An artist's memoir of exploring the Atlantic Intracoastal and associated waterways under sail. Pen and ink text runs around and between hundreds of watercolor illustrations and chartlets.

Excerpted from Narrow Waters : An Artist's Memoir of Sailing Through Sound, Swamp, City, Forest, Marsh and Glade by Dee Carstarphen. Copyright © 1998. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved

"We're on the verge of a truly sporting proposition. We have our eye on Bull Island, part of the Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge. Bull Island contains enormous fresh water ponds, the residue of a once flourishing rice culture. The ponds, now decayed to freshwater marshes, were created with embankments and causeways (slave labor) to trap and retain fresh water. This resource, so unusual for a barrier island, makes Bull Island a spectacular mix of salt marsh, tidal creeks, fresh water marshes and swamps, forest, dune, and ocean-beach ecology. The ponds serve as breeding, nesting, and wintering habitat for waterfowl and harbor a large population of alligators. The ocean beaches, in season, are a repository for the eggs of the loggerhead turtle. If we can work our way through an intricate pattern of channels and reach Summerhouse Creek, we'll have a snug anchorage from which to explore this naturalist's paradise."

This book is beautifully illustrated by the author in color by hand with pen and ink. Below you will find some examples of the fine illustrations