Since 1978 I have been fortunate to sail wooden boats. In 2006 I set out to find a Drascombe Longboat Cruiser for single-handed expedition sailing. This is the continuing story of how it came to be, our adventures, notes on the maritime world and other things I don't want to forget...


Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Down South

It's well into 2018 and catching up is overdue. I have spent the past several months in coastal Georgia slowly developing and building Memory Trail, an outdoor exhibit chronicling the voyage of the slave ship Wanderer through the lives of enslaved survivors. Due to current affairs the interpretation has become more difficult to balance. There is still much to be done but I am excited and hopeful. It has become a challenge I feel strongly about in many ways.

Southeastern Georgia, like Northeast Florida, where I spent the most years in a single area, is not immune to cold winters. Its relative for sure, but not uncommon to be well under freezing conditions for stretches during the Southern winter. Working outside has been nippy especially since we start at 6:30. But it's right on the water and the great marshes of Glenn stretch as far as you can see. So its pull on the insulated coveralls, grab the thermos and have fun until the late afternoon bourbon is poured.

I was home for three weeks over the holidays enjoying the extended family that converged on our small Virginia home. Plans were set to move Annie to Deltaville to get new sails fitted and made but the cold weather cancelled it. It looks like another month will go by but I'm hell bent to get her back on a close haul by spring.


Beginnings of interactive on the bench



Job site


Looking south



One of the ceramic path markers



setting poles for African hut




Hut ready for stucco




thatching




building farm shed in the shop



farm shed on site


from a series of watercolors I am working on to tell story



threading stainless rod



Beginning of interactive



Deburring graphic panel brackets




Carving pestle used for hulling rice on plantations




Intracoastal Waterway out the front window where I'm staying



Remnants of Hurricane Irma



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