Tap, tap, tap. Not yet dawn. Maybe a light rain. Wake at first light. Clear skies. Tap, tap, tap. I realize it is the sound of shrimp snapping below SPARTINA.
A cinnamon bun and iced tea at CRU. No rush to leave. Slack tide at Beaufort Inlet is 8:00. Cast off 7:20 with a solid west wind. 7:30 sails up just off the docks. 7:30 tacking into the wind at 2.5 to 4.0. No traffic in the channel and a beautiful morning. 7:50 round the west end of Bird Shoal and see the inlet to the south.
Red marker "6: shows the beginnings of the ebb tide. 7:55 passing the southern tip of Radio Island. Shackleford Banks to the southeast, 3.3 into the inlet.
8:05 into the inlet, 5.0 with wind on the starboard beam, rolling in the swells. 8:05 out of the inlet, watching a shrimp boat coming out of the inlet behind me. The shrimper turns east and drags her nets in the shallows off Shackleford Banks. We turn to port, wind on the starboard quarter, raise the centerboard for the downwind run. Making 3.9 with waves rolling up the stern.
Sailing by the wind, the bow pointed to the very southern tip of Cape Lookout Bight. 3.7 to 5.5 depending on the swell.
9:05 jibe towards the entrance to the Bight. Calmer run with wind now on the port quarter. See that that shrimp boat that has paralleled us is now turning out to deeper water and headed our way. Jibe to clear a path for her.
9:25 can see the entrance marker for the Bight, a single red buoy. 9:30, clear of the shrimp boat, jibe to the marker and round the spit.
10:10 tacking in the the beautiful blue water, blue skies above and sand dunes all around. Wind now on the beam and you can't buy sailing like this.
10:20 anchor down.
A sparkling day and I take a moment to enjoy the simple colors of the Bight.
Set up the boom tent for shade. Catch up on the log. Nap. Read. Relax. Enjoy the day.
Up at 5:30. Sleeping gear stowed, boom tent tucked away. Third customer of the day at The Bean, a cranberry muffin and a glass of iced tea. Keith drops by for a quick breakfast. He says a small flotilla of boats is sailing across the Neuse River to the mouth of Adams Creek to escort Mini Globe racer Josh Kali on SKOOKUM as they return to Oriental. Keith suggests SPARTINA join the flotilla at noon. I say "maybe."
But the day is pretty and the breeze fresh, I tell Keith I gotta get on the water. A few minutes later he is helping me cast off. Sails up 7:45 in the harbor, tacking back and forth, enjoying the breeze. 8:00 out past the jetty.
Tacking at 3.2 in the southeast wind (and of course Adams Creek Canal is to the southeast). 8:20 tack off the Whittaker Creek cannel markers. 8:50 tack. 9:05 better wind, 4.6 and approaching the entrance. Another tack, 4.8, with a good angle to Adams Creek. GPS shows 5.2. 9:30 tack. 9:35 tack, 4.8. 9:40 tack. 9:50 tack. 9:55 one last tack into the creek.
10:30 less wind, 2.6. 10:45 down to 1.3 and motor sailing. 10:55 more wind and sailing again. Wind comes and goes. Quiet on the creek and I can hear baitfish snapping at the surface of the water. 11:45 light overcast moving in. Noon, with the mouth of Back Creek to port, bring down the main and jib. Under power to motor down the canal.
Up ahead I see SKOOKUM and circumnavigator Josh Kali coming around the bend. A friendly wave, I grab a couple photos.
Motoring at 5.8 with a helping tide down the canal. Make better time than expected.
1:20 out onto the Newport River, 1:25 sails up with lots of dolphin swimming in the shallows just outside the channel. 1:55 making 3.3. 2:15, still riding the ebb tide, 5.3 passing the oyster reef.
Coming up to marker "RG" I see a large sailboat coming up from the stern to pass me on the port side. I also see a small tug with a barge ahead coming out of Gallants Channel, I expect they will also want to pass me in the narrow channel on my port side. The sailboat is off my stern with a woman perched on the bow. Moving up on the port stern, they are so close I can talk to the woman. "Do you see that tug with a barge?" I ask. She tells me yes, she sees it. "You know they are going to pass me right where you are, correct?" She looks at me, looks at the tug/barge, runs back to the man at the wheel. The sailboat drops back and gets behind me. The tug and barge pass on my port side.
2:25 we turn into Gallants Channel, as does the sailboat to the stern. Now, with no traffic, they pass on my port side.
3:00 docked on the Beaufort waterfront with the help of a diver in a wetsuit. I motor up alongside the dock in the opposing tide, toss him a line, step off SPARTINA and walk the boat into the slip. Easy peasy.
I put out the lines and fenders, then walk up to the dock house to pay for the slip. I see the diver who helped with the lines talking with the dock master. He points at me, says "That's the guy that crashed into the dock." I shake my head in confusion, tell the dock master I need to pay for my slip. He walks me into the office, tells the woman there "Here's the guy who crashed into the dock." "What's he talking about?" I ask her. I tell the lady to check my boat, check their dock, check their video tapes. If that was an Olympic docking, I would have gotten a 9.5 out of 10. I pay for the slip and leave.
Setting up the boom tent, I hear a voice call out my name. It is my friend Tom, founder of Tidewater Wooden Boat Workshop. He ran the non-profit boat building school for inner city kids in Norfolk for about a decade. He is down in Beaufort building his own boat, a Francois Vivier "Jewell," a gaff-rigged yawl. It is a kit boat and he is building in a boat shop a couple miles from the waterfront. We go visit the shop and he shows me all the pieces, explains the process of building the boat. It will be a beautiful boat and I look forward to seeing her on the water.
We head back to the waterfront for dinner at Finz Grill and Marina. Great seafood and enjoyable conversation, we go on so long the waitress finally tells us we are the only people left and they are about to close the restaurant. We leave a good tip and walk back to the docks. It is good to see Tom.
Up before dawn to take care of chores - stow sleeping gear, break down the boom tent, get rid of trash, clean up the boat. I plug in a couple battery packs for a stealth charge on the patio of the Oriental Marina and Inn. Walking back to SPARTINA, I hear my name called out from the porch at The Bean. It is Keith, a longtime friend and editor of TownDock.net. I head over to say hello, sit down and enjoy a blueberry muffin and iced tea.
Finishing breakfast I notice cars showing up and people getting out to set up easels. They artists from the Plein Air Art Festival in nearby New Bern. I have seen them here in the past, but SPARTINA has always been ignored. One year the artists focused on Martijn's PRINSES MIA, got all the attention. I guess having topless mermaids painted on the black hull will do that for you. This year, for some reason, SPARTINA gets some attention. How nice!
Three artists take up positions around the boat, two to the stern, one to the bow. I see other artists painting the shrimp boats across the water.
A woman at the stern tells me to ignore her, she's a beginner. I think she is doing a nice job.
It is an artist named Sarah that gets my attention. I see an early version of her painting and like it just as it is. She tells me to keep coming back, it will be changing throughout the day.
The man up forward is doing three versions of SPARTRINA. A "working" version at the bottom. A larger version at top left and then a third image at right. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that," he tells me. They all look good to me.
I head to M&M's Cafe for lunch, a crab cake on a salad. Excellent.
Back from lunch in time to see Sarah's final painting. Just beautiful! We talk about the boat a bit, she is surprised when she realizes I built her. I ask Sarah how much for the painting, she tells me a price that is more than I can afford. She is kind enough to let me take a few photographs. The painting, she tells me, will be shown at a reception in Oriental in a couple of days, then moved to a gallery in New Bern. I thank her for her fine work.
After dinner, a long walk through Oriental. Then a Dark n' Stormy at the Tiki Bar.
Sail off anchor at 6:20, sunrise coming with a flock of white ibises. Clear skies, light south wind. Peaceful morning, quiet enough to listen to the sounds of the marsh. Tack to the east side of Turnagain Bay to get a better angle on the wind. Making 2.1, then less wind, then more, 3.2.
7:25 rounding the point at Abraham Bay. 7:45 slip out onto the wide Neuse River.
Nothing but the water of Pamlico Sound to the north. White sandy beach to port. Making 3.9 on the river. Better wind at 8:25, doing a comfortable 3.8 towards Oriental.
8:55 approaching the western shore of the Neuse, 4.3. There is a waterman ahead setting out his crab pots. Tack just before reaching the first crab pot float, I figure a long run on this tack and I'll be close to the Oriental channel markers. And then the wind dies. I struggle to find the wind, and there is none. Under power with the sails still up.
10:35 the wind fills in just off Whittaker Creek. A couple of tacks and sail past the jetty into Oriental. Sails down and motor past the shrimp boats. A man is standing on the town dock, seemingly waiting for me. He greets me by name, grabs the dock lines. His name is Kevin and he tells me he has followed my log. He noticed my morning track and was there to greet me. How nice. We talks about boats and Oriental. It is good to meet him.
There is a tight fit at the town dock. After a while I cast off and motor around to the seawall behind Keith's BlueJacket 24 "LIZ." Just enough room for SPARTINA.
Then off to M and M's for a burger.
Afternoon thunderstorms, then clearing for the evening.
It has been all about tall ships for the last couple of weeks. First, a week-long trip to Richmond on the Schooner Virginia for a three-day tall ship festival. Then, a day after returning from Richmond, Sail250 Virginia with dozens of tall ships on the Norfolk waterfront. Those ships are leaving today, bound for Baltimore.
Yesterday I brought SPARTINA home for some much needed maintenance. The usual epoxy, varnish and painting, of course. Plus some rigging work. She has had a lot of wear and tear the last year or so.
I do need to get back to the log for the Spring trip. I have posted through day five, so a couple more weeks of sailing to go. I will get to work on that soon.
My thanks to Ben for the photograph. He falls into the category of friends I have never actually met. We have been in touch one way or another for the last couple years but I wouldn't have known him if I saw him. On Sunday I did see Ben for the first time, a wave across the water. for a Pilot boat. I hope to meet him in person in the next month or so. Thanks, Ben, for the nice photograph.
With thirty-some tall ships in the harbor for Sailfest250, one can expect to find more than a few masts, figureheads, boats, portholes and anchors. Spent the morning in light air sailing from ship to ship, it was a treat.
Out sailing with the tall ships today in the Sail250 Parade of Sail on the Elizabeth River. Top photo by friend and former colleague Stephen Katz, Blue Angel photo by the Pilgrim. A great time on the water!
