Saturday 3-21-09
The WX forecast called for winds again today but not as strong as Friday and, they were supposed to diminish in the PM. I (RCB) interpreted that forecast to mean a manageable 2 hour transit of the Neuse River if we got an early enough start to avoid the peek winds at mid morning. By then we would be in more protected waters so accordingly, we departed at 06:50 with the running lights glowing. About 30 minutes out of the harbor we were faced with 20 knot winds blowing right on our nose and 15 minutes after that we were bouncing on 5 to 6 ft. waves with a very short period. Spray was hitting the cabin windshield frequently and sometimes spray would even carry up to and over the bimini top that covered the bridge deck. We soon decided it was time to leave the bridge for the lower helm station in the cabin. That took a little planning, because we had not removed the cover across the front window. I made a trip to the fore deck and removed the cover while PMB gathered up the navigation things we had on the bridge and then together, we both carefully moved into the cabin. The move gave us both a few doses of spray and wet feet from the sea water that was running along the side deck. We were much more comfortable in the cabin and the auto pilot did most of the steering for the next hour and half while we hung onto the overhead hand rails and bounced up and down as FLIGHT climbed up the steep front of waves before suddenly falling off the back side with a slam – but she kept on churning out the distance to the turn at Maw Point and into the Bay River. Here we found a much more comfortable ride because we had the wind and rolling seas on our starboard quarter. Those first couple of hours might just have been the most uncomfortable we have spent on the water since we have been boating.
The sea state and temperature became more and more comfortable as we continued on to the day’s destination, Dowry Creek Marina. This is a great stop where Mary the owner and a group of semi permanent live-aboard cruisers are available to help you in any way. Later, after hosing off the salt crust that covered our boat, we joined the weekly Saturday evening “bring what you have” cocktail hour and pot luck supper in the cozy club house. We chatted with Brad & Joyce (from Oregon and live on their sailboat) who we met in the fall, and a new couple who are from Canada and spent the winter at Dowry Creek aboard their trawler, Linda and John and Roscoe, their great dog who adopted them when they were in Brunswick, GA. They furnished the beef stew that fed us all that evening. When things were winding down, a sailboat arrived at the marina and it was the same one that had come into Oriental on Friday and tied up in the slip right next to FLIGHT. The owners live and keep their boat, LADY ITCHNOR, in Kitty Hawk, NC and were out for a local cruise for the weekend. They left Oriental a few hours after we departed and also saw some of the same conditions we had.

Miniature Bottle Tree - crafted of copper.

Made by John.