into the shallow cove.

This year we’ve been out on the Juniata River, taking a few water and air samples, and observing the river fish and other species, and the riparian zone along the water’s edge. This is part of our strategy to sample air and water quality between the 300+ sites monitored by the USGS, and used to calibrate the watershed model of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, as illustrated in our CHEARS Confluence Map. Now we’re focused on sampling the blue path shown on the map, that connects our Bedford County farm, with the Juniata, Raystown Lake, the Susquehanna, the Cheasapeake Bay, and eventually the Chincoteague Bay, where our “Peace Smuggler” home, at the SE end of the blue path, looks  out on the waters that flow into the Atlantic Ocean.

More photos of us on the Juniata, actaully Raystown Lake, which was formed by a dam placed on the Juniata, are in our CHEARS Raystown Photo Album.

I hope you’ll join us in Flows, bringing your canoe on our river and bay cruises, and sending us your photos and comments about your own part of our own Great Watershed.

Gabe reckons a course westward across the bay toward red buoy “12.”  Joel is at the tiller in the cockpit, and Bob is trimming the jib.  Chincoteague Bay is 40 miles long and 5 miles wide, parallel to and just outside of Chesapeake Bay, sharing the same coastal waters through the action of tides and currents. More in this series is in the picasaweb album.

Smuggler's Cove, Chincoteague Island, June 2010

We’ve been to every continent, and our favorite island is Chincoteague, with its beautiful Bay, 40 miles long and 5 miles wide. We’re sailing there this week, on our 19 foot West Wight Potter cruiser. Photo shows our local launch site in Smuggler’s Cove, and the Bay beyond. -Bob-