I have never been able to decide which month is best for sailing in Carolina. It is certainly either May or October. Each year when May rolls around and the long cold, well cold by my standards, winter melts away, I am sure May is my pick. I have a hard time remembering that when the leaves start showing their colors and the sun shines bright only to give way to the cool clear nights of October. Weather is the single most important factor determining a successful day sail or long trip when it comes to our activity of choice. Since we do not have complete control of our time, we often travel to the coast in spite of an unfavorable weather forecast. This trip was a bit different. We had been very active for the last several weekends and we would have been satisfied to stay at home this weekend and rest, except that we had been enjoying such a nice stretch of weather at home a trip to the coast seemed like a great idea.

The other reason was to make sure our newly rebuilt alternator was working properly. This reason was more of an excuse because Roger (our "go to" boat maintenance guy) had taken care of removing the alternator, having it rebuilt and re-installing it on the engine. On our last trip (to New Bern) with Steve and Donna, I had noticed the voltmeter showing erratic readings of 14 to 16 volts. I called Roger and he concurred with my diagnosis that the voltage regulator had probably gone south. An alternator is not nearly as important for a diesel engine as it is to a gasoline engine because no "spark" is required to run a diesel. Once started it will run until its fuel supply is exhausted or cut off. The problem with erratic voltages is that a spike can seriously damage sensitive instruments and electronic devices. I was also concerned about the long-term effects of voltage spikes on the batteries. Of course Southern Star is Spartan when it comes to instrumentation. The depth sounder and VHF radio are the only devices typically powered by the ship's 12-volt system while underway. The batteries were in no immediate danger but the alternator required attention. A boat broker once told me that buying a boat was the "entry fee" for someone who wanted to be a boat owner. No truer words were ever spoken. I know a lot people who own boats and none of their boats are, or ever will be, trouble free. That is just part of the deal.

Friday October 22, 2010
We left home at 5pm and stopped for at Subway for fast food. The weather was really nice and we were treated to a full moon on our drive. We made very good time for a change. Even with a dinner stop, a coffee and fuel stop and even a quick grocery store stop we made Ensign Harbor in 5 hours almost to the minute. When we arrived the weather was as forecast, clear and cool.

Saturday October 23, 2010
Saturday was the kind of day that reminds you why you put up with the bad weather, mechanical problems and general aggravation and expense of boat ownership. Many of our dock mates had taken notice of the weather forecast. This was evident when we arrived at the dock and saw more cars in the parking lot than in recent memory. Many of our friends had come for the weekend hoping to take advantage of the perfect weather. Joey and Dorothy were headed to the Cape Lookout bight for a few days. Brent and a friend of his along with John had been sailing on late on Friday afternoon, and reported they were able to return to the dock after dark because of the crystal clear sky and brilliant full moon. Art had been down all week, working on his Tartan's bright work. Bryan was preparing Intermission for her annual trip to the Bahamas. Chuck and Tish came just to enjoy some dock time and the beautiful October weather. They were not even planning to go sailing. It was great to catch up with our friends. We had a day sail planned but were in no hurry. The forecast as for northeast winds at 5 to 10 knots but there was no sign of wind early Saturday morning.

By the time we got around to preparing the boat for sailing, it was lunchtime, so we had cold cut sandwiches and did some more visiting. By 1pm there was a modest breeze at the dock. When I told Nick we were going sailing, he asked if I had actually listened to the forecast. I amended my statement to declare our intention to motor out to the lower Neuse and decide when we got there whether sails would be presented to the breeze or not. When we got to marker #1 on Broad Creek we were pleasantly surprised to find a nice little breeze of about 6 knots.

Smooth Sailing on a Nice Day


One of the advantages to a smaller boat (such as ours) is that it takes less wind to drive her than many of the larger, heavier boats at the dock. We set the sails quickly and found we were making about 4 knots flat and steady. Our path to the lower Neuse and Pamlico Sound takes us between two shoals. "Piney Point" and "Gum Thicket Shoals" are marked by red day marks that also happen to mark the Intracostal Waterway. Many boats travel to follow warm weather and most travel the Intracoastal Waterway. With the exception of a few boats that would travel south on the open Atlantic, they all pass these two marks. The snowbird procession was evident on Saturday with a steady stream of boats headed south. Everything from small sailboats, large cruising ketches, trawlers and go-fast motor yachts were chasing warm weather. According to the VHF radio traffic the staff at the Oriental Marina had their hands full fueling and landing cruising boats. The chatter was almost constant.

Full Sails


This was not an exciting sail but it was pleasant and relaxing. Judy was perfectly happy to work on needlework and not have an aerobic workout hauling lines and cranking winches. We proceeded across the river then tacked and headed more toward the open Pamlico Sound in search of a little stiffer breeze. The wind remained steady so we kept up our 4 knots for a couple of hours and enjoyed every minute of the afternoon. When the sun started to head for the horizon, we headed for the dock. We had heard several boats talking about doing a raft up on Broad Creek. One of the skippers told another that they planned to anchor right in the middle of the channel. Of course we assumed that he was just kidding. No self-respecting skipper would put his boat in harms way by deliberately anchoring in a channel. It turns out that they were not kidding and we had to weave our way through a maze of anchor rodes and dinghys that practically blocked the Brown Creek channel. As my first mate says, "there is no cure for stupid".

Art and John helped us land and their assistance was welcomed as always. After we got tied up, Judy headed for the shower. John and I met a new dock mate. Eric is the proud owner of a recently acquired 43- foot (I think) Hatteras Motor Yacht. He invited John and I aboard for a tour of the four-story behemoth. It was quite nice and in extremely good shape for a 1963 model fiberglass boat. We toured staterooms fore and aft and in between. Multiple heads, one with a walk-in shower as well as a galley with a nearly full size refrigerator. There were twin Detroit Diesel engines in the engine room, but the kicker was the wet bar in the main salon, with the icemaker. John and I were wondering how all the electrical equipment was powered and our questions were answered when Eric told us about the diesel generator that could be run to generate the required power. This is clearly a level of boating somewhere in the stratosphere compared to ice-boxes, cramped heads and sleeping for four only if they are very friendly. Eric told us that the generator had a separate fuel tank that held 185 gallons of diesel. This is not the main fuel tank, just the generator tank. We have owned Southern Star for seven years and other boats of various descriptions for 40 years. The total fuel consumption of all these vessels combined would not approach half that much fuel. Hopefully Eric will invite us aboard for a party sometime when he gets the big Hatteras squared away.

I headed for the shower as the sun was going down. This is the kind of day when you really hate to see the sun set. It is the kind of day that reminds you how great it can be simply to be alive and be able to mess about in a boat. Judy had prepared homemade spaghetti with whole grain angel hair pasta and ground turkey in the sauce. I'm not a huge Italian food fan, but her spaghetti is excellent. A garden salad and some toasted sandwich bread made a perfect meal at the end of a perfect day. We were both very tired but decided that we needed to spend a little time on deck enjoying the splendid full moon. As we sat there enjoying the moon, John returned from a visit to a local eatery and stopped by to chat. That lasted until the temperature dropped and we all got cold at about the same time. John returned to Freedom and we turned in with the heater running and two blankets on the v-berth.

Sunday October 24, 2010
Another beautiful day was forecast. Skies were clear and Carolina blue. There was a chill in the air that was quickly disbursed when the sun rose over the big pines to the east. We had coffee and cereal as usual, then started preparing for departure. It was hard to leave and I tend to drag my feet when getting ready to go. I had some tools in the car that we were going to deliver to Matthew on our way through Raleigh. Judy finally pried me from the boat and we left at 1 pm planning a stop for a late lunch with Matthew 3 hours away.

This was a memorable weekend simply because of the weather We saw friends that we had not seen in a while and enjoyed the water and a nice day sail. It doesn't get any better than that.