Columbus Day is a federal holiday and October is one of the best months for sailing. Sometimes I get to leave a few hours early before a holiday weekend, but it didn't work out that way this time. The coastal forecast for Friday night was questionable and we didn't want to arrive at the boat after dark and in the rain. With that in mind we left on Saturday morning.

Saturday October 11, 2008
We left fairly late on Saturday morning. The drive was pleasant and the weather when we started was great. The closer we got to the coast the worse it looked. In Kinston, clouds had started to close in. By the time we got to New Bern it was raining. When we got to the boat, it was raining steadily and very overcast. The percent chance of rain had gone from 20 to 50 in 24 hours. We unloaded in the rain and pitched the boom to keep the rain out of the cabin. We were glad we unloaded when we did because the rain got heavier as the day wore on. The wind was from the northeast at near 20 knots. This land breeze encouraged the mosquitoes to visit and they were numerous. For some reason there were an unusual number of sea gulls on and around our dock and other nearby docks. It must be the time of year for them because you always see some but never this many, and they usually don't hang around the dock.

We had little choice but to just stay in the cabin and wait it out. Judy worked on photo albums and I took a nap. We decided to cook dinner in the cabin because the rain and the bugs made using the cockpit grill a challenge. After one of Judy's award winning Mexican dinners we transformed the cabin into a movie theater. We had borrowed a DVD from a friend to play on the computer if we had time. It worked really well. We have a transmitter that we use to listen to audio books in the car. You plug it into any device that has a headphone jack and it transmits the sound to an FM receiver. We arranged the table and cushions so that we had a good view of the small screen. The ship's stereo worked well as the theater sound system and the borrowed movie was pretty good. We turned in after the movie hoping for better weather in the morning.

Sunday October 12, 2008
We woke to a beautifully clear sky and cool temperatures. Unfortunately, the wind was still blowing 20 knots from the northeast. I just could wrap my head around going sailing on the sound in washing machine conditions. The northeast wind in our waters can be very unpleasant and I wanted no part of stress this weekend. There had been plenty of that for the last three weeks. The Oriental Harbor Deli serves a good breakfast and we took advantage of it. I could not get into fishing or doing boat work so after breakfast we decided to go to the Mumfest in New Bern. We attended last year and we knew what to expect. Mumfest is a typical small town street fair with merchants selling everything from pottery to clothing. We toured a Coast Guard vessel and there were several other interesting exhibits and performances. Several sailing vessels could be seen from the festival grounds. All were heavily reefed against the strong wind. Conditions were bad there and they would have been much worse at Whortonsville. We stayed until mid afternoon and returned to the boat. Nick stopped by for a visit, but no other dock mates were present the whole weekend. Our Saturday was topped off with one of our favorite meals, grilled salmon. This time the conditions were better for using the grill. We turned in early.

Monday October 13, 2008 Columbus Day
The weather was great again when we woke but the wind was still very strong and still from the northeast. We ate a simple breakfast and me made the usual preparations for returning home. I exercised the diesel to make sure it was in working order. We finished packing and left at about noon.

This weekend was not full of high adventure but we were able to relax and enjoy our time off. We have many more adventures planned for this fall and early winter, so stay tuned.