This type of Tern certainly has two distinctive traits. The partially black head reminds me of a balding man. And the yellow tip on the bill is the mustard on the sandwich. That’s a memorable line I read in a guide somewhere.
a species of Sandpiper.
We’ve been enjoying our new sunshade. It’s the Shibumi Mini model. It’s very lightweight and easy to put up. And it’s the right size for one to three people.
It's pretty clear that Shibumi sales have exploded the past few years. I’ve shown them in other beach posts and I’m so happy to have received one from Alesia on my recent birthday 😘.
Not too long after we arrived at Sullivan’s Island, this huge container ship cruised out of the harbor into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Columbine Maersk, at this time, is heading south to the port in Savannah. I learned this from one of the ship tracking sites online.
I wonder how it dealt with Hurricane Idalia, which just stormed through South Carolina on Aug. 30. It was "only" a tropical storm when it hit our area but still caused lots of mayhem with flooding, tree and home damage and power outages.
The ship looked pretty full of containers but maybe there is room to add more containers, hence the stop in Savannah.
A view of the Columbine’s stern. The container ship was built in 2002. It is 347 meters (almost 380 yards) long. It flies under the flag of Denmark, meaning that is where the ship is registered.
The ship looked pretty full of containers but maybe there is room to add more containers, hence the stop in Savannah.
A view of the Columbine’s stern. The container ship was built in 2002. It is 347 meters (almost 380 yards) long. It flies under the flag of Denmark, meaning that is where the ship is registered.
These ships when leaving and entering the harbor…it’s as if you could swim out and touch them they seem so close!
In August the Columbine has also visited ports in Egypt and Singapore.
Photographing such ships and learning about them are among the many things I like about going to the beach on Sullivan’s Island.
We also saw this Charleston-based U.S. Coast Guard ship heading out to sea. That’s the iconic Morris Island Lighthouse by the boat’s bow.
This vessel is called Willow and it is a buoy tender. Its job is to service 257 aids to navigation in a vast district that stretches from South Carolina to the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, Cuba, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Haiti, according to Wikipedia.
Willow, built in Wisconsin in 1996, is 225 feet long. The crew consists of eight officers and 34 enlisted men and women.
Willow and crew played a key role in re-opening New York Harbor in 2012 by repairing and replacing buoys damaged by Hurricane Sandy. These repairs enabled ships carrying needed gasoline and heating oil to safely enter the harbor.
These two boats were not as close as it may appear. That’s a shrimp boat on the left, I’m not sure the other vessel is a yacht or something else.
The flag on its stern appears to be that of the Marshall Islands, a far-flung island in the Pacific Ocean. I can’t quite make out the boat’s name.
The flag is also the symbol of a company called International Registries. More on that here.
I also came across online information that says how many yachts have Marshall Islands registry as a “flag of convenience for its favorable tax environment and operational freedom.”
It’s all about the money- no surprise there!
Here’s a closeup of the shrimp boat coming home with the usual escort of birds.
The United States flag flies atop this boat.
One last craft spotted on what proved to be a busy Sunday afternoon at the harbor entrance and exit was this Pilot boat. These are described as small boats that take maritime pilots to vessels that are arriving at a port, one of Charleston’s ports in this case.
We looked to the sky for this final item of interest. These two helicopters were flying north along the coastline. My friend Michael, an airline pilot, helped me identify these as CH-53 Super Stallion military aircraft.
This photo shows what a refueling device attached to the right of the cockpit. Built by Sikorsky the Sea Stallion is a heavy lift helicopter. The military work horse has been in service since the early 1980s.
Relaxing, blue skies, and perfect water temperature made for another nice weekend visit to the beach.
And some photo-worthy subjects made the day even better! Certainly more educational for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment