Labor Day Skoipjack Race

[shots worth sharing]

<p>Labor Day week-end, my friend the watercolorist and I went over to Deal Island on the Eastern Shore (of the Chesapeake Bay) for the annual Skipjack race. Skipjacks are sailboats used on the Chesapeake to dredge (or, in local parlance, “drudge”) for oysters. They remain in use thanks to a prohibition against power dredging. </p>

<p>Deal Island is a scrap of the old hyper-rural “Shore”--more akin to the maritime Canada I visited last year than the nearby Northeastern megalopolis. <br>

<img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1000007018_smaaG-L.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="534" /></p>

<p><img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1003630309_tPhu7-L.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="532" /></p>

<p><img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1004285084_fXAWe-L.jpg" alt="" /><br>

The festivities started on Sunday with a rather unimpressive but thoroughly good-natured parade.<br>

<img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1001379355_rKVWU-L.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="600" /></p>

<p><img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1003637915_MQWXN-L.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Most of the spectators were in lawn chairs but...<br>

<img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1003541558_nSJtC-L.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="534" /></p>

<p><img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1007481052_tjPgi-L.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="600" /></p>

<p>This was followed by beer, horseshoes, beer, steamed Chincoteaugue clams and more beer. They insisted on a group portrait--in the shade with bright sun behind them. This photo is perfectly focused: it’s the subjects that are blurry.<br>

<img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1001381025_hx65X-L.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="572" /><br /><br /><br>

<img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1000319491_UuhNm-L.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="600" /><br>

<br /> I did get to wander around with the camera a bit.<br>

<img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1000003704_cox7n-L.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br /><img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1003626115_sB8QN-L.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="600" /></p>

<p>We were able to go out on one of the boats for the race on Monday but it was never a contender–-in part because the First Mate (on whose lawn we had spent the night) was a no-show due to the aafter-effects of serious over-indulgence. This being my first experience, I played it safe and took a K20D with the WR DA 18-50mm (with CP.) It did pretty well (but in retrospect I wish I’d taken the Sigma 70-200 along. <br>

<img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/999480298_iW853-L.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="534" /> <br /> <img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/999480866_W97Fg-L.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="457" /></p>

<p><img src="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/photos/1001381463_HDehe-L.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="600" /></p>

[ukhov]

<p>Thanks for showing, great Labor Day!</p>

[markus maurer]

<p>I like the sailboats and the detail shots best Dave, thanks for showing. Do you have any photos of your friends "watercolor work", that sounds interesting as well.</p>

[dorus]

<p>ofcourse (....) I like those wandering pics best !</p>

[john_shriver]

<p>The dog is still sharp -- but the people look pretty fuzzy!</p>

 

[jonathan_rush]

<p>Glad you caught the four-legged woman in a shot. It must have been a wonderment to see her walk . . .</p>

[mountainvisions]

<p>Interesting...I like the two detail shots the best. Of course the boats are pretty cool as well!</p>

[andrewg_ny]

<p>The four-legged woman has quite the spare tire...</p>

[MattB.Net]

<p>Nice! Looks like fun. I really like the bearded guy in addition to the details ones the others like.</p>

[michael_elenko]

<p>Hi Dave,<br>

Looks like there was a lot there to shoot.<br>

My favorites are the three sailboat pictures. They look so grand.<br>

The long-bearded gentleman is a little too purple for my taste, but maybe it's that beer you'all drink back there.</p>

<p>Good one Andrew!</p>

<p>ME</p>

[shots worth sharing]

<p>Thanks, guys--I'm glad you enjoyed this. It was, indeed, quite a "Life is a Carnival" sort of adventure. Sorry for the typos, btw--especially in the<em> title </em>(arghh!).</p>

<p>@ Marcus: My friend, Dennis, hasn't bothered to put any of his work on the web but I'll see if I can get some shots--it 'll be a good exercise. He's a lapsed pentaxian and his <em>modus operendi</em> is to work from P&S photos rather than paint in the field: you might say he's a just a photographer who does his PP with a brush.</p>

<p>I've got an expanded set--including a shot of me, taken by my purple friend, <a href="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/Events/Deal-Island-Skipjack-Race/13682710_wdC8e#1001379355_rKVWU">here</a>. </p>

<p> </p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>Four-legged woman, definitely my favourite!</p>

[miserere_mei]

<p>Your shot of <a href="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/Events/Deal-Island-Skipjack-Race/13682710_wdC8e#1000316877_rw8sE">Jack Nicholson</a> is pretty cool. Especially with the ironic hat.</p>

<p>But please, give <a href="http://dadipentak.smugmug.com/Events/Deal-Island-Skipjack-Race/13682710_wdC8e#1003631263_VWxJz">this guy</a> a comb! ;-)</p>

[shots worth sharing]

<p>He <em>does</em> look like Nicholson, doesn't he? That's "Hoss" Lives on Smith Island out in the Bay. Deal is attached to the mainland by bridge but the only way to Smith is by boat. </p>