I weighed anchor 0345 in Spring Creek, Bonner Bay, off of Bay River in the Pamlico Sound. The mosquitoes were keeping me up and I was antsy to sail anyway. I did too good of a job picking the protected anchorage, which meant the mosquitoes were given full access to my ship. I went with the heavy duty spray but they kept finding spots in my ears, face, lips. Bastards. The ears are the worst.....bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
A group of dolphins escorted me out to Bay River, never really see dolphins much in PAmlico.... They flashed silver in the moonlight and gulped for air. Raised staysail and reefed main, forecast was same as Tues, winds S 15-20 kts. Identified all of the lights and matched their pattern on chart whicle I made about 5 kts. Small rain squall, winds picked up a bit and rain squall created illusion of storm at sea. Properly canvasssed, so uneventful.
Turned around Neuse river Junction and raised yankee. Now we're cooking. First time ever running masttop lights. Identified a barge w/ tow. Passed Oriental at daybreak and made my way up the Neuse. Just before Minnesott Beach, before mid-day, I encountered a very strong gust that put the rail under water. I thought it was isolated but looked at the water and saw more wind coming. After a couple of times heeling over 30°, I rehearsed the forward trip in my mind to strike the jib. Eased main, headed up and went forward and ripped that sucker down with sheets whipping and rigging popping and clanging. This can't be good for the rig, I thought. I never have been able to make my downhaul work right. It was blowing so hard it took three tries to tack.
The reefed main and staysail were very comfortable then. After checking the Neuse River weather station today, I see the winds were regularly gusting to 35mph, so 28 kts or so. Too much wind for reefed main and all working headsails. "It just came on so quickly". With reefed main and stays'l the boat feels terrific in those conditions. A good confidence builder.
The boat was a wreck in the cabin. Things that had never moved in normal conditions were everywhere; the cabin sole was covered by the slide out berth, cushions, charts, etc. I know it may not seem like a big deal, but having the cabin helter-skelter really flustered me. I set the autopilot and whipped it into shape. Not only that, but all my halyards were trailing in the water. Normally I coil than and lay them in front of the mast, by dorade, etc. Do others tie their coil up? any good tricks here? Another lesson: In higher winds, make SURE halyards are running free before striking sail.
Most sailboats carried no canvas, and there were lots of them heading up to New Bern. Probably a good place for a snowbird to spend a few windy, rainy days. On the downwind run I passed a motoring cat with sails furled but not covered. I reasoned that everyone was gun shy after the last little blow. I bet that cat would have been making 10 knots under sail. Hard to find a vacant anchorage right now, the Neuse is definitely migration station. Bet the Chesapeake is really crowded right now. Saw one other CApe Dory, a 36 I believe, with a NY state port and a "for sale" sign on it.
This was my shakedown for Nov trip to GA. Hard to articulate, but the past few days sailing in upwards of 20 kts have taught me a lot.
Had to tell someone,
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Chase