say bye bye to March

well.. it was out for 'outdoor activities' which was allowed in this area under the stay at home rules.. and who the heck would be out at 0630am in the early morning anyway.. not many.. actually hardly anyone.. 58* .. saw the NEW RULES for the beach on the Island-- the Town's electronic signs were updated with them.. not too much of a chance of a decent sunrise with all the low clouds so I just went over to the Island for about 10 minutes to ride around and check things out..

back over the Bridge to the mainland.. no restrictions as of yet as the Veteran's Park will remain Open but the parking areas will be closed some time today-- and as luck would have it 2 town pickup trucks pulled up to the parking area and started to place no-parking barriers around the parking lot as I was walking back to my car..

it was then over to the Lake to 'wet a line'.. no selfies today but an 'almost' as I hooked into a nice L-M Bass on my first cast once again.. he got caught up in the reeds as I reeled him in.. jumped 2 times and spit the hook-- he won.. an e-z 'non-catch and release' and saved all of you seeing yet another selfie.. no other hits after that for the next 20 minutes when I left for home.. rain in the forecast for this evening thru tomorrow morning

sunny at last

well I got my butt outta bed this morning by 5am after only 2 hours sleep after watching the Zaandam and Rotterdam transiting the Panama Canal on their journey back home online until about 3am.. it was off to the sunrise.. decided to bypass the beach and never went over on to the island.. started out at Veteran's Park by the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).. then 'wet a line' at the small pier under the Bridge.. nada.. off to the lake a lil' ways down the road.. same there.. nada.. was nice seeing the sunrise once again after a couple of days of heavy fog and haze.. turned into a real pretty day sunny and 77*... 

for us in NC a State of Emergency kicked in tonite at 5pm-- Stay at Home.. with a number of exceptions including walking the beach, hiking and golf-- I kid you not and of course essential things like food shopping etc.. we shall see what tomorrow's early morning may bring.. stay well stay safe everyone

Sunrise overlooking the ICW at Veteran's Park

an Anhinga drying his wings at the lake

a pair of Turkey Buzzards-- Vultures

on the Calabash Water Tower

today's news -- the Zaandam and Rotterdam passing thru the Panama Canal

been following the Holland America cruise ships-- Zaandam and Rotterdam-- with the Zaandam having many sick passengers onboard as they received permission yesterday afternoon from Panama for humanitarian reasons to transit the Panama Canal from west to east.. Capt Ane Jan Smit who we know for a long time is at the helm of the Zaandam.. I know you know him also Margaret and Peter

their route took them thru the NEW Locks in the 'fast lane' rather than transiting the older Miraflores Locks and Pedro Miquel Locks.. here's some screen-grabs I took over a 3 hour period watching this unfold up until they got to the 'cut' before arriving at Gatun Lake and passing thru the last set of locks.. Panama went out of their way to facillitate the passage directing them to go faster than their normal speeds as well as allowing them to pass thru the NEW Locks only reserved for Mega-ships.. fantastic on Panama's part in helping out  kudos to Panama..

here is a 2 1/2 hour video LINK on You Tube made by an online  TV station-Ruptly of the transit.. parts may be interrupted but you will see what I followed last nite until 2am in the morning.. clcik this link and start at the beginning as the Zaandam passes under the Bridge of the Americas near Panama City click this VIDEO LINK --->  Zaandam-Rotterdam transit Panama Canal March 29, 2020

a hazy foggy early morning

I bypassed the beach today.. no sunrise.. stopped at the lil' Pier under the Bridge and then at the Lake.. nada.. not a hit in either spot.. it turned into a sunny 80* day.. HEAT ...here comes summer  :)

a look over towards the Island from under the Bridge across the ICW

the ICW near the Sunset Beach Bridge

the Lake

a fisherman along the ICW near the 'bend'

a Gull.. a Cormorant near Miss Ethels

a Moscovy Duck-- a resident regular.. near Miss Ethels