the boat, the Big Easy

It always makes us feel good when they serve our sushi on the boat.  It seems like a reward for having ordered well.  Everybody gets to pick one regular roll and one specialty roll, then we say serve it all together and we'll mix and match.  Mix and match we did.  

The daughters were in town for the evening, meeting up with Mom for a flight out tomorrow morning to New Orleans.  A bit ahead of schedule they treated me to a father's day dinner at Hanaki.  The waitress and sushi chefs may have noticed our quiet little celebration - a couple of complimentary desserts were brought to our table.  It was a very nice evening.

last man on board

Deck hand Duryea Decker Griffith leaps onto the Schooner Virginia as the tall ship casts off for a three-week trip to Bermuda and back.  

They've got 11 high school students on board for the sail.  Don't I wish I was 17 and sailing to Bermuda.

Then again, don't I wish I was 57 and sailing to Bermuda.  Fair winds.

the new camera

First, an update about Webb Chiles.  If you read his journal you know that he arrived at Hilo, Hawaii on Saturday, June 7.  He has not posted the passage log, but you can read a description of the sail - which includes sailing at 8, 9 and 10 knots, a thousand mile week and a boat, GANNET, that seemed to live up to Webb's expectation of moving like a leaf blown over the water - here.  I wrote a few days ago that he arrived in 17 days.  I now read it was 18 days.  Also, I had mentioned, based on a SOG reading from his Yellow Brick track, that sailing leaving the coast of San Diego was slow going with a speed of 1.7 knots.  Webb describes that reading as a glitch, saying "I was doing 6 and 7 then and left San Diego with unusually good winds."  Not so slow going after all.  

I do appreciate Webb sharing his track, I enjoyed following along.  And look forward to following it again when he leaves Hawaii on the next leg of the trip.

----------------------------------------------------------

I had a few reasons for my short sail yesterday morning.  I wanted to sail on the waterfront with the tall ships at Harborfest, I wanted to test out the repaired track for the mizzen sail which had been bent out of shape during the sail across Pamlico Sound under small craft warnings and, most importantly, I wanted to experiment with my new camera, a GoPro Hero 3+.  This camera is a replacement for my old Pentax Optio W90 which is now impersonating a submarine on the bottom of the Pasquotank River.  

I've had a little experience with GoPro's, we had one at the office for a while.  They are very small, fixed focus, wide angle video and still cameras that come with a waterproof housing.  The version I bought is tiny but has some incredible features.

As I said, this is a replacement for my old waterproof point and shoot.  How much will I use it?  Not a lot.  Mostly I shoot with my Fuji X-20 digital rangefinder.  But when the weather is bad or should there be a lot of spray coming into the boat, a waterproof camera makes a lot of sense.  And there is another use I see for the camera.  It has an interval shooting feature that allows the camera to be left in one spot where it can shoot photographs every so many seconds up to one minute.  The camera was mounted on the mizzen mast about four feet off the deck for the photographs you see here.

If you look closely at the photograph below you will see that I have my iPhone in my hand.  Phoning home?  No, I'm shooting a photograph with the GoPro.  The model I bought has built in wifi.  It can create a local network that I can connect to with the iPhone or iPad.  Using the GoPro app, I can control the camera.  I can change the settings from video to still, change the shooting rate from single frame to a burst of mode that captures - get this - 30 frames per second at 12 megapixels each, or switch to interval shooting mode.  I can also preview on the phone what the camera is seeing or what it has already shot.  Pretty amazing.  

I could see on an interesting day of sailing, for example the sail across Pamlico Sound with 20-25 mph of wind and two to three foot waves, sailing under just mizzen and jib, having the GoPro mounted on the mizzen shooting a frame every minute for the two-hour-plus crossing.  There would be a certain randomness to the images captured, but there would be the chance of getting a photo of Spartina heeled over in the wind with breaking waves and spray coming over the bow.  There's no way, when single handing, of shooting that photo myself.  But with a little luck, the GoPro might get it.  

It's an interesting camera.  I will experiment with it some more, then tuck it away until the next cruise.  I can't wait.

thank you, Schooner Virginia

The Schooner Virginia, who was nice enough to take me out for the Harborfest Parade of Sail on Friday, was also nice enough to post some photos of Spartina sailing in a light breeze Sunday morning.  Scroll down and you will see the post here.

I sent Hank, the ship's captain, a note asking him to pass on my thanks to whomever was responsible for the post.  He said it was a team effort: a crew member shot the photo with a phone, Stefan Edick, serving as a relief captain, suggested the post, and Hank put the photos together with some nice words.  Thanks very much to the captain(s) and crew.

I was out for a morning walk on the waterfront this morning when I saw the Virginia leaving the Otter Berth, where she had been tied up during Harborfest.  It was a brief trip, she tied up a few hundred yards away behind Nauticus.  Tomorrow, she will cast off and sail to Bermuda.  I wish the crew an enjoyable, safe journey.

Sunday sail

No wind, but a new toy. Just a short sail today, 

we'll be off the water before Harborfest cranks up.

almost there

Webb's yellow brick track shows that he is off Hilo, Hawaii.  My guess is he is waiting for daylight, which should be arriving about now.  Coming in today would, I believe, make Webb's estimate of 17 days right on the money.

Below is the track from San Diego to his current position.

And here are the winds that will carry him to Hilo.

Ocracoke was the best

This past trip, what I've come to think of as the Easy in the Islands 292 (292 being the statute miles sailed during the eight days on the water), was a really wonderful trip.  I would put it up there with the Inner Banks 425 and Bay Days 220  as one of my favorite trips over the years.  

I've had a love affair with Ocracoke for the past twenty-some years.  We vacationed there as a family for 14 years straight and I've been there for work (yes, it really was work) too many times to count.  I've always reached the island by ferry, save for one time when I flew there in a small plane.  What I have always wanted to do though, and this desire goes back a couple of decades, is to sail to Ocracoke.  And we finally did it.  

I can't describe the feeling of coming off Pamlico Sound, past the channel markers and the tiny sand island that marks the southern end of Howard's Reef, sailing on the same starboard tack that carried us all the way from the mainland, then turning downwind wing and wing to the the jetties leading into Silver Lake, the tiny little harbor that is better known to the locals as "the ditch."

We go from the cool breeze on the water to the heat of a sandy little isle.  The lady at Dajio expresses concern over my sunburned skin as she finds me a table in the shade of an umbrella.  The waitress brings a glass of water and the first of four cold glasses of iced tea (thirsty? you bet).  The nice young couple at the Community Store offer to sell me ten bottles of water to resupply Spartina at a discount, but I say no and pay the full fare because I like what they are doing, carrying on the tradition at the old waterfront store that goes back to 1918.

It's people like Rob Temple, that's him above hard at work at his waterfront shop, that make the island a special.  I had met Rob before, but he had no way of remembering me.  Back in the 90s we were regular customers for evening sails on Rob's schooner "Windfall."  He stills sails a schooner, a smaller version these days, plus the skipjack Wilma Lee.

Rob had noticed Spartina making a few tacks back and forth across Silver Lake that morning.  When we meet about an hour later hospitality was all he had to offer.  "Whatever you need, just let me know."  Well, I needed a dock space since the National Park Service docks were closed for maintenance.  He pointed out the window, said come tie up here.  And then the offer of his golf cart - here are the keys and here's the gear shift, just push the pedal and run whatever errands you need to get done.  Wow, what a nice welcome to the island.

After the errands I sit into shade of the porch with Rob, drinking an iced tea (yes, another one, it was a hot afternoon) from Ocracoke Coffee Company and we talk about books, sailing and a few people we knew in common.  It is a wonderful afternoon.  Rob even interviews me for his online column called The Shipping News, which you can read here.  Being mentioned in a column with a couple of my sailing heroes - Joshua Slocum and Webb Chiles - well I don't even know what to say about that.  Thank you Rob, for the hospitality and the kind words.

And then a while later I'm sitting in Spartina at the dock refilling my water bottles when I see a big strapping man with a white beard and a friendly smile looking at Spartina.  I stand up to shake his hand, remind him that we had met before, back a couple of winters ago.  He doesn't remember me, but introduces himself as Philip. He does not mention his last name, which is Howard.  If you know Ocracoke, you know the name Howard.  Howard's Pub.  Howard's Reef.  And that winding sandy lane just off the harbor and through the live oaks - Howard Street.  Philip's ancestry goes back eight generations to William Howard, a one-time owner of the island and also an associate of a fellow called Blackbeard.  You see Philip below, back on a winter's day when we first met.

Philip asks a lot of questions about Spartina, about the trip.  He is friendly and can't help but smile.  He mentions his car.  Asks if I need to run errands, but no, I've already done that with Rob's golf cart.  He starts to leave, then stops to ask if he could take a photograph.  He mentions a blog and says he might write about Spartina.  And he does write about Spartina, which you can read here.  He mentions "interesting, talented and creative folk," and I'm still surprised that he would include me in that group as I have never thought of myself that way.  But island people have a different way of looking at the world.  Thank you, Philip, for the hospitality and the nice write up.  I'll look forward to meeting you again.

A great little island with a perfect harbor, a classic old lighthouse and friendly people - what more could I want.

Yes, Ocracoke.  It was the best.

coming into port

Godspeed, of the Jamestown fleet, coming in for Harborfest.

reveille

Two bells rang aboard the schooner Virginia this morning just as reveille was played across the river at the old Navy hospital.  In a light breeze flags were raised on both Hospital Point and the Virginia.  It was a nice relaxing walk along the waterfront this morning. 

  

Early mornings this time of year are cool and comfortable.  Around 8 a.m., reveille, heat and humidity make their presence known.  I don't mind it, in fact I kind of enjoy it.

It was quiet along the Elizabeth.  A few people out for their morning walks.  The crew was stirring aboard the Virginia.  The SailNauticus boats were tied to the pier, their after-school sailing season coming to a close and the all-day summer camp season about to begin.  I look forward to hearing the screams from the boats the the kids aboard for the first time feel the hull heeling in a southwesterly breeze.

I had planned to sail this coming Sunday, but now realize it is HarborFest weekend - the big waterfront party for our area that marks the beginning of our summer season.  Parts of the river are shut down during the festival for races and demonstrations, and small sailboats can get in the way.  The forecast is excellent.  Maybe I'll sneak out on the water early Sunday morning for a few hours, maybe not.  We'll see.

a few photographs

...and some you will never see*

*I find that the sounds on a boat give a rhythm to sailing.  The splash of the water on the hull, the pop of a sheet coming out of a cam cleat, the lazy jacks tapping against the main, the clinking of the chain rode as it shifts in the anchor bucket going from one tack to the other, and even a water bottle sliding across the cockpit sole when coming about.  Those sounds become routine and expected.  And every now and then there is an unexpected sound which catches my attention.

Coming into Elizabeth City Saturday morning we had an excellent northwest wind.  Just a mile or two from the dock we were tacking up the river, heeled over with the rail in the water.  I was using my Pentax Optio 90w waterproof camera to shoot the dark brown water, stained by the cypress swamps, as it sprayed out from alongside the hull.  Finished with the photos, I set the camera on the coiled rope boarding ladder which sits on top of the day storage box between the inboard end of the mizzen boom and the hull.  A gust of wind hit us and I delighted in the railing digging further into the water, my joy tempered by a sound unexpected coming from behind me.  Looking aft I was able to instantly reconstruct what had just happened.

 

With the quick heel of the boat the waterproof camera slipped from its nest of the coiled rope ladder, up over the inboard section of the mizzen boom and across the day storage box.  Normally at that point the camera wold have dropped down a few inches, landing of the aft watertight storage box and falling to the cockpit sole, which would have been fine for the shock-proof camera.  But since I was on a cruise I had the grey pelican storage box in place which creates a nearly flush surface with the day storage box.  The camera jumped over the inch-wide gap and across the pelican box, hitting the edge of the outboard well, doing a cartwheel that would have earned an 8.9 from the judges if not for the awkward clank against the outboard engine's lower unit, and then dropping awkwardly and irretrievably into the deep dark waters of the Pasquotank River.  D'oh!

What was lost?  Not a lot, really.  I take photographs, including these you see here, most often with my non-waterproof Fuji X-20 camera.  It is only when it is raining or when there is a lot of spray coming into the boat that I use (or I guess I should now say "used") the waterproof camera.  On this past trip that was just two occasions - a gusty morning sailing up the channel on Roanoke Sound and sailing from Ocracoke to East Bluff Bay with small craft warnings, winds 20-25 and waves two to three feet on Pamlico Sound.  The photos from Roanoke Sound will not be missed, those from the Pamlico Sound crossing will be.  

When I realized the camera was gone I thought about yelling or maybe getting angry.  But what would that have accomplished?  It was too nice of a day on a very pleasant cruise.  And anyway those images, now trapped as bits of data on the river's bottom, are also forever captured in my mind's eye.  I will enjoy them, and you will have to take my word that there were in fact some nice images of Spartina pounding through the waves across Pamlico Sound on a very rough day.  

The bottom line:  I do enjoy photographs, but I enjoy memories even more.