Our preferred time of year for sailing is between Labor Day and Christmas. We celebrated the beginning of the season with an enjoyable long weekend. We invited our friends Steve and Donna for a return engagement. This was their third trip to Whortonsville. We met with them several weeks ago to plan the trip. We had a lot of fun just planning it so we knew we would really enjoy the actual trip.

Steve and Donna Movie


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Friday August 1, 2007
I was hoping for a few hours off in honor of the upcoming holiday, but that was not to be. We managed to leave home around 4 pm. The traffic was terrible as could be predicted with he last holiday of summer just beginning. I had to make an unscheduled stop to pick up a new gas can for dinghy fuel and we stopped near Raleigh for dinner. Traffic was heavy everywhere and even our super shortcut northern route was slow. We encountered bumper-to-bumper nitwits all the way from Siler City to Greenville. Oh well, we knew it was a long trip when we signed on. We arrived at our docks after a long 6 hours. There were several cars already there and we were looking forward to seeing some friends we had not seen in a while. The weather was hot so we deployed the air conditioner. We slept well in a nice cool boat.

Saturday September 1, 2007
We got up early because we wanted to be ready for our company. The weather was nice. It was cooler than we expected and there was no serious threat of rain, at least we didn't think so. Southern Star needed a bath (as usual) so I rinsed her off in plenty of time for her to dry before our company arrived. I topped off the fuel tank with 10 gallons of fresh diesel and filled the new gas tank from the old one. I had asked Steve to call us when they got to Kinston, NC. When he called, I figured it would take about an hour to get to Oriental, where they were staying. We picked them up in town (by car) and brought them back to Ensign harbor.

With everyone aboard, we shoved off around noon for the trip to Oriental. Steve and Donna were to stay at the Oriental Marina and we had a reserved slip at the same facility. The wind was northeast at about 10 knots. There was no hurry getting to Oriental so I decided to allow the wind direction to determine our course. We headed due east on a close reach. I was an exciting ride because the wind had picked up to around 15 knots. We sailed on the same tack for about an hour, and then changed course to head southwest to our destination. Of course this put us on run which is much less exciting but it also made it much easier to eat lunch. After lunch we continued the same general course. We were pulling the fishing lure in hopes of catching a "big one". At one point, Judy's hat tumbled overboard. The hat was designed for boating and floated well. We were able to change course to a beat and come about to bring us back to the hat. Judy expertly snagged it with a boathook on the first pass. When we were back on course we all noticed an ominous black cloud astern. I was not sure that it was a squall but it was not the kind of thing we take lightly. We cranked the diesel and dropped the sails. We had been sailing for several hours and sailing with the wind can be kind of a drag, so it was almost time to head for Oriental anyway.

We arrived in Oriental at about 4 pm. We were expected and our slip was ready. We tied up without incident with the help of the experienced dock master. We always enjoy staying at the Oriental Marina. Their staff is very helpful and treats boaters well. Steve and Donna checked in to their room (at the same facility). We did a little exploring but found no big changes from last time we were there. Judy and Donna went for a walk and Steve and I went over to check out the Provision Company. Steve and I were planning to go fishing on Sunday but we both forgot to bring bait. You can probably tell how serious we are about fishing. Luckily the local fish market was still open. We stopped by and asked for "bait" shrimp. They were all out of bait shrimp, which is evidently just the smallest size shrimp, so they offered regular size shrimp for the same price. Steve and I both really like shrimp and we both suspected that none of these creatures would go anywhere but on the grill for dinner.

Steve and Donna headed for their room and we headed for the marina showers. We were all looking forward to a hot shower after a day on the water. We all assembled back on board where we planned to make dinner. Judy's menu included grilled salmon, fresh salad, brown rice and crusty buttered bread. Steve and I began peeling and cleaning shrimp. The original plan (as you know) was to eat some and use some for bait. As expected, they looked so good that they all became appetizers grilled with a little olive oil and some seasoning. Dinner was delicious as usual. Anything you eat on a boat is good but Judy's meals are excellent.

Being tied up in the heart of town meant we were in the center of all the holiday activity including having a live band playing just 50 feet from our bow. There were a lot of people passing by. It makes you feel a bit like you are on display but we enjoy meeting people and hearing about their boats and experiences. We remember how we used to enjoy strolling the docks, looking at boats and meeting their owners, before we became owners. After dinner we took a stroll around town. It had been a long day and we were all fading fast. Steve and Donna returned to their room and the crew of the Southern Star retired to the V-berth with the air conditioner deployed.

Sunday September 2, 2007
I woke early and headed to the Bean for a cup of coffee. Steve and Donna arrived and we all headed to the Oriental Harbor Deli for breakfast. Someone asked how late the band played and no one knew because we were all asleep before they finished. Breakfast was nice and we lingered and enjoyed every minute of the meal and the visit. We ran into our friends Mary and Andy from across Brown Creek. It was nice to see them and we spend a few minutes catching up. Check out was 11 am so we prepared to leave when breakfast was over. We untied and left the Oriental Marina without incident. I had hoped we could sail back home but the wind was right on our nose, northeast at least 20 knots. We could have sailed but it would have taken most of the day and would not have been very comfortable. I made the decision to motor for the time being, hoping the wind would lessen as the forecast said it would. It didn't. We motored all the way home with the wind right on our nose. We encountered three wave sets (known as the three sisters) that were so powerful they almost stopped forward progress all together. After slogging for several hours we turned into Broad Creek and of course the wind died down. There were several boats in the creek, obviously dodging the blustery conditions.

We arrived at Ensign Harbor at about 2 pm. We landed and secured the boat without any problem, then deployed the shade canopy. We had a quick lunch and commenced the afternoon's activity of fishing for the boys and reading and relaxing for the girls. Since Steve and I had eaten all the shrimp for dinner the day before, we had a serious bait shortage. Luckily, my dock mate John had new information on how to throw a cast net. He was a bit embarrassed to admit it, but he said a ten year old taught him the trick. Using his newly acquired knowledge, John could throw a near perfect circle every time. After he showed me, my ability was much improved. I need some more practice but my casts are already much more effective than last time I tried. The result of the new technique was that we were able to catch all the baitfish we needed. Although baitfishes were plentiful, shrimp was not. I caught exactly two shrimp the whole afternoon. They were jumbo size but not enough for an appetizer. Cousin Steve had much better luck. He caught a very handsome sea trout and a nice croaker. Actually I suspect the "luck" I mentioned has more to do with skill and patience than luck.

Southern Star's galley served grilled hamburgers for dinner. They were very good and we were all very hungry. After dinner we took our tired passengers back to the Oriental Marina. We strolled the dock for a while and found it still very active. We arranged to meet at the deli the next morning for breakfast. The tired crew returned to Southern Star where we did not need to deploy the air conditioner.

After we got back to the boat we received an unexpected phone call from cousin Becky. She had just become a Grandma (again) and was very excited. The young man's name is Noah and Becky reported that he is a healthy 7 pounds 2 ounces and that he and his mother were doing very well. She was not sure if his Dad would pull through but she was cautiously optimistic. Without getting into too much genealogy, young Noah is Steve's nephew and a third cousin to our new grandson Carson. Grandchildren are highly recommended by the crew of the Southern Star. It was a beautiful night and the day's activities made us sleep very well.

September 3, 2007 Labor Day
The morning was beautiful with clear cool conditions and near perfect winds from the northeast. These weather conditions seem to occur often when we are about to leave for home. We met Steve and Donna at the deli and had another enjoyable breakfast. This time we ran in to Captain Chris from the Oriental School of Sailing. He seemed to be doing very well and it was good to see him. After breakfast Steve and Donna planned to do a bit of shopping, check out of the hotel and leave for the high country. We had a lot of work to do getting Southern Star ready for another week's inattention. We got everything done in time to stop by and see our friends and former dock mates Doug and Sheryl at their new home in New Bern. They were back from two weeks on the water. We picked up a pair of bicycles that they were not going to need when they leave for points south after hurricane season. It took all four of us to get two full size bikes into our already loaded Toyota Matrix. We visited for a little while but we had to get home and they were still in the process of cleaning their boat Prudence after two weeks of salt-water exposure.

We continued our journey but stopped at a roadside park to eat the lunch that Judy packed before we left the boat. The rest of the trip was slow because of the holiday traffic but without problems. We really enjoyed our weekend, especially the company of friends. We completed a very special holiday cruise with no damage to the vessel, the crew or (in this case) our passengers.

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