Well in a few days we will be back in Topping, VA to get the boat ready for summer. It has been a wonderful winter in the south, much better than our family and friends have faired in Virginia. We have seen many wonderful things and people. I have posted two new galleries. Park is on his way to Charleston to pick up his offshore crew for the trip back to Regent Point Marina. We wish him fair winds on his trip.

Last Saturday Gwyn and I went over to the Sand Beach in Port Royal to see if we could find the seagull that had the orange tubes under his/her wings as I found out that he/she was part of a study being done by Dr. Dan Clark, Director, Natural Resources Protection, West Boylston, MA. But alas no seagulls so off to the farmers market. On the way there Gwyn spotted some Great Egrets in a marsh park. As I had my camera and telephoto lens we decided to stop. OMG, this park is also a rookery. It was full of Great Egrets, Anhinga, Black-Crowned Night Herons, Common Moorhens, Wood Duck, Wood Stork, Great Blue Heron, Common Merganser and more. I have posted some of the pictures and will post more when we get a better internet signal.

Gwyn and I went to Parris Island Marine Base today to visit the museum there. What a history lesson to be had! We owe these men and women a great deal of gratitude for their sacrifice over the last 300 years. I have posted some pictures in the gallery of our visit, but the one above was taken over top of a diorama of a marine base in Vietnam. It depicts a marine opening his mail from home and receiving one of the best motivation's for protecting our country. To set the scene this display was about 4 feet square and covered in glass. The figures in the diorama where about 2 inches tall. I had to lean over and hold the camera without movement as I was shooting without a flash just using natural light. It took several shoots but I finally got the shot I was looking for. From all of us that served in the Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and National Guard we thank you, Mr Hugh Hefner.

We have been in St. Helena Island just outside Beaufort for a couple of days now. Weather has been cold and rainy, but is getting better. We have visited Hunting Island, Lady's Island, Dataw Island, Port Royal and Beaufort. Will post a bunch of photos. Hope to be back in Virginia by April 1st.

Well we are now at Tuck in the Woods RV Park in St. Helena Island, SC. We really enjoyed our stay in St. Mary's but ran out of things to do or see. We will be here for a month and it looks like between Beaufort, the Islands and Charleston, we will be busy. Have posted some new pictures.

The news is out! Rapport, Gwyn and I are the feature article in the March issue of Good Old Boat magazine that just came out. We have not seen it yet but will try to find a copy. We are leaving St. Mary's this Saturday heading for Beaufort, SC for the next month then back to Topping to get the boat ready and spend the summer sailing the bay. Have posted new pictures, especially a wood stork that I found fishing in our little pond down here.