sketching out a plan

Realizing that the spring trip is less than two weeks away, I've begun packing the food - most of which I had already bought.  Tuna fish salad with crackers for lunch, granola bars for breakfast and freeze dried meals for dinner, each accompanied by a cup of fruit.

A two pound box of dried medjool dates arrived from Amazon the other day, along with a couple of new batteries for the Pentax Option W-90.  I bagged the dates for each day, five to a sandwich bag for snacks (which might be more than I need, but they are like candy - healthy candy - to me).  Locally I will buy more dried fruit - mango slices, pineapple, kiwi fruit and maybe some banana chips.  And I do need to pick up eight one-gallon bottles of water.

The trip, now that we've settled on North Carolina waters, is becoming a bit clearer in my mind.  I'll treat this as a walkabout, no set in stone plan and just going where and when the wind will take me.  It will be a counter clockwise trip around a part of mainland North Carolina, made up of wildlife refuges and farm land.  The sketch above shows options for different paths, options that will be chosen by weather and how I feel on a given day.  I hope for better sailing on the Alligator River and maybe anchoring in the rivers' Rattlesnake Bay.  A visit to Belhaven is a must.  I would like to anchor in Mouse Harbor, which I haven't visited for a few years.  Mouse Harbor is also, with the right wind, the perfect spot to head to Ocracoke Island.  I would like to visit Manteo on Roanoke Island, and maybe the sister village to the south, Wanchese.  I've got ten days to be on the water, plus two more if I need to use them.

I just rec'd a SPOT email from Curt, who is returning from the annual Chesapake Float with Barry, Kevin, Mike and a handful of other sailors.  Curt is anchored for what must be a great afternoon and wonderful evening in the little sand hook known as Cod Harbor at Tangier Island.  There are a lot of nice anchorages on Chesapeake Bay.  In my opinion this is one of the best.  Enjoy, Curt!