A longtime CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, historic Edenton always has an exciting calendar of events and places to visit! Edenton is at the mouth of the Chowan River on the northwest shore of Albemarle Sound.
| ||||||||||||||||
|
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window Zoomed To the Location of Edenton Harbor City Docks
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.
When all else fails, try journalism. World’s Worst Homing Pigeon Flies From Japan, Cruises Bahamas on Classic Yacht.Meet Herman, Living Aboard ‘Steadfast’
This story was originally published in March 2023. Writer-chef Janice Anne Wheeler now has her own nautical Substack newsletter called Sparring With Mother Nature. Here’s how she told the story. Once upon a time there was a pigeon named Herman. He was a homing pigeon, the property of a pigeon racing enthusiast in Japan. Alas, Herman may well be the worst homing pigeon in the world. Instead of navigating to a coop in some city with a name like Ibaraki or Kasuga, Herman somehow ended his last race in the Bahamas. He is now cruising aboard a classic sailboat with writer-chef Janice Anne Wheeler and Annapolis surveyor Steven Uhthoff. Wheeler, who gave Herman the Homing Pigeon his name, said she wants to write an “children’s story (and for adults)” about their visitor, who just popped in unannounced earlier this month. Herman landed in the pilothouse at 4 p.m. on March 10 as they lay at anchor in the Bight of Acklins aboard Steadfast, a 1934 William Hand ketch. “He drank water but ate nothing I tried. Just sat on the deck and pooped some crazy colors. We figure he ate something bad. We had a plan to sail at 5 a.m. the following morning. Not an easy 37-hour passage to Governor’s Harbour Eleuthera, and he just hung in. We gave him the storage bin that you see, and he tucks in sometimes,” Wheeler said. “Otherwise, he’s very observant, alert, entertaining and seems to listen to everything that we say. However, he is wary and won’t let us approach closer than a foot or so.”
It happens that from time-to-time errant Japanese pigeons make their way to foreign lands, and a leg band like Herman’s (“Japan 2020 123235”) tips off the locals to his or her origins. The finders often try to contact the pigeon’s owners, and like Wheeler, they tend to get nowhere. Some Canadians who found a pigeon from Japan in 2013 did actually manage to contact the owner, who was happy his guy had survived but didn’t want him back. Pigeon fanciers, as they are sometimes called, are a bigger subculture than you might imagine—probably a lot bigger than the cruising community. For evidence of that, you need go no further than Florida (where this is being written). Over on the Gulf Coast, the adjacent towns of Spring Hill and Brooksville constitute a retirement Mecca for pigeon enthusiasts, who are attracted from all over North America by the two towns’ “pigeon friendly zoning.” For a reality check from pigeon world, Loose Cannon got John Stephen on the phone, vice-president of the Gulf Coast Homing Club and owner of 18 birds.
Though Wheeler wished it were so, Stephen quashed the notion that a pigeon has the tankage and range for trans-oceanic flight. Stephen said a pigeon can only fly for about 700 miles at a time. The great-circle route (as the crow flies) from Japan to the Bahamas is about 6,600 nautical miles, on a path similar to that of the recent Chinese spy balloon. Homing pigeons have impressive navigational skills, including an ability to use the Earth’s magnetic field for direction. Some are better at it than others, however. According to Stephen, pigeons are loath to fly over water. Sometimes, they get disoriented and, for example, fly out of a low cloud bank only to realize they are over the ocean. “What happens is these birds hitch a ride on a freighter, and when they get near land or another freighter, they jump ship, especially if they were not getting fed,” he said. If you have to hitch a ride on a ship, Japan is not the worst place to begin your journey—lots of choice. Post-Covid freighter arrivals to the East Coast of the U.S. from Japan are up to about 30 a month. That is one possible explanation for how a pigeon from Nippon got to Acklins Island. Now, Steadfast is cruising the Abacos, and her crew is wondering what to do with Herman. Refueled, he’s again fit to fly. “Herman’s diet is of course rice…but we have introduced him to Quaker oatmeal, and he’s a fan, Wheeler said. So far, though, Herman has shown no inclination to go. Naturally, the humans won’t just evict him, despite his messy habits. The bird is “some sort of sign or spirit or symbol that chose us,” Wheeler said. No problem, Stephen said: Bring Herman to Spring Hill, and we’ll find a home for him. He said similar arrangements can be made through other Florida pigeon clubs or any other club in the country. Wheeler has learned of a pigeon club in the Daytona Beach area, a place reachable by boat. “Or maybe we’ll get to Ponce Inlet, and he’ll hear other pigeons and just fly off,” she said. Update (A Few Days Later)And that is exactly what happened a couple days after Janice Wheeler said that, except they were still in the Bahamas. “Herman took wing yesterday (March 30) here in Marsh Harbour and has not returned…We left his box back there for now,” she said. According to the Avibase, a world bird database, the Marsh Harbour area is home to two species of pigeon, one of which is Herman’s. He’s a rock pigeon, or what we call a “pigeon.” Rock pigeons are not native to the Bahamas. There are also six species of dove.
LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Sometimes he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
This newsroom runs on tequila. Please support the distiller that supports Loose Cannon.
For free shipping, use the promo code LCFREESHIP (which saves you $19.95).
You’re currently a free subscriber to LOOSE CANNON. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
© 2025
|
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.
When all else fails, try journalism. World Voyager Dies When His Hand Is Caught in an Electric WinchFaulty Mechanism Kept Running; No One Cut the Line
A world voyager died when his hand got caught in a line as it turned around an electric winch, pinning him onto the winch assembly and “causing severe injuries to his arm and hand, trauma to his head and chest,” according to British marine investigators. The Marine Accident Investigation Board (MAIB) said Lyall Babington, 74, caught his hand in the line and was “progressively pulled tighter onto the winch drum.” Investigators blamed a defective control switch, which sometimes caused the knee-operated winch to continue to operate even the operator had stopped pressing the button. The accident happened on August 5 off the Isle of Wight on the south coast of England. Babington had set off from his native New Zealand three years earlier aboard Mollie, a 56-foot steel motorsailer. Electric winches can be a godsend for older sailors, particularly if sailing shorthanded. According to the November 27 investigation report, Babington was undertaking a circumnavigation using volunteer crew, which paid him for expenses, for varying amounts of time. At the time of the accident there were three on board, two that had just arrived and another who had been with Babington for five months. Here how MAIB set the scene for the accident:
Investigators said that when Babbington was caught in the tightening line, the crew pressed the control button trying to break the circuit. After several tries, the winch did stop, but by then Babbington was unconscious, and the crew radioed a Mayday. The call went out shortly after noon. The response was pretty quick:
Investigators concluded that the only way to disable the electric winches was via a battery switch in the boat’s forward cabin. They noted that the system was not one of the name brands on the market and speculated that the winch had likely been installed by “a small boatyard.” The report did not address the question of why the crew never thought to just cut the line or was not able to do so. LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Sometimes he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid. You’re currently a free subscriber to LOOSE CANNON. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
© 2025
|
Elizabeth City sits at the southern terminus of the Dismal Swamp Canal and has the well-earned reputation of being a transient-friendly town with free dockage for 72 hours.
Notice to Navigation: 2025-025 – Okeechobee Waterway is fully operational
US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS JACKSONVILLE DISTRICT
LOCAL NUMBER: 2025-25
WATERWAY: Okeechobee Waterway
EFFECTIVE: 1 December 2025
ATTN: CESAJ-OD-SN
PO Box 4970
JACKSONVILLE, FL 32232-0019
POC: Kriss Zeller, Chief of Navigation (772) 380-6928
REFERENCE:
Attention all concerned boaters! The floating tussock hazard in the Okeechobee Waterway Route 2 (Notices to Navigation: 2025-020, 021 and 022) has been cleared and the navigation channel is fully operational. Thank you for your patience!
For the current Lake Okeechobee water levels, please see: https://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/currentLL.shtml
St Lucie Lock & Dam 772-287-2665 or 863-662-9148
Port Mayaca Lock & Dam 561-924-2858 or 863-662-9424
Julian Keen, Jr. Lock & Dam 863-946-0414 or 863-662-9533
Ortona Lock & Dam 863-675-0616 or 863- 662-9846
W.P. Franklin Lock & Dam 239-694-5451 or 863-662-9908
Canaveral Lock 321-783-5421 or 863-662-0298 (6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.)
Thank you! Jeff
Jeffrey D Prater
Public Affairs Specialist
Corporate Communications Office
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District
South Florida Office
4400 PGA Blvd.
Suite 501
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
Cell: 561-801-5734
jeffrey.d.prater@usace.army.mil
Twitter @JaxStrong
Jacksonville District Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/JacksonvilleDistrict
A longtime CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, historic Edenton always has an exciting calendar of events and places to visit! Edenton is at the mouth of the Chowan River on the northwest shore of Albemarle Sound.
|
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window Zoomed To the Location of Edenton Harbor City Docks
I’m very thankful you loyal readers are all aboard. I hope this is your favorite subscription. ~J
If you’ve just joined our engaging little community, (and there are dozens of you lately, I’m honored!) please read SPARS & SPARRING, my introductory piece.…. ~J When I considered the word laminated prior to being immersed in the process, I thought of lamination as something you do to a precious photograph or note; my Mom’s recipe cards are laminated, protected, coated with a simple layer of plastic. Our process here, while the same terminology, is remarkably more complex, as I alluded to in my science project post a few weeks ago.
I didn’t think it would add another ton or so to our weight and increase our confidence tenfold. But it will add an entire ton, actually, 2,000 pounds, to her already impressive 40 ton mass, and allow us to navigate any of the big blue seas that we choose. Prior to the four layers of 16-ounce satin weave fiberglass that is being smoothly and labor-intensely adhered to our bottom, we prepared all the raw surfaces with four coats of the same epoxy resin that will saturate that fiberglass in order to ensure a good bond. The final section that needed this treatment was STEADFAST’s unique stern, or farthest-aft point, which is intricate, interesting and crucial; a conjunction of so many aspects that we haven’t even discussed them all.(!) The majority of the planking is original, while the teak-overlayed transom (the actual flat back part of the vessel for you beloved desert dwellers) needed its bottom section replaced. Steve steamed that board to its new shape and secured it with enough bronze screws to feel the comfort of finality.
Until I sent this post out to the thousand or two folks that read SPARRING every week, just God and I knew what it looked like back there, regardless of religion or commitment; I chiseled and then sanded the teak plugs with two grits of paper, wiped it free of dust with something toxic, admired it, rolled our exothermic epoxy resin formula on four times and was pleased, maybe even thrilled, to say that when this project is over, I’m never going to see it again. Never.
Working alone in my boat tent amongst the almost-too-bright-sunshine, I balanced, resin in one hand and dripping brush in another, spread-eagled, a foot on plywood and the other on a not-quite-level sawhorse with one leg out the door because the fit is, well, nearly impossible. I know better than to not be careful, but the need to get this project done can prevail. In the back of my sweating mind, I contemplated randomly how many hours it would take someone to find me if I took a tumble. I’m sure the calculation gave me better balance; this whole damn project has given me perspective. For posterity and history and future days reminiscing in rocking chairs, I snapped documenting photos, but they didn’t do the situation justice as I leaned backward and the cheap plywood cracked a warning beneath my stained boots. As a side note, there’s no such thing as cheap plywood anymore, low quality, not price. I admonished myself one more time for touching something I’m not supposed to be touching while this ridiculously sticky formula is on hands, forearms,….every surface. My left shoelace, already too long, refused to stay tied because it, too, is laminated, although not intentionally; still barely tie-able, I crack it loose, re-loop and am not as surprised as I used to be at my ragged, blackened, fingernail crescents when I peel off the blue plastic gloves. In my previous life as a Caterer, those same fingers were less arthritic, generally smelled of fresh garlic, sometimes rosemary, and had my custom chile spice blend crescents more often than not. I must say those aromas are far better than acetone and resin; and this fourth life of mine is teaching me things previously inconceivable, unknown and unexplored.
I looked up at my work then, really looked, and thought to myself, this is beautiful. And I’ll never see it again. If you need to pop back up to that picture, do it; it’s not traditionally heart-stoppingly perfect, it’s old and cool and tough with faults galore; I’m glad and a tad flabbergasted that I can still appreciate it after all STEADFAST has put me through. As many of you readers have commented, it must be true love. I bought the Caterpillar steel-toed beauties last fall, one size too big, to accommodate two pairs of smartwool, not imagining, then, I’d be sporting them for another season. Or did I? I understood the back-of-mind potential that they might just come in handy so decided against disposing of them in some fiery ceremonial burning. Women’s intuition? Youbetcha. It’s one of a string of days. Sticky. Tacky. Stuck. “Sometimes the acetone washes the resin off and sometimes it doesn’t,” I’m exasperated. “How is that possible?” One of the innumerable mysteries of the current status. My favorite water-view rocking chair beckons, the cushions propped up to dry after our latest deluge. I do not answer. I want to, but I can’t. Now, with two layers of the four completed on the starboard side, anyone can still peer through history and see the intricate details of this sailing vessel’s life; (the fiberglass, at this stage, is translucent). We modified as much as necessary while still preserving everything that we possibly could in the most seamless way possible. We’ll never see it again. I say that hopefully. It’s the good news.
I’m grateful so many of you have been following along. There’s a certain irony to the fact that we are coating our transient home with something remarkably permanent. I hope you have an interesting, productive and perhaps ironic week yourselves as December descends. ~J
Are you entertained? Is this shareable? Do it please! So many new folks commented that last week! I love those fresh perspectives. If you like my work and want to keep it out there, just hit the little circular arrow symbol (restack) and this story will be sent to other folks who might just think like we do. Or may never be seen again. Share SPARRING WITH MOTHER NATURE My publication is free to all who are interested in the trials, trepidation and joy that boat dwelling can bring. Come on aboard!
I so appreciate your support of my work. Have a wonderful week!
© 2025 Janice Anne Wheeler
|
Harbour Town Yacht Basin, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, is ready for your reservation with newly renovated docks, upgraded electrical service and onSpot WiFi, also a CRUISERS NET SPONSOR. And, as always, numerous activities at the Sea Pines Resort are offered for your enjoyment, as you will see in the Event Schedule below. Hilton Head Island is absolutely marvelous any time of year.
Kerry Maveus
kmaveus@hunter-pr.com | www.hunter-pr.com
mobile: 831-917-2878
P.O. Box 1049 | Pebble Beach, CA | 93953
Be the first to comment!