The all important water pump replacement would have to be completed before we could finalize our plans for a week on the water. I had communicated with Roger (our diesel mechanic) several times since the pump failed during the Octoberfest weekend. We got word on Thursday that the pump had been replaced and the boat was ready to go. This was welcome news because we had a very complicated week planned. The first, and most important part of the plan was to take our friends Becky and Charles sailing. They had been down to visit before but they had never actually been sailing, so they were looking forward to an adventure. Regular readers will remember that our dinghy is named "Charlie Gibson" after our friend Charles Gibson Seaford. Before we left I contacted the National Weather Service several times trying to pinpoint a weather window that would give us a good day for sailing. We were going to stay at the coast for the rest of the week after we spent all the time with Becky and Charles that they could spare.
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Saturday November 1, 2008
Becky and Charles were to arrive on Sunday afternoon. We left on Saturday morning with our little Toyota heavily laden with essential stuff. This is one of the longest vacations I have ever taken and the longest time we had ever planned on the water. We arrived at Ensign Harbor around 2 pm. We were glad to find our friends Bill and Susan on the dock. They had just attempted a sail but had a minor problem with their engine. Bill got it going again but it was too late to go sailing. Since the weather forecast was for excellent conditions on Sunday, they called a neighbor and arranged for a dog sitter so they could stay the night. We invited them over for a visit after dinner. We all planned to go sailing on Sunday.
Sunday November 2, 2008
We eased into the day with oatmeal for breakfast. For once, the weather forecast was correct. It was beautiful. It's always fun to sail with other boats even if they are bigger and faster than you. We left the docks about 11 am .
Bonafide was in front and
Ragtop, with our friends Don and Trish, was behind us leaving the creek. Out in the river the wind was about 7 to 8 knots. It turned out to be a really good day for S/V Southern Star. The wind was not quite strong enough to make the bigger boats perform as they should but the little 30 footer loved it. There was plenty of wind for her so she performed very well against much larger yachts.
Bonafide is a Pearson 35 and
Ragtop is a Catalina 34. We sailed near the mouth of Broad Creek for several hours. It was such a lovely day; we hated to go back to the dock. We got some really good pictures of all three boats. Bill and Susan had to get home to take care of their pups and we were expecting our guests later in the day, so we went back to the dock after one of the best sails of the year. Becky and Charles were a bit later than they had hoped due to a traffic jam on the interstate. We still had plenty of time for a really nice dinner at M&M Restaurant in Oriental. We went back to their room at the Oriental Marina & Inn for a short visit but returned to the boat early so we would all get a good night's sleep for the big adventure on Monday.
Monday November 3, 2008
As luck would have it, the celebrated "weather window" the weather service told me about was less than perfect. Becky and Charles arrived at about 11 am and we all got aboard for the trip. The sky was cloudy and I could tell from the wind at the dock that it would be less than ideal. It was really important to me to get Charles out on the water. We didn't need to be out for an extended period but it was important to get out there and get the "feel" of sailing. Based on the wind direction, I figured we could shoot across the mouth of the Neuse River on a broad reach, turn around and follow the same path back on a bit closer reach. This would give us a nice ride without a lot of heeling, which can be uncomfortable, especially for new sailors. For an extra level of comfort, I had put a reef in the mainsail earlier in the morning. We left the dock with the little diesel purring like a big old cat. We got to the end of the Broad Creek channel and found conditions much like I expected. I was not surprised and I knew that our sail would be possible. I slowed the engine to a slow idle and slipped it into neutral. I made a "command" decision to leave the diesel running so we could make a quick exit if conditions got bad in a hurry.
Judy and I got the sail up with little difficulty using our standard procedure. With a single reef in her mainsail and no jib sail at all the little ship performed like a champion. She scooted across the chop flat and level making nearly 5 knots with a very pleasant motion. I'm not sure why her performance surprised me. She was doing exactly what she was designed to do. She could have done it for days without a problem. We sailed for a bit longer than I had actually planned because it was going so well. With the short November days, we have learned that the cold can "sneak up on you". We were glad to get back to the protection of Brown Creek so we could warm up. Backing in to the slip gave us a bit of a problem because we bumped the bottom just enough to spoil the landing. On the second pass we landed successfully and tied up as usual. As captain, I declared the cruise a smashing success due to the fact that we got back to the dock with no damage to the vessel or her crew or guests.
Charles and I secured the boat while Judy and Becky started preparing dinner. The menu consisted of grilled salmon, brown rice and Becky's coleslaw. We used the WYTC cockpit for preparing dinner. I consulted Charles about starting the gas grill because we don't own one. Dinner was delicious to say the least. Of course it happened to be my favorite meal. We ate and visited and stayed up too late. I am afraid I bored everyone talking about work way too long. I guess the four of us would never run out of something to talk about, at least it hasn't happened so far. We had a great visit as usual.
The weather window we had enjoyed earlier in the day slammed shut at about 9 pm. Becky and Charles left in a driving rain. They reported later that they could barely see the road at times. The weather would not be great but we hoped it would be good enough that we could all make a road trip to Beaufort, NC on Tuesday.
Tuesday November 4, 2008 Election Day
Don't worry, all four of us voted early, before leaving home. During the night the rain continued very heavy at times. The wind howled and made me glad we had gone sailing when the weather was "calm". We had breakfast on the boat and drove over to Oriental to meet at the Marina & Inn. We left for Beaufort traveling down Highway 70. We talked about taking the ferry but the weather was really rough and we figured there would be more opportunities for fast food on the highway. We had fast food for lunch on the way and arrived on the Beaufort docks shortly after noon. Charles and I enjoyed boat watching on the city docks and Becky and Judy enjoyed the old houses and architecture.
We all enjoyed the North Carolina Maritime Museum, but we got hungry and left in search of food. We found it in Atlantic beach and then headed north, back to Oriental. The weather was still dirty and Judy and I were thinking about driving down to Wilmington, NC on Wednesday. We invited Becky and Charles to go with us but they declined in favor of getting back home where it was warm and dry. We said our farewells at the Inn. We had a really great time with our friends, and if they didn't have a good time they hid it well. We look forward to having Becky and Charles down again very soon; hopefully, the weather will be better. Back at the boat the weather was terrible, but the boat was warm and dry.
Wednesday November 5, 2008
The weather was still bad on Wednesday morning but it had improved some. We were up early to pack for the road trip to Wilmington. The plan was to spend the night in a hotel so we packed heavily. We stopped at the Bean (coffee shop) in Bayboro for a light breakfast and an email check. The trip was rainy but the weather seemed to be getting better all the time. The drive was not as long as we had expected. We spent the day near the Wilmington waterfront. There were plenty of shops with up scale merchandise, and I have never seen such a concentration of restaurants. There seemed to be several on each block. We ate lunch in a German sandwich shop. It was quite good. By about 5pm we had seen everything we needed to see in Wilmington. We met back at the river front and watched a small cruise ship named "American Star" land at the dock. The captain did a really great job of landing a large vessel in a tight space. The forecast for Thursday was for clear but very windy weather. Since our drive was shorter than expected, we decided to drive back to the boat and not spend the night in a hotel. We picked up some provisions at Wal-Mart and 5 gallons of diesel in Grantsboro and started talking about a trip to Ocracoke Island on Friday.
Thursday November 6, 2008
This was a down day for the crew, but it turned out to be a really good one. It started out with Judy fixing omelets for breakfast. Our dock mate Brian and wife were about to leave for the Bahamas in their big trawler "Intermission" when he discovered a leak in the plumbing system. I was happy to give him a ride to the Village Hardware store for a few fittings. We returned to the docks and before I knew it, they were motoring down the creek with a working plumbing system. I was glad to have the whole day to get ready and just mess about. We had decided to attempt a trip to Ocracoke on Friday. We had plenty of time since we were staying until Memorial Day. I spent the day fishing (with no luck), shipping water and fuel and pumping the waste tank. We went over to the Bean at Oriental to check email and have coffee. At one point, Judy visited with Bruce and Joan in their new house that is within walking distance of the dock. Judy baked a casserole and muffins in the alcohol oven for dinner. We rigged the ships theatre and watched a DVD that we had checked out from the library at home.
Friday November 7, 2008
We left the dock for Ocracoke at 8:30am. We learned a long time ago that actually sailing to a destination is unlikely. This is especially true of the trip from Whortonsville to Ocracoke. The distance is 36 nautical miles. Using the diesel the whole way takes 6 hours. We avoid being out at night so the time we can take to get across is limited. Under the best of conditions, sailing is slower than motoring. In this case, the wind was so light it would barely move the boat, so if we were going to get there it would be motoring all the way. The first half of the trip was uneventful. Judy read and did needlework. The weather was sunny and pleasant. Judy even made hot chocolate on the alcohol stove for a snack. We were approaching Royal Shoal when I noticed something on the horizon. I had never seen anything like it so I didn't have a point of reference. It looked like fog but that seemed impossible on a beautiful clear day. I was wrong. We know now that it is entirely possible to have heavy fog on a completely clear day. Before we knew it, we had motored right into a very dense fog bank. We were so surprised by the thing that we were not sure what to do. We had never experienced fog and I figured it would clear in a few minutes. I was wrong again. The further in we went the thicker the fog got. It was one of the strangest things we had ever witnessed. The air itself was thick, cold and wet. Water was actually condensing and dripping off the sail cover and bimini.
It was impossible to steer a straight course without watching either the compass or the GPS continuously. We didn't realize how thick it was until we met a motorboat suddenly on our port side. In an attempt to find out how extensive the fog was, we called him on the radio. He did not respond but the vessel that did respond was even more of a surprise. The
Carteret, a North Carolina Ferry, hailed us. We were in the same channel the ferries typically use, but we had not seen one all day.
Carteret informed us that based on our respective positions; we were not on a collision course. He had passed our position an hour earlier. The fact that one of the ferries had communicated with us at all meant they were taking the situation seriously. I have never heard a ferry communicate with a pleasure craft under any circumstance.
At this point, we were too far from home to turn around. We were faced with the prospect of entering the Ocracoke channel or trying to turn around and make it home. This much fog was such a foreign concept that we thought it had to clear very soon. The Ocracoke channel leads from a point north of Ocracoke village and extends out into the Atlantic Ocean. We were planning to travel only to the village where the Silver Lake channel would take us to our destination, which was the Federal Parks Service docks. The channel is not a difficult one but from past experience we knew that the navigational aids on the chart are not necessarily exactly as noted on the paper chart or the GPS chart plotter. Before we could even think about the channel, we had to deal with getting around Royal Shoal. Getting around the shoal itself was not of major concern except any traffic, including ferries, coming from the Neuse River or from Cedar Island to the south would be skirting around the shoal on the same path. My plan was to get as close to the shoal as possible thinking that big boat traffic would give the shoal a wider berth and stay away from our position. I can't say if it did any good or not. We certainly did not see any other boats but then we couldn't see anything more than about a boat length ahead.
Over the next hour or so, we blindly followed the GPS with me scanning 180 degrees ahead of the boat and Judy doing the same thing watching aft. Our biggest fear was a big motorboat on autopilot running us down. Before we reached the area where the channel started, we had communicated with two ferries. The
Pamlico had left the dock at Ocracoke and was headed toward us and the
Cedar Island was headed toward the channel and would be behind us. We communicated frequently with both vessels. On many occasions I asked them to sound their foghorns so I could get an idea of where they were. There were at least two other sailboats attempting the channel behind us. We must have broken some sort of record for ferry to pleasure craft communication.
By using the GPS I guided the boat toward marker "14bf" which marks the entrance to the "Big Foot Slough" channel. The fog was so thick that the mark was less than a boat length away when it appeared out of the gloom. We picked our way down the channel, amazingly finding one navigational aid after another. Did I mention that this would have been absolutely impossible without a chart plotting GPS unit? The channel is wider in some places than others but generally it's about 300 to 700 feet across. So far, we had navigated down to marker number 8. We were barely moving. We had to be within a boat length of the markers in order to actually see them. Even at that distance we could not always read the huge numbers on the fluorescent red or green signs. One ferry was meeting us and another following us in the channel. They were blowing their foghorns on request. We could hear them and knew they were close but we could not see them. I told
Pamlico that I would stay as close to my side of the channel as I could when we met. As you might expect, this was the moment that I steered far enough out of the channel to bump the bottom. I think my heart actually skipped a beat. I quickly corrected my error, increased the throttle and found some deeper water. We were watching intently because we knew
Pamlico would meet us soon. We could only hope he could see us on radar. At last Judy sang out "There he is!" The ferry had met us and was already past. We got a glimpse of her stern as it faded into the fog. I hailed the ferry and told him that we had passed. His reply was "If you say so captain". The ferry never saw us.
At this point we needed to deal with
Cedar Island. She was following us in the channel. Her skipper asked where we were and we both determined that, based on his speed, we would be out of the channel and in Silver Lake before he got too close. We were very near the turn into Silver Lake when Judy sighted the Ocracoke lighthouse. As soon as we made the turn we were out of the fog as quickly has we had gotten in to it. It was several minutes before we could see
Cedar Island because she was still in the fog. When we entered Silver Lake, the sky was brilliant blue and as clear as it was when we left home. This was a "hair raising" experience to say the least. We had never encountered conditions like these before and you can bet we will avoid them in the future if possible. I don't think either one of use were actually scared. We didn't have time to be scared because we were so busy finding marks and dodging ferries.
The facilities at the Park Service Docks on Silver Lake are simple. They are very sturdy fixed piers with water and electricity for individual boats. There is a bathroom but no shower facility. The rates are fair. We signed up for two nights. The docks were not crowded so we knew we could add another night if we wanted to stay longer. We did a little exploring and were glad to find that the grocery store had re-opened under new management. We bought a few supplies, had a simple dinner, rigged the ship's theatre and watched another DVD.
Saturday November 8, 2008
We started our Saturday by having an excellent breakfast at the Pelican Restaurant. After breakfast we did some shopping. Judy enjoys the shops at Ocracoke. She got some of her Christmas shopping out of the way. We parted company at about noon. Judy continued shopping and I visited the local coffee shop to have coffee and check email and the weather forecast. I stopped by the grocery store and fish market for sweet potatoes and fresh flounder for dinner. A group of retired military folks landed about 6 boats at the Park Service Docks. They seemed to be having a great time traveling together. After dinner we rigged the ship's theater again for a DVD while the wind howled outside.
Sunday November 9, 2008
We woke to a beautiful Sunday morning. The forecast was good and we took advantage of the nice weather to go back to Whortonsville. We knew that our friends Richard and Frances were at the dock for the weekend and we wanted to have a chance to visit. We crossed in very light winds without incident. We called Richard and Frances as soon as we were in cell phone range and arranged to meet after dinner, which was a simple affair for us.
Monday November 10, 2008
We were up early to go to breakfast with Richard and Frances at the Deli in Oriental. Richard and Frances had a lot to get done, and they needed to leave fairly early. Monday was one of those days that makes you glad you own a sailboat. The weather was so spectacular that it would be a shame to stay at the dock. We left a little before noon and had an excellent sail on the Neuse River. We find that our best sailing is done when we go day sailing and are not trying to get to a particular destination. After our sail we drove over to Oriental for ice and supplies. I replaced the zinc in the heat exchanger. Nick, our dock master, stopped by to check on us, and I did all the normal activities associated with getting the boat ready for our absence. After a simple dinner we rigged the ship's theatre to watch our final DVD. We were planning an early departure on Tuesday.
Tuesday November 11, 2008 Veteran's Day
There was a lot of packing to do but we got it done and managed to leave at a reasonable time. We left and had an uneventful ride home. This was a great trip and one we will remember for a long time. We had a great time with friends, some lazy days and some high adventure. What more could you ask for a week's vacation?
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