To recap: Thursday was typical, and our planned trip to shore was postponed. We did some chores since we were expecting a full house Friday afternoon.
Thursday night proved to be an above average nesting night and on Friday morning, we added five nests to the count, four on Bradley Beach alone. I arrived home a couple hours after Steve, and immediately had to change mind frames as we had the looming trip to shore. Since we only go once every one-two weeks, Steve and I rarely have the opportunity to buy very specific items. We gathered the tupperwares and cooler for food transport and compiled a list of different things we needed to purchase. One of us might have written that the washer and dryer were reported broken to us, but that the washer only needed a hose to work, a cheap and easy fix. We bought a hose on our last trip, and then shortly after found the missing hose at the other spare house. So now that the washer works, we were on a mission to replace the missing belt for the dryer. Steve called a few repair shops and one told him of Fox Appliance Parts and they had several in stock. Today our trip of significance took us to northwest Savannah and we bought the belt for $10. After that stop, we purchased some translucent red tape for the flashlights and headlights for our nighttime sea turtle patrol.
Having time to spare before shopping, Steve and I met Charlie and Clare for a celebratory margarita. Then we shopped like crazy before returning to the dock. We unloaded all our stores, as well as our visitors' and new roommate's gear to the boat. Just as we were pushing off, the rain started and we all got pelted for a bit. After about 15 minutes, we were at Torrey Landing. We all arrived to the house, with a little bit of chaos as there were three new people in the house and groceries to unpack. Soon, Charlie, Clare, Steve and I were catching up, waiting for nightfall and sea turtles to arrive on the beach.
Steve and I loaded up the truck with some supplies, and borrowed a bench for the boys to ride in the back. When we arrived at the beach, Steve covered the padiddle headlight with the red tape and then we headed north in search of a turtle. We passed a false crawl in the myrtles. Not too much further, we encountered a single crawl. Steve led the way and we quickly spotted her digging an egg chamber. While we were watching her work, Steve spotted another turtle just coming out of the water only 100 feet south. I snuck around the back of the truck and watched her from a distance, not wanting to be responsible for a false crawl. I saw and heard her crawl into the eroded trees and roots. She was adamant about continuing up the beach and kept working that spot for a couple minutes. Next she crawled along the tree debris until she could find dry sand. Ultimately, she walked 15 feet until she stopped in an area previously dug up in search of eggs. The coordinates are probably the same. Knowing she still had a lot of work until the egg laying, I joined the others at the other actively nesting female. Before Steve and I had a chance to get her measurements, she started covering the eggs. I marked the nest with a stick and we watched her cover the nest and body pit. Soon she was on her way out to sea, and we stood closely by admiring her strength. Once she disappeared into the water, we revisited the second turtle. Steve took measurements and scanned for PIT tags, none found. Since she still had some time left, we decided to head home, and get some sleep before a busy day Saturday.
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