Saturday, January 24, 2015

a day in a life: Core Sound


rain on the face and up to early at the Beaufort docks...changing into dry clothes and foul weather gear in the shower room...walking the streets waiting for the tide to turn...


walking Spartina over to the neighboring pier to have her bow pointing out...still waiting on the tide...then not waiting and casting off on a dark morning...


orange and pink behind the clouds east of town...the tide running out...full sails rounding the shoal into the channel...


cutting close to the shallows on the west end of Shackleford Banks...seagulls feeding on the baitfish in the tide line...lighter clouds and dark...patches of rain to the south...


sailing southeast with a northeast wind...layerings of clouds...shadows over the water and blue skies to the north...


a steady pace in a comfortable wind...tracing the line a sand a couple of hundred yards to port and not needing a compass...


part of the ocean but it is, with a northeast wind, a protected bay...it feels good to look out at the open water...


dark clouds cover the horizon ahead...sun breaking through with a little warmth...it seems like a long time since casting off...not yet midmorning...


a larger sailboat comes out of the bight...waves from the crew...a smaller boat seems to draw attention...


into the bight and then quickly out again...heading north into the current through Barden Inlet...finally, wild horses on the beach...past the small sandy islands, rookeries for the ibis...missing a marker, maybe misread charts or maybe the channel moved...cb touching the sand bottom...finding the channel again...clearing skies and it is a beautiful day...


the guarantee of a strong north-northeast wind all day...heading up Core Sound which heads north-northeast...narrow channels that zigzag up between the mainland and Core Banks....zigzagging within the zigzags...full sail and heeled...tacking and more tacking...lunch out of a can, handfuls of dried fruit...Bells Point, the church spire at Davis...Piney Point and Mill Point...the wild dunes of Drum Inlet...another church spire, Atlantic...long tacks past the fish traps at Hall Point...finally falling off into Thorofare Bay...


tired...sunburned...hungry...glad to have kept going...the gps track showing forty or more tacks...


anchored in a notch in the shoreline of Thorofare Bay...a dolphin rolling in the shallows as we sailed in...


enough daylight to heat water for a welcome dinner....sleeping gear, still damp from the morning's rain...hung out to dry on the furled main...


a setting sun...satisfaction...the thought of a downwind sail the next morning, into the canal and the protected water behind Cedar Island...no thoughts of going any further...barely remembering the rainy streets of Beaufort




9 comments:

JimB said...

We were driving through the marina's of Deltaville today, looking at all the sailboats on the hard. It made me think those very large yachts have nothing on little Spartina.

But then I am making assumptions I shouldn't. Maybe they've been to St. Somewhere often, but I doubt it.

Remember the acres of diamonds story? That's the Log of Spartina to me.

Steve said...

Deltaville - I need to spend more time up there. Hope you enjoyed it. I do the blog because I enjoy it. I'm glad if you find something here to read. steve

JimB said...

and re-read, and re-look, and re-zoom.

Baydog said...

Agreed Jim B. I have the good fortune of actually having sailed Spartina with Steve as crew. Soulful experience

Chris said...

Steve, when was this journey? Did you retrace your steps the next day, or did you sail north into Pamlico Sound?

Bill said...

Let me know when you make it to Deltaville. I've spent too much time in the Deltaville Boatyard, with my boat on the hard. But Deltaville is a neat little town. My boat is in a marina just across the Piankatank from there.

Steve said...

Chris, that was just revisiting the photos from a day on the Inner Banks 425. Not a bad way to spend a cloudy, cold winter day.

Bill, yes, Deltaville and the Piankatank, place I want to visit.

steve

Paul D said...

Steve, what do you use the winch in the last shot for, and where is it located on Spartina? I figured most of the sheeting was done without mechanical assistance. Is it for the anchor rode?

Steve said...

Paul,
that is there for the 100 lb. steel plate centerboard. The heavier cb is a design modification I made. I had thought I would be able to lift it with a block and tackle system, but that was not the case. So I mounted the smallest winch I could find alongside the cb trunk. It has worked well.
steve