Salad is NOT good for you!
Salad is not good for you, if you are a cormorant that is, who decides to get stuck in it. While involved with another sail repair (don’t ask), we looked out off our boat and noticed a bird in the water that didn’t look quite right. With a bit closer inspection we came to the conclusion that the poor bird was stuck. As neither Rebecca or I can stand seeing injured animals, we had to figure out a rescue plan.
As usual, we were docked “stern to,” which meant that getting our dinghy in the water wasn’t quite as easy as normal. Ultimately we did it though, by lifting it, and the engine, over the dock and dropping it into the water on the other side. With boat hook and leather gloves aboard, I set off to free the bird. He was well stuck, and obviously very tired when I got there. I think he might have also injured a wing during his struggles to free himself. The boat hook did the trick though and with a bit of work, he was on his way. Where did he go? He swam across to the next dock and got stuck all over again! Yes, rescue effort two was undertaken and he was again set free. I turned my back on him after that though. If he really wanted to commit suicide, who was I to stand in his way?
Just so that you don’t think that I get all the fun “salad” jobs, here is Rebecca doing her part to remove a bunch of it from our rudders and engines, just prior to raising sail:
As the days tick by, we have been quite busy saying our goodbyes to our friends and family. Today we are off to Ottawa to visit with our daughter Cass. Yesterday we were treated to dinner by our friend Mike (Thanks Mike. Dinner was great!), and had a surprise visit from one of our old students, John. And we had a huge surprise out on the water yesterday too. After just dousing our sails, we looked up to see a large catamaran coming directly at us. Unsure of their intensions, we slowed down, only to see when they got closer that is was our boat’s previous owners, David and Jackie in their new-to-them Lagoon 380. We rafted up briefly at the mouth of Collin’s Bay to chat and get a quick tour of their vessel. The word palace comes to mind when I think of that boat. Those two have been so helpful to us throughout that last year and it was great for them to pay us a surprise visit to say goodbye. It made us very happy.
We said our goodbyes and they sailed off into the sunset.
Not really the sunset as it was still morning, but you get the idea.
ummmmmmmm…….salad and duck
I don’t think he would have been too tasty. Nor that salad.
4 days!!! OMG! That’s so exciting. Hopefully there will be less salad where you are going. I don’t like that kind of salad.
We don’t either. We do enjoy the other type though.
Please don’t let any of the geese follow you if you come this way. We have far too many of them now and they are a nuisance.
We do like the cormorants, though.
Removing the “salad” the props and rudders is good practice for removing lobster / crab pots.
Very exciting that you are getting close to shoving off.
You’re right… it is good practice.
People don’t really care too much for the cormorants here. There are two islands at the mouth of our bay that have been completely destroyed by the birds. There are plenty of geese here too though.
Wow, there is a lot of “salad” around there! Glad you did your good deed (0r deeds) for the day. No matter the outcome of the duck, at least you know you did what you could. How nice to see the previous owners of your sailboat! We look forward to your new adventures, and glad to hear ya’ll have been enjoying yourselves.
Thanks. We do try to always enjoy ourselves, regardless of what we’re doing.
The father of a friend of mine wrote several books on the birds of this area. The earliest ones mention how thrilled he was to find a nest of Canada Geese. He hoped that there would be more breeding pairs in this area. Goose counts at that time were barely into double digits, even for those who searched diligently for them! I think he would be pleased at their increase in numbers, even though others think we have too many!
As to your cormorant, he’s fishing for young fishes which hide in the salad. That’s why he keeps getting stuck! They aren’t the brightest or most beautiful of birds, but they are interesting. When the yuppies stop putting so much fertilizer on their lawns, and watering them so much, the salad will not be so thick!
Interesting.
The water level is lower than it was last year and we also had a very early spring. I think those two things have combined to make the weeds worse this year.
I’ve loved reading your blog so far (and commenting only a couple of times). I wish you well on your voyage, and after the long weekend I hope to hear of your great lake crossing and start of your next chapter.
Bon Voyage from Toronto!
Thank you Matt. We appreciate your kind thoughts and your contributions to our blog. We’ll be sure to post the details.
I’m no great fan of the cormorants either (the Brother Islands at the mouth of the bay are an absolute mess because of them), but good for you rescuing this one!
We missed you again this evening, but I hope you don’t mind that while passing by, I stole…. about 40 pounds of your ‘salad’ 😀 (People really need to stop fertilizing lawns all the way to the edge of the lake… at least it makes OK fish habitat.)
Take all you want. We actually got STUCK in the salad last night. Details to come.
Yes, 20 feet north of your dock is the absolute worst spot in the entire bay for reed balls. Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever had a fouled prop bad enough that it had to be cleared by hand (usually, a burst of full reverse loosens it up and cuts the salad apart nicely).