Kayaking among the horses

Sun, May 5

This afternoon, Madelyn (our 6 year old neighbor), Jean, her mother, and I put the kayaks in the water for an afternoon on Taylors Creek.  Jay, our neighbor joined us.

We went into First Deep Creek (you'll not find that one on a nautical chart.  It's a tidal basin on Taylors Creek that winds its way into Carrot Island on high tide).

I've done this many times before, but today was the first time that I've seen as many horses (about 20-25) gathered on the shores.

Madelyn rides the kayak down to the creek

"Mr Dave" helps (a little) Madelyn paddle

Jay gets up close and personal with one of the horses

Madelyn does a "selfie"

40th Annual Wood Boat Show

Sat -Sun, May 3-4

The NC Maritime Museum's 40th Annual Wooden Boat Show is this weekend.

This is the kind of event we would be attending is we were traveling, but somehow, it hasn't seemed special when it's few blocks away.

So this year, we made a special effort to enjoy the show - and enjoy we did.

There is something for every age group at the show.  Here a young lady tries to get her boat she just made to move.

Some of these handcrafted wooden boats will hopefully never see their hulls wet.  They are truly works of art.

The detail on the models is incredible.

Part of the show is a boat building challenge where teams of 2 compete to build a wooden skiff in less than 4 hours.  At the end of the competition, each of the teams has to row the boat in a timed competition.

There were two teams of boy scouts who participated in the boat building competition

Sometimes, the rowing competition is the most fun.  Not all boats go in the same direction

Jim Goodwin, who demonstrates his craft of building "ships in a bottle" at the show stays in our guest house each year when he comes to the show.  We are delighted to have him as a guest and enjoy conversations with him during his visit.

Jim demonstrates how he builds a ship in a bottle at the Maritime Museum's Watercraft Center.

Jim gave us this lovely Carolina Sharpie at the Cape he made as an appreciation gift.  It is a beautiful keepsake.  The detail in his work is beautiful