Here is a shot of us with our first 3 sailing customers after our beautiful two-hour sail today.

Today was day one of OBX CAT. Kathleen joined me for the first official sail with customers and it was a beautiful day indeed. 10-15 knot NE winds, 70 degrees and a lot of activity on the water with Mumfest going on!

OBX CAT cruisers will now travel in style and comfort, and be "planet friendly" in this new dinghy with a Torqueedo electric outboard motor.

I left Cape Lookout in the morning after breakfast and caught the current running in the Inlet and found a good spot to anchor right in front of the Dinghy Dock at Beaufort.

This is a tricky anchorage with over a knot of current that changes every six hours with the tide. The winds were building to 15 that night and when the current was opposite the wind, things got very interesting as boats were swinging in all sorts of random directions. I enjoyed a couple of small grilled steaks and watched the "show" until about 2300 when the current changed to match the southerly winds - then I could sleep with confidence that the wild swinging was over... for six hours at least!

I awoke before sunrise and got underway during slack current and had a great motor - sail north on the ICW with 20 knot winds from behind the whole way back to the Neuse River.

Once on the Neuse I sailed back to New Bern under jib alone in 25-30 knot south sinds - staying close to the south shore of the river to avoid the large fetch developing.

I would have loved to sail at 15 knots with the Main, but I was afraid that the dinghy with the 9.8 HP outboard motor would flip over... I tried it for about 2 minutes and dropped the Main! I need to set up a way to carry the outboard and all dinghy contents on board Mozzie during fast sailing.

I had a great cruise out to Cape Lookout and Beaufort. It was a 9 hour, leisurely trip from New Bern to the anchorage at Cape Lookout via the ICW and Beaufort Inlet. I arrived about an hour before sunset and set the Spade anchor among about 8 other sailboats with plenty of room to swing in the light evening winds. I enjoyed some grilled fish (that I bought at the grocery store - Cod) and got a bunch of great pictures for updating the OBXCAT.com web site.

If you look closely, you can see the LightHouse in the distance!

I will be starting 2 hour sailing trips in mid October aboard Mozzie! Come and enjoy the breeze and beautiful scenery around New Bern. Private sailing tours may bring aboard their own drinks and snacks... how about a Sunset Sail with a great bottle of wine!!

Later I will be adding 2-6 day Captained cruises for 2 singles or 1 couple to the Outer Banks - areas will include but are not limited to: Oriental, Ocracoke, Cape Lookout, Beaufort and many great anchorages throughout the area. Email me at sailnewbern@yahoo.com for more information on either of these sailing opportunities.