5/19/2019

date: May 19, 2019

time: 0530

air temp: 48 F

water temp: 47 F

tide: low -1.1'

conditions: overcast, calm

notes: It would be too much to ask for the good low tides to happen at a more convenient time of the day. But I take what I can get and so I puttered out before first light to catch the low tide with the goal of getting three new moorings set to support two more 40' long sets of surface lines. Mission accomplished, and I was also able to retrieve the rest of my stock that I hadn't managed to get up during my first crack at raising the farm.

I use helical anchors as my moorings - basically four foot long rods with an eye for shacking a mooring line to at the top end, and a big screw shaped disc at the bottom. They are perfect for the firm mud that is on the bottom at my farm, and I especially like them because I can manage them myself. They are lightweight to lug around, compared with other types of moorings, and all I need to install them is a metal rod to use as a handle through the eye. Around and around until the whole thing is buried in the mud, except for the eye.

I am pretty exhausted from gathering all the parts and pieces needed to get these moorings prepped... heavy duty line for mooring pennants, thimbles and shackles, etc. Almost more time is spent splicing and getting things as close to ready to go on land then time spent on (in) the water. Its back-breaking work, though, rewarding to see the farm looking a bit more organized and professional looking at the end of the day! Now time to go home and prepare for a grant application interview. Coffee?