Swordwhale Walking: illustration, webcomic, stories, photojourneys, videos
  • launch here
  • art & stories
    • black horses
    • Sea Ponies of Chincoteague
    • Just Animals
    • playing with water
    • Tradigital illustration
    • environmental education >
      • Christmas Magic Mural 2020
      • animal alphabet and counting murals
      • Assateague ponies
      • the salamander room
      • more touch room ocean
      • more: touch room forest
      • wetland
      • wetland art
      • greenleaf
      • reptile week murals: Nixon Park
    • just animals: photography
    • Tales of the E.L.F. >
      • That Darn Elf, a musing or two
      • cast and crew
      • I dreamed of black horses
      • fanfiction: If Wishes Were Elves...
      • Skyfire
      • Leyover and Bardic Circle
      • Following Raven
      • The Merrow's Cap >
        • Merrows Cap credits
      • Manannan's Horses
      • Fins
      • fandom >
        • Radagast's Rabbit Ride
        • the Lone Ranger >
          • LOLs and Trolls
          • but wait, there's Moore, and Silverheels
          • Hi Yo Silver
        • black panthers and night furies
        • tales of Middle Earth >
          • Mirthwood
          • Loth-LOL-ien >
            • Im-LOL-dris
            • Smirkwood
            • well, that coulda' been worse
        • Sherlocked
        • catz and doges on fandom
        • Faithful Sidekicks
    • murals
    • scribblings
    • coloring pages
  • mermaid tales
    • Gramma Swordwhale's Mermaid Blog >
      • how to mermaid
      • merfolk on the Chesapeake
      • my life as a mermaid
    • privateers and pumpkins and ponies oh my!
    • stupid gravity (the adventures of a mermaid on Eastern Neck Is.) >
      • stupid gravity credits
    • stupid gravity: the search for sea glass >
      • stupid gravity: the search for sea glass: credits
    • Stupid Gravity: Misty Cloudy Windy Stormy Augh! >
      • Misty Stormy credits
    • Stupid Gravity: the search for mermaids
    • mermaids, Moana and Maui, beached on Christmas Eve
    • horseshoe crabs forever
    • stupid gravity: hot hot hot >
      • hot hot hot credits
  • Chincoteague
    • back to the islands 2021 >
      • Ponies 2021
    • identify that pony
    • chincoteague pony art
    • Fall Roundup Oct 2019
    • Chincoteague 2019
    • pookas pumpkins and swamp ponies
    • Chincoteague Carousel
    • Chincoteague November 2018
    • the 3rd Sea Voyage of Makenuk's Fin
    • wild horses and kayaks 2017
    • wild ponies in camp
    • North Beach
    • on island time
    • saltwater cowboys
    • Chincoteague
    • Christmas by the Sea
    • island ponies
    • Ace and Unci revolt
    • beached
    • running water in between
    • Assateague Light
    • the Haunted Lagoon
  • crafty stuff
    • photo your toys >
      • how to photograph Breyers in the wild
      • Lokigator and Throg's Epic Adventure
      • Sam and Bucky's Excellent Adventure
      • Mando and Grogu
      • paint and wet snow pants
      • Legolas and Hwin, snow
      • derps (or how not to photograph Breyers and others)
      • Wonder Horse repaint
      • wild Breyers >
        • printable prints and downloads
        • water horses
        • beach Breyers
        • Lotus Legolas and Arod
        • teeny tiny Breyers
        • backyard Breyers and Schleichs
        • vintage breyers
        • Hartland Horses
        • Black Horses
      • educational display
      • Schleich and Safari Faeries
      • North beached
      • more model horses
      • beach party
      • advenatureData
      • Finding Hank
      • Otterlock and Hedgejawn >
        • Hounded in Baskerville
      • how to photograph your dragon
    • Rich Toy hobby horse rehab
    • ModPodge rules
    • paint pours
    • flour salt clay
    • chalk paint
    • rock it: paint rocks and use or lose them
    • faerie gardens >
      • more faerie gardens
      • faerie festival at Spoutwood Farm
    • sea this tutu (and make)
    • I found Dory
    • knit me a mermaid, or chicken, or Hei Hei
    • sea treasures
    • sea glass
    • sea horses
    • rehabbing horse epic fail >
      • do you wanna build a snow pony?
      • do you wanna build a sand pony?
      • Barbie horse gets a makeover
    • mermaid saddles
    • Yule Laugh, Yule Cry... >
      • a Brandywine Christmas
    • Uncle Bob's Toys >
      • Uncle Bob's Toys 2016
      • more: Uncle Bob's Crafts
      • the Adventures of Mortimer
  • adventures
    • Go Play Outside
    • Nature Deficit Disorder
    • I heart Nature
    • autumn light
    • cats
    • mushing 101 >
      • dogs on wheels >
        • Autumn Run on Wheels
      • dogsled
      • dogsledding: running on snow! >
        • Groundhog Day
      • kids and dawgs: first sled run
      • Klondike Derby
      • Sled Dogs and Pirate Ships
      • Christmas Day Run: Rail Trail
      • Horses and Huskies: when predator and prey share the trail
      • Schipperke doo dah >
        • Runnin' with the Big Dogs
        • Hobbit Husky
      • women who run with the wolves
      • Play Time
      • wubba wubba
      • New Year's Dog Day
      • Team Swordwhale
    • trains, sleddogs, and horses oh my!
    • butterscotch and sprinkles
    • horses >
      • horse reference for art
      • ponies small but mighty
      • First Horse: Saraf
      • the Wild Black Mare
      • between thunder and lightning
      • Goliath, Nevada Mustang
      • Yataalii
    • Planet Water >
      • Planet fish tank
      • planet toadpool
      • Planet Pond
      • Planet Stream
      • Planet River
      • Planet Marsh
      • Planet Ocean
      • Planet Water Bird >
        • Planet Water Bird: gulls
      • Planet turtle
      • Planet water snake
      • planet amphibian
    • kayak! >
      • blue boat home
      • kayaking 101
      • kayaking Assateague and Chincoteague
      • how to train your dragonfly
      • Chasing Raven
      • the Susquehanna River >
        • the Rock Garden >
          • return to the Rock Garden
        • Conewago Dreamin'
        • the Conejehola Flats
        • Thunderbird Island (petroglyphs on the Susquehanna)
        • to the White Lady and Beyond
      • Calvert Cliffs fossils
      • Sassafras River Lotus Paddle >
        • Return to the Sassafras
        • sassafras river 2015
        • sassafras paddle 20160814
        • Sassafras River 2017
        • Sassafras river 2018
      • Eastern Neck Island >
        • winter marsh, winter beach
        • Eastern Neck Island: under the supermoon
        • more Eastern Neck Island
      • Pinchot Park
      • Lake Marburg >
        • where are the manatees?
        • ...and the dolphins???
        • macros and SAVs
        • Lake Marburg 2018
        • how to be a kayaking Gramma
    • beached
    • dive in! (SCUBA) >
      • Gourd of the Rings
    • mid Atlantic seashells
    • longship company >
      • December sail
      • Sae Hrafn at Oakley
    • pirates and privateers >
      • Sailing 101
      • Schooner Sultana 1768
      • Capt John Smith Shallop
      • Pride of Baltimore II
      • Kalmar Nyckel
      • downrigging 2010 >
        • Chestertown autumn
        • Downrigging Weekend 2014
        • Downrigging 2015
        • Downrigging 2016
        • Downrigging 2017
        • downrigging 2018: pink tardis
        • Downrigging 2019
      • privateer weekend
    • horseshoe crabs and red knots >
      • horseshoe crab spawn 2021
      • slaughter beach
      • horseshoe crabs and semipalmated sandpipers 2019
    • surfboards and watchtowers: Cape Henlopen >
      • beached
      • Watching Whales >
        • Watching Whales...again
    • Seadogs: Newfoundland water trials
    • wind hounds
    • wild things! >
      • baltimore aquarium
      • there's a hummer in the garage...ceiling ...
      • critter cam
      • sky walking
      • leaf-fall
    • The Adventures of the Good Ship Fearaf
    • the incredibly dead blog page
  • art class
    • framing 101
    • watercolor: how to
    • sip n paints
    • acrylic painting 101
    • wildlife art class
    • Santa, You're Doomed
    • (drawing) horses 101 >
      • horse color 101
      • gaits
      • ponies in motion
      • tack
      • Draw: a horse
    • dogs and wolves
    • go ahead, draw a pirate ship
    • anthropomorphism (cartoon animals and stuff)
    • the Little Kids Page of Big Ideas
    • mural: how to >
      • Gabriel's Whale
      • stuff you need
      • drawing (mural)
      • drawing mural 2
      • painting
      • mural jungle
      • mural bat cave
      • mural cats
      • mural ocean
      • mural arctic
      • mural leaf smacking
      • watershed mural
    • crayons and colored pencils
    • palettes
  • wait wait! let me get the camera!
  • who perpetrated all this???
    • swordbroad

for high quality jpgs of images on these pages or to commission original images email me at swordwhale@yahoo.com

Cape Henlopen and Cape May lie at the mouth of the Delaware Bay. Cape Henlopen is a state park with camping and surfing and surf fishing and the great horseshoe crab migration. Cape May is a Victorian village, the "painted ladies" (ornate Victorian houses) yet stand, the touristy bits are quaint, and whalewatching boats set out to see what's at sea.

I hate boardwalk empires. I consider places like Ocean City to be an affront to Mother Nature. My beach has sand, surf, sun, sanderlings, and occasionally, wild ponies. When I can't make it all the way to Assateague, there's another wild beach nearby: Cape Henlopen, at the mouth of the Delaware Bay. In May, it is famous for the migration of horseshoe crabs and red knots, whose travelling schedules coincide in one of Nature's great spectacles. Any other time of year the Cape is a great place to hike, bike, kayak (getting your boat to water requires sand wheels or a few doughty buddies) or chill on the beach. Herring Point is where the surfers hang out. One of Henlopen's notable attractions, besides the two lighthouses, are the watchtowers left over from WWII. One is yet climbable. As you pass through Lewes DE, look out for masts towering over the ferry terminal: the Kalmar Nyckel may be in town. If she is, stop and say hi to ship's cat, Ditty.



Cape Henlopen


There and back again: an August Birthday Journey

(bored, with a camera; are we there yet?)






Watchtower

(built to guard the mouth of the Delaware Bay in WWII, they were meant to last 20 years... they have lasted 70...
there are also some military barracks and gun batteries)

Picture
photo by Dave Tristan, sarcasm by yours truly






View from the Tower






Sand and Shadows: the dunes






stuff you need to survive the littoral zone

 "In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to mean the same as the intertidal zone. However, the meaning of "littoral zone" can extend well beyond the intertidal zone." (wiki)


The edge of the sea, especially sandy east coast edges, shapeshifts under wind and tide. Everything is always in motion (which why plopping a hotel there is stupid). Animals and plants have adaptations for this ever changing habitat. Those of us who visit it bring our own adaptations ...which is why, when Assateague Island contemplated bus service to the beach I, and many others, responded with a resounding NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!, I need an eco-friendly parking lot for the van and the adaptations that fill it. 


Here's my beach list: 

umbrella (or other sunshade), chair, sunscreen, hat

windbreaker and fleece for when the wind picks up and the temp goes down (and I'm still wet)

one good book (and maybe some field guides)

boogie board or pool noodles (yes, they work in waves, you can sit on them various ways, as on a hobby horse, or swing, or you can hang onto them like a boogie board)

a backpack: towel, drybag for wet stuff, swimsuit, diveskin (a Spandex superhero suit that covers you from head to toe and is 100 proof sunscreen, also proof against jellyfish), mask and fins (I hate swimming, I love "snorkelling" though the snorkel doesn't work well in waves), camera bag, underwater housing for camera

a cooler: frozen water bottles which will melt down slowly, V8, Fusion, Greek yogurt, applesauce, Kashi granola bars, cheese (especially string cheese, it packs well), maybe crackers, maybe a PBJ sandwich (don't drop it)

For launch friendly beaches like Assateague's: kayak and assorted bins of gear (and a van to carry it all, and a parking lot nearby)

For beachcombing hikes: 

camera, extra batteries, swimsuit/diveskin, bags for found objects, water bottle (or two), granola bars (Kashi!!!), windbreaker, fleece, bug spray, and a cell phone to call the Coast Guard...


I've learned that it is often better to take pictures of many of the great finds on the beach, the small beauties underfoot, than to try to pull a small dumptruck to carry them back.






surf's up






and suddenly a wild thing appears

(pics by Dave Tristan)






sanderlings and laughing gulls

Picture



the Kalmar Nyckel
(and Ditty, Official Ship's Cat)

Picture
Picture
Kalmar Nyckel is Delaware's tall ship. She's a reproduction of a 17th century ship that brought the first colonists to Wilmington DE (then called New Sweden). A crewmember told me that no one painted ships blue; blue ships attracted blue water... and sank your ship. The Dutch, who built the original Kalmar, were an exception to this sailors' myth. When Kalmar was being built in 1997, a feral cat had kittens... in Kalmar's toolbox. "Toolbox", a mostly blue with cream tortie was Official Ship's cat for many years until she was retired in 2012 due to age and failing eyesight. Other cats have graced the ship: Timmynocky, Clew Garnet and Lagan. All have been that lovely grey called by cat fanciers "blue". The latest ship's cat for the blue ship is also blue. Ditty is, like the others, named for some part of the ship: in this case, the ditty bag used by sailors. Kalmar does great public sails, including a pirate sail which is great fun.






Cake, Sand and Spongebob

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