Thanks ‘Horatio’ for another very interesting email:
Tristan,
I was telling somebody the other day about a sight I experienced on the North Carolina Coast, which deeply impressed me. I think you might find it interesting.
In 2004 my son got married on the Outer Banks in North Carolina, just up the road from Kittyhawk, where the Wright brothers made their name. There was a great bunch of us and we hired a large beach house which slept about 26 people. There was a wooden walkway from the terrace to the sandbank at the back of the beach with steps down to the sand. One morning, I was admiring the view on the top of the steps, when I saw a small group of pelicans approaching from the South. It was fine and sunny, very little wind and a low swell coming in. The waves were at about a 20 – 30 degree angle to the beach, smooth and breaking close to the shore, with some distance between the crests. I first saw the three pelicans when they were about half a mile or so to the south. They flew up and past me and moved steadily up to the north, disappearing about half a mile away in that direction. In all that time none of the pelicans flapped a wing. They were gliding across in front of the incoming waves, which were causing the air above them to rise. Just before the wave broke on the shore they banked lazily up and over the crest and glided down to the next wave. All in perfect formation. I may be mistaken, but I could swear they all looked rather smug. Unforgettable.
Another snippet. I worked for a container ship company called Manchester Liners in the 70s. There was a time when they were short of deck officers, and managed to find some watchkeepers with deep sea fishing certificates or other “irregulars”. One delightful chap I sailed with was a retired Army Officer with a Yacht Master’s Certificate. We called him the Galloping Major. He was very experienced at seafaring, and sailed as “Uncert.” Third Mate. This chap had one amazing ability. He could sense when we crossed the edge of the continental shelf through his feet. The water depth drops sharply off at the edge, at around 100 fathoms (600 feet, or around 200 metres) and is always clearly marked on the charts. Very helpful when approaching the land from deep water. He didn’t do it to impress, just laughed it off, as nothing special, but I saw him do it on many occasions. He was the only mariner I met in over 50 years at sea who could do that. I presume he could pick up the change in the movement of the ship as the ocean swells crossed the change in depth, probably subconsciously.
I hope you find this of interest, just a couple of oddities.
All the Best,
Horatio.