Off Martha's Vineyard

I’ve been told that this thirty square mile area south of Martha’s Vineyard is filled with fine-grained sand and that there was a time when depth of the water column was measured by throwing down lead lines and bringing them up to deck — this sandy mud signaled mariners that they were close to the island of Martha’s Vineyard. 

This material is challenging to apply and I can’t brush it on.  A thick even coating of it isn’t visually appealing to me so I dip leather-hard clay into it and wipe it off, usually in stripes.  I need to move quickly because the flowing quality of the wet mud changes to a crumbly quality.

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Thanks to the United States Geological Survey.