31 July 2010

Whittaker Creek - South River - Minnesott Beach - Whittaker Creek

I took several weeks off in June hoping to get some good sailing in, but fate was against me. First, the weather was not cooperative. It was the hottest June on record with heat advisories with high humidity and no wind. They recorded the highest low (82 degrees) at RDU. When it rained, there were severe thunderstorms. Second, my wife had a "honey to-do" list for me, which included doing some painting around the house. Third, we went to Jersey to visit our relatives. Even at the Jersey shore, the temperatures were near 100 degrees. Needless to say, of Mice and Men that no plans are fool-proof and no one can be completely prepared for the future. So in June I took day trips.

The weather in July was just as hot as June. It was the Dog Days of Summer starting in June. On July 31, a cold front was passing through with low humidity and cooler temperatures. Actually, it was going to be below normal day weather wise for July, high 86 and low 68. Needless to say, a nice day for sailing.


The forecast for Pamilco Sound was winds out of NE 15-20 knots, changing to E 10-15 knots on Sunday. The same forecast for Cape Lookout, so Daniel and I decided to stay in the sound. We started our day early and got underway. I was surprised to see one s/v coming in so early. Whittaker Creek Channel is narrow. With a Northeast wind, there shouldn't be any issue with water (the depth of the channel) but I wasn't going to take any chances. We waited until the incoming vessel cleared the number 3 can bouy before heading out. Once we cleared the entrance to the channel, we headed northeast to bring up the sails. There was a good 15 knot- breeze and we were averaging 5.8 knots. It did not take us long to make it to South River. If we stayed on our present course, then we would be at West Bay in no time. But, we would have a long trip back to Oriental (we would have the wind at our backs on the run back to Oriental Harbor). The problem is that my Hunter has a very small jib. So with a light wind, it would be better to break out the oars and start rowing. The only good thing about having a small jib is that I do not have to reef at 20 knots, and you can sail single-handed. But today that would not be an issue, because I had a crew of 2 (Daniel and me).

We decided to head to Minnescott Beach instead, then we would have winds at our backs up river (running) and good strong steady breeze on the return (close haul). We jibed and started our run to Minnesott Beach. The wind speed was being clocked at 12 knots and we were averaging 3 knots on our run to Minnesott Beach .

We had a relaxing sail. At Dawson Creek, the Neuse River turns West toward New Bern. We would have a beam reach on the starboard side. The next few hours will be relaxing. We had lunch and chatted (as Father and Son should do). We talked about politics, life, and what's going in his world. We talked about girl friends, actually his girlfriend. I happen to marry my girl friend and we will be celebrating our 20th anniversary this year.

When we got to Dawson Creek we started our track to New Bern. As expected, the wind was still coming out of the NE at 15 knots. We had beam reach, until we returned to Dawson Creek and heading for Oriental Harbor and Whittaker Creek Yacht Club. It only took us over 2 hours to return home. The wind changed to NNE and gusting to 20 knots, but we had some very good tracks and enjoyed the ride home. We were averaging 5.8 knots, on a close reach with 15 degree kneeling. Every now and then we were keeling at 20 degrees, but on average it was more like 17-15 degrees. Over all, it was a good day. The temperature did not go above 82 degrees. It got cloudy in the afternoon. There was even a dizzle.