Sailing Trip to Cape Lookout Bight

29 June 2011
The weather forecast wasn't favorable for cruising to Cape Lookout Bight. First the air was smokey due to the forest fire at the Holly Shelter Game Land in Pender County. The wind has been blowing out of the Southwest for the last two weeks. Also they were calling for severe weather for the Beaufort area in evening. Our plan was to anchor in Beaufort for the night and continue to Cape Lookout on the out going tide, but with severe thunderstorms we decide stay in Oriental.

30 June 2011


We departed Whittaker Creek at 0800. We checked tide charts and high tide for Beaufort was at 0715 and low tide at 1310. We expected an out going tide to Beaufort. It usually takes approximately 4 hours to cruise the ICW to Beaufort at 30,000 RPM, but with an out going tide we were able to make 6.3. In the entrance to Beaufort Inlet we were making 7.4 knots
(awesome). We arrived to Cape Lookout Bight 1335. Low tide at Cape Lookout Bight was 1238. We anchored at 34 degree 37.085 N, 76 degree 32.985W.



Once we dropped our anchor, it was time for lunch. On the way to Beaufort, we heard a "Security Message" from the Coast Guard stating that the RailRoad Bridge in the Main Channel was closed until 1600. So we decided to try an alternate route. At the Channel Marker 35 junction buoy, we bore left and headed into Beaufort from Town Creek. On chart 11545 parts of that channel are labeled as 5 feet. Our draft 4.5 feet and because it was still high tide in the Newport River, we decided to take the chance. The shallow area was at 10 feet, so there weren't any issues. We arrived at the draw bridge before it opened at 1130. The Bascule Bridge opens every half hour on the hour (good timing on our part).




It was a beautiful day at the bight. The winds were from the Northeast at 10 knots and the air and water temperature was in the 80's. You felt like you were in the Caribbean. There were only 5 boats anchored and in the evening we had a special guest. The Coast Guard Cutter Shearwater (WPB 87349) anchored in the bight for the night. The USCGC Shearwater homeport is Portsmouth, VA. Also, we saw several dolphins in bight and two sea turtles.

1 July 2011

We got up early and saw an awesome sunrise. After breakfast, we kayaked to the beach and walked to the ocean side of the barrier island. We saw a stingray and sea turtle enjoying a morning swim. We gathered some shells and started kayaking. We were able to get the turtles to swim between the two kayaks.



Michele didn't feel like kayaking to the lighthouse, which is open Thursday to Saturday during the summer. The weather forecast for Saturday was hot and humid with no air (breeze). We decided put up anchor and do some sailing. There was a light breeze from the Northeast, but in the afternoon it was changing to the Southeast (onshore breeze at 10 knots). We sailed adjacent to Shackleford Banks hope to see those wild horses. Unfortunately, we did not see any.

We enjoyed the nice sail back toward the Beaufort Inlet. Because it was around 1400, we decided to cruise to Oriental. That was a mistake. We fought the current all the way back to Pamlico Sound. On the way to Cape Lookout we were making 7.4 knots in the channel. On the way back only 3.8 knots.

In the Newport River only 5.5 knots. In the ICW only 5.8 knots. Once we exited Adam Creek, we started getting back to6 knots. It was long cruise back, but we enjoyed our adventure.

Weather forecast for Saturday, May 21, 2011; clear sky, temperatures in the mid 80s, winds from NE 5-10 knots, changing to SE 5-10 in the afternoon.

It sounds like a nice day for sailing on the Neuse River. We started prepping Livin' On A Prayer around 08:30 AM EST. According to the weather forecast, it would be a nice day to hoist the sails. In the early spring, when the temperatures are in the 60s, I do not mind sailing with the biminis down. Now that it is starting to feel more like summer, we needed the extra protection from the hot sun and it's rays. So we decided to open the biminis.

As we were putting up the rear bimini, we discovered that the rear top fitting was missing a screw. Lucky there is a West Marine Express in Oriental. We were able to get a replacement part. It took time to find the part at West Marine, and to buy an alan wench at Oriental Village Hardware Store, and to chat with the crew at hardware store. We installed the new part. We replaced the screw on both side (port and starboard top fitting). We left the slip at 10 AM for points unknown. As always, I like my partner (best friend, first-mate, and lovely wife) to take the helm. Michele needs to get comfortable with handling of the boat. She also needs to get familiar with the aid to navigation in our channel.

Because the wind were light and coming out of the NE, we decided to sail toward South River and let the winds take us for nice and easy ride down river.
Half way to South River, the wind were blowing around 8 knots. We were making 3 knots underway on a port tack. Usually on Saturday, the area around Oriental harbor is busy with cruising traffic and today was no different. There was a sailboat race. And there were several barges transiting the river to ICW and eventually Morehead City. And there was the normal spring migration from Marsh Harbour to point north. There was a stalled low pressure system of the coast of New Jersey (Cape May) bring rain to the Northeast. Because of the stalled low pressure system, there more traffic going northbound on the ICW, then usual. But over all it was nice day for sail. We got a chance to practice our tacking and enjoy a nice day in the sun.


We past another Hunter 33 on the river.

It's the 2nd weekend in May and the first time we are taking our boat out for a sail. You couldn't have asked for a better day. Winds were out of the NorthWest at 10-15 knots, forecast to change to SouthWest 5-10 knots in the afternoon. The air temperature was in the mid 70's. Many nice weekends came and gone, but this was our first option to take our baby out without any other commitments.


We heard that sailboats were running aground again while leaving Whittaker Creek. We only draw 4.5 feet, so we should be okay with these ideal conditions. One thing that we did notice is that can #3A was removed from the channel. The U.S.C.G placed it last year when boats were running aground. The general rule is to hug the red on the way in and out.


The weather conditions were ideal. As we started out of the channel, we started our run to hoist the main and jib sails. Usually I would head into the irons, but because the winds were light and coming out of the Northwest we started our run across the river. After hoisting the sails, we tacked to starboard and completed one of the only two tacks we had to do all day. At a course of 80 degrees, we were heading toward South River on a beam reach. Half way to South River, the wind picked up 8 to 10 knots. We had a nice enjoyable ride to the entrance of the South River averaging 4 knots with an 8 knot wind. Repainting the bottom of the boat and adjusting the propeller really made a difference.



We had a nice and enjoyable ride to South River. We decided to have lunch while still heading toward the mouth of the Neuse River. After lunch, we decided to do our 2nd tack and head home. The wind was still coming out of the Northwest, so we were still on beam reach on the way home. About the time we made our way back to Whittaker Point, the wind changed as forecast to Southwest but we decided to drop our sails and turn into the channel. The wind was perfect for backing her in. I asked my wife and partner to moor her, but she wanted me to take the helm. What a nice way to start the sailing season.

2011

2010 was an interesting year. We were busy and did not get a chance to complete the tasks we wanted to. The summer was very hot. I took 3 weeks off in June, thinking it would be good sailing weather, but it was very hot and there was hardly any wind. The dog days of summer came early.

Unfortunately we did not get the chance to sail much in September, October, or November, even though the weather was perfect. As my wife says, there is always next year. December was very cold so we had to winterize our boat early, but the last day of 2010 warmed right up. It was in mid-60's in North Carolina and it was a nice way to start the new year.

New Year's Day was a perfect day. There was an "Anything But Football Regatta" in Oriental.
Forty-seven sailboats participated in the regatta. Unfortunately we had already winterized our sailboat.
It would have been a lot of work to get it ready for one event. I wish we did.
Then we would have made number 48. So what's in store for 2011?
Well, we are planning on:

• Doing more with the NSA (Neuse Sailing Association)
• Anchoring out at South River
• Anchoring out at Cape Lookout
• Sailing to Southport, NC

In 2012, we can start planning on sailing in the fall.

9 October 2010

Oriental to Bay River
I received an email from a retired co-worker (HB). HB stated if you ever go single-handed sailing again, then give me a call. It was Columbus Day weekend and early Friday afternoon, I decided to call my friend and see if he wanted to go sailing over the weekend. The weather forecast for Saturday was calling for light to variable winds with temperature in the low 80s.

Four years ago we went to the annual boat show in Annapolis, Maryland. The weather that weekend back in 2006 was horrible. It rained every day. The worst thing was that it was hard walking around the Marina with inconsiderate people with umbrellas. After one day, we were soaking wet.

I was planning on going again this weekend with my wife, but she was unable to go so I went down anyway to check out the boat. I wasn't going to let light and variable winds dampen my weekend. I explained to HB on the way down that they were calling for light to variable winds.

When we arrived at Oriental, we ran into Captain Ron. I knew that HB was thinking about buying a sailboat. HB was a west coast sailor and used to sail to Catalina out of San Diego harbor. Ron told him about a 30-foot Bristol sailboat for sale. We decided to take a look at it Saturday morning before going sailing.

The weather forecast was perfect except for light to variable winds. The temperature was cool in the morning, but by noon it was in the low 70s. The winds (if any) were calling out of the West. I wasn't sure how nice of a day it would be for sailing. Light to variable winds usually means no sailing and more motoring. At 09:30, after looking at the Bristrol, we got underway.

When we got out on the river, we were pleasantly surprised. The winds were coming out of the west at 8 knots. So we decided to head out to the middle of the river and then turn into the wind (heading back toward Oriental Harbor), then do a port tack until we decided which way to go. We could tack up river toward New Bern and then be on a run on the way back, or we could start off on the run toward the Bay River (the mouth of the Neuse) and then tack all the way back. The wind always seems stronger at the mouth of the river than down river where we were at. We tacked again, then jibed to start our run toward Bay River.

About the time we reached South River, the wind speed increased to 12 knots with gusts to 14 knots. We were making good time on our run to the mouth of the Neuse River. We were averaging 3.8 knots on our run. We departed Whittaker Creek at 10:00 and arrived at the entrance to the Bay river by 12:40. We were surprised that there weren't many sailboats out on the river. At 13:00, we started our trip back to Whittaker Creek. Unfortunately, the wind shifted and our port tacks were long, while our starboard tacks were short. The best we could do on a starboard tack was to head across the river. We were underway for 7 hours. We moored at 17:00. It was busy coming in. The sailboats were lining up to enter Whittaker Creek Channel.

25 September 2010

Second Single-handed Sailing

What a prefect day for sailing, but I am missing my crew. My oldest boy was at maintenance day for the NC State sailing club. My youngest was in the process of trading in his sea legs for skating legs and preparing for hockey season. My 1st mate and lovely wife was busying providing taxi services for the household.
Autumn was offically here, even though it doesn't feel like it. It felt more like summer. On the first day of Autumn (22 September) the temperature was 96 degrees in Raleigh. It was the warmest September on record for the Raleigh, NC and surrounding areas.


So when the weather forecast is calling for upper 80s with Southwest winds around 10 knots, then it's a good day to go sailing even if your are short-handed. They were calling for winds 10 to 15 knots on the Pamlico Sound and acturally they were around 15 with gusts in mid-teens. At 09:00, I decided to get underway. With the temperatures forecasting to be in the upper 80s and southwest winds around 10 knots, I wasn't sure if it would be a good day for sailing or working on the segalboat. The winds were gusting around 8 knots at the slip, so I decided to get underway.

When you are single-handed sailing, you need to prepare all the lines and sheets before getting underway. You also need to prepare for snacks and lunch, because you might not have time to leave the helm. I was not disappointed with the weather. After I cleared Whittaker Creek Channels, the winds were blowing around 12 knots from the southwest.

I headed up river toward Adams Creek. I decided to head up river, because the winds were coming out of the southwest and were forecast to change to the northeast in the afternoon as a cold front moved eastward. If the forecast stayed true, then I should be able to tack up river and back in the afternoon. It took a little time to get the timing down in tacking, but after a few tacks I had the process down really good.
The first time I tried single-handed sailing the winds were blowing over 15 knots from the northeast. I had a difficult time bringing up the main and decided to sail without the jib.


Today, I did not have any problems, because the winds were coming out of the southwest and not the northeast and I did not have to deal with severe chops (waves). It was easier to bring up the main. I did not have any issues with the jib either. I let the wind decide which side to roll out the jib. The wind decided to place me on a starboard tack. I enjoyed a nice day of sailing on the Neuse River. The first weekend on Autumn, but it felt more like Summer.

4 September 2010

Whittaker Creek to Minnesott Beach
Hurricane Earl gave all of us a scare during the week. On August 29, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was forecasting Earl to track east of Cape Hatteras and stay 150 miles off the coast of North Carolina. Therefore, we prepared our sailboat for a tropical storm warning assuming that Earl was going to track east of Hatteras. Then on Wedneday evening it strengthened to a category 4 hurricane and was predicted to make land fall over Cape Hatteras. I was preparing to leave Raleigh and head down to Oriental to prepare for the worst, but Howard (Island Dream) called me and stated he was down there already. He stated my vessel looked fine and he was willing to take down my dodger for me. I said thanks. It was nice to know that your fellow sailors look after one another.


I slowly watched Earl move northward on the 75th parallel Thursday night waiting for the critical turn to the east.
It finally did and Hurricane Earl weakened to a 105-mph Cat. 2 storm and passed about 80 miles off Cape Hatteras. Our original plan was to head down to Oriental as a family when the boys came home from school. Now with the worst behind us, we were back on track for a long weekend on the sound.



On Saturday, September 4, it was a beautiful day to sail to Minnesott Beach. Our friends on the Island Dream were heading for Beaufort (NC) Town dock. They are members of Neuse Sailing Association (NSA). The NSA scheduled a weekend outting at Cape Lookout, but because of Hurricane Earl and Tropical Storm Fiona, Small Craft Warnings were posted for Cape Lookout. The NSA decided to change plans and stay the night at the Beaufort Town Docks.


The forecast for Neuse River and Pamlico Sound was Northwest wind 10 to 15 knots, waves 1 to 2 feet, wind coming out of Southwest in the afternoon down to 5 to 10 knots. It sounded like a beautiful day to sail to Minnesott Beach. We got underway at 09:30 EST with a crew of four (Michele-helms man, Raymond-crew and lookout, Zigman-boatswainmate, and Ziva-fly swatter). The Tabanidae (horse flies or green eyes) were tremendous. As we left Whittake Channel and headed southeast ward everything was fine. We came about to bring the sails. I had Raymond rise the main this time around and I handled the jib. Once the jib was up and secure, we proceeded with a starboard tack toward Minnesott Beach. Who would have expected the baby horse flies to be so dreadful. The crew was seeing who could rack up the most kills.

We enjoyed smooth sailing for the rest of the day.