Dear Friends and Family,
Wow, less than a week and another update from Jay & Barb. Don’t get used to that!
Last Saturday, we did make it to shore at Kitty Hawk with Jim, Kathy and Rachel Lee and delivered Whitefoot to the boarding kennel. We walked about a mile to the Lee’s timeshare condo and partially settled in before going out in search of lunch. Then we hit the beach to walk in search of sea glass. Rachel probably got the best haul and we hope that she may have started yet another collection. Here are a few of the pieces that Barb has made:
The Lee’s friend from college, Steve, was expected to visit from near Washington, DC and sure enough he called and we met him, squeezing into his vehicle to ride back to the condo. Steve has been all over the world helping countries get alternative energy source solutions for their rural locations. Talk about a job that a person can feel good about! And he is a nice guy, not just a good guy. After a good dinner out at “Henry’s,” we went back to the condo and after some reminiscing about the old days we all turned in.
Sunday was drizzly so, after a breakfast that couldn’t be beat, Steve took us on an excursion to the Wright Brothers Memorial and we enjoyed a ranger talk explaining how the gliders and the first plane were made and operated and saw the site of the December 17, 1903, first four powered flights. The Wrights took turns flying 120 ft, then 130 ft and finally over 860 ft. before a gust of wind flipped the unattended flying machine that historic day. As we walked the flight path, calculating their speed over the ground and air speed, I could imagine their excitement as they flew again and again until – rats! The wind that helped them ended their flying for that day. Much like today, weather related flight delays and equipment problems affected air travel. These are two of Jim Lee's Photos from the day at the Wright Brothers site. See his blog at - http://stardust-voyages.blogspot.com/
We had some Hatteras Clam Chowder for lunch and then stopped at a kite shop that is owned by a hang gliding friend of Jim’s but the fellow was not in. As we looked around, we saw that the rarely found Cayman-style of Crocs were not only displayed, but were 20% off their list price. Barb and I both replaced our nearly worn through, two year old pairs and got some discounted Life Is Good fluffy warm socks as well. I will be interested to find out if Jim got a chance to hang glide after we left over the same site where powered flight got its start.
After shopping for some provisions we settled in for more visiting at the condo, some Sunday football – yes, the Broncos let a 14 point lead slip away and yes Betsy, the Patriots beat the Eagles. We had a great dinner followed by an evening of cards and turned in with plans to leave as early as possible Monday.
At 8 am Monday, the anchor was up and we motored into the wind. Then we sailed across Albemarle Sound and back to the ICW at the Alligator River. By sunset we had attained our goal of reaching the anchorage at mile marker 127 at the north end of the Pungo River near Belhaven, NC with possible gale force conditions threatening overnight. The winds never materialized. After a good night’s rest, we were up and underway again at the crack of dawn and made it to Beaufort about 80 miles away. Not sure of our plans to proceed, we went to the fuel dock and got a good slug of chemical energy stored in our tanks to allow us to keep our options open. We went out into the Morehead City Channel and anchored near the Coast Guard Station east of green “23” ready for a quick exit into the Atlantic, ready to continue down the ICW or ready to visit Beaufort again the next day(s). It turned out that plan “A” would be to leave before dawn to sail in the ocean with a following 10 – 15 knot wind, gusting to 25, in 3 – 5 foot seas trying to cover about 84 nautical miles and entering Masonboro Inlet with an outgoing current and anchoring before sunset in Banks Channel. Plan “B” – visit Beaufort and wait for a day of north to northwest winds. Plan “D” – travel by motor in the shelter of the ICW about 80 statute miles to Wrightsville Beach.
I know I skipped Plan “C.”
I wanted to put the ICW journey in its proper place. Plan “A” considerations - Ocean sailing can be so enjoyable if conditions are right. Plan “B” - Beaufort is a great little town and has one of our favored restaurants, “The Grocery.” Plan “D” - The stretch of ICW along the coast of North Carolina has currents and shoaling punctuated by a few bridges that have to be opened for us to transit, not a few power boaters for whom we slow allowing them to pass. Hopefully they pass slowly so their wakes doesn’t rock us. A practice not guaranteed. And then there is the Camp Le Jeune practice range where the Marines get good at defending our country. If they are practicing hard boats may be delayed. It is all charming, but even charm becomes tedious if there is too much of it.
Wednesday at 0245, I awoke to see the depth sounder displaying 5.5 feet and knowing that low tide was still an hour away; I must shorten our anchor rode and be a little farther out into the channel. By doing that I would surely be awake and probably unable to get back to sleep. Instead, I prepared to get underway and head out to sea with a great jump on the outgoing tide in the inlet and the probably of a good sail with time to spare getting into Masonboro Inlet executing Plan “A.”
In the dark, we experienced 9 knots exiting with the current in Morehead City Channel while the channel markers were plainly visible in the distance and on the chart plotter. Once outside the channel we were able to set the autopilot for the run to a point just outside the danger zone off Camp Le Jeune’s firing range, about 35 nm away on a broad reach at wind speeds about 18 knots. I wonder what the Marines fire way out there beyond the sight of any land? From there we ran downwind another 33 nm toward Masonboro Inlet on a dead run with the new whisker pole on the headsail. We had every bit of the 3-5 ft seas and a gust of 25 knots, but the boat handled wonderfully staying over 6 knots the whole way without any effort on our part. What a handy addition that whisker pole is. We arrived at the inlet at 1400 hours, took off the whisker pole, brought in the headsail and fired up the engine. Before I engaged the engine I noticed that the boat speed had dropped to about 4 knots showing us that the poled out headsail increased our boat speed over 50% on the run. I put the boat in gear and with the main still up for extra power and stability we turned to a beam reach with the occasional breaking wave slapping us hard, spraying the deck and the dodger with sea water while we made for the channel. After ten tense minutes we were inside and as we turned into Banks Channel Barbie furled the mainsail. We were anchored firmly by 1445.
Here we will stay visiting brother Tom and Vickie until we get some boat chores taken care of and our mail arrives. We expect Stardust to arrive no sooner than Monday and with a front coming through on Monday morning they realistically won’t make it until later in the week. We will be ready to sail when they are.
Until then, be well.
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