Easter Trip to Ocracoke

Sit back with a cold drink - this one's a long one.....


We had a WONDERFUL trip over to Ocracoke this weekend!!

Amazing we can return time after time and still enjoy.

Wednesday afternoon, we flew down to New Bern in two different planes - we packed ours full of "stuff" and Dick and Lindy did the same. Luckily, it all fit (barely) into our Escape that sits at the New Bern Airport.

We were all settled and ready to leave Thursday morning early - beautiful weather - unfortunately, no wind to speak of leaving the marina.


Motoring along....lots of reading. Just alittle chilly.


Our longtime flying friend, Bobby Cox, had told us he was going to fly over to Ocracoke for lunch - so I told him to look for us out on the Pamlico as he flew over. True to his word, he found us!!! I know this photo doesn't look like he was close - but he swooped down very close to the water as he went by.


And off he went to the Ocracoke Airport.


Everything is so much the same, trip after trip....at some point along the route - we see a ferry - either the Swan Quarter or Cedar Island, depending on our timing.


Always nice to have to water tower in view - you know you're close then!


Got the boat all tied up and tidied - it was off to rent bikes. There was a group of buses leaving the ferry dock - and we noticed their advertisements - from Swannanoa! Mom will think that's cute (her hometown back near Asheville). Just a little odd to see them so far from home in such a hard-to-get-to place.


After we got the bikes, we made it up to Howard's Pub. We didn't expect to see Bobby Cox because it was several hours since his "fly-by". But, sure enough, as we were walking in, he and his grand (or great-grand) son were walking out! The grandson saw our bikes and wanted to go for a spin - so - Bobby and he borrowed two of them and toured for a while when we were eating our lunch. Not bad for 80 yrs old!! Many more to ya, Bobby!


After Howard's - we needed to work off some calories. It was off to the beach - we rode our bikes for a couple of miles. Good workout on the sand, for sure!!!


Back at the boat - Dick and Lindy preparing to go for another bike ride.


Pat and Diane arrived late Thursday and came over to the boat for a little snack. The were back Friday morning for a cup of coffee/chat.


Breakfast al fresco!


Our "Quartet of Couples" was complete when Sharon and Buddy arrived on the ferry Friday morning.


More reading. We are one relaxed bunch!


A group of Girl Scouts from the island came peddling cookies. We are such suckers. Yum. Thin Mints!


Off to Dajio's (formerly the Pelican) for the 20 cent shrimp and a few games. Ring toss and darts. Lindy and I had a close game.


Sharon and Duane had a sibling match!





Walking on the beach - chilly but who could complain?


Pat and Diane camped about 5 miles from the dock - at the NPS campground right on the beach. They ran into some fishermen with extra Red Drum - who gave them a huge fish....so, we were all invited to the campground for fresh fish.

Pat and Diane's home-away-from-home....




Master-chef Pat slicing the fish ....



House of Autry fish breading -

Heated up the oil....



Fried it up on the campstove. They served it with fresh coleslaw that Pat shredded with a knife! (remember, this was not a planned dinner so they didn't come prepared to shred cabbage). It was FABULOUS - nothing like fresh caught fish!



Afterwards, the mosquitoes were a bit hugry - so all 8 of us piled into the "burrow" (as they refer to their camper). Remember, this camper only sleeps two people!



Many silly jokes were told - we were in tears from laughter at times.

I just wonder what some of the other campsites thought we were doing in there! When it came time to leave, I bet it looked silly as all 8 of us came out the door in succession - kindof like "let's see how many people we can fit in a VW Beetle.



Some duckies hang out around the marina. Pretty, but I'm not fond of what they leave on the concrete dock!!


The next morning was surprisingly foggy - hadn't expected that. Kinda cool, though. It burned off very quickly though.


Sharon and Buddy ready for another outing.


This time, we decided we could manage the 5 mile bike ride up to Pat and Diane's campground. UGH....it was straight into the wind. We made it though. Went on a neat little nature trail out to the sound side.


A neat little lookout over the marshy wetlands.


The "gangs all here" - another great mini-vacation! The sail back to Oriental and the flights back home were uneventful. Now the countdown to St. Martin really seems to be ticking fast!!


Oh - forgot this one - turn up the speakers - went to the little Creekside Restaurant to sip a beer and hear the steel drums. Neat!

Yep, she's still in the slip where we left her!

Long time, no see, Glory Days! Amazing how life gets in the way this time of the year....we made it back to the boat and found her where we left her! A bit messy, though. What we originally thought was bird mess....ended up being OTTER mess! The marina apparently is home to at least one otter. He likes to find a boat with a "swim platform" on the back - and bring his dinner on board to devour. He doesn't like fish-heads, though. So he leaves those on the boat. Along with scales and uggh. We put moth-balls on the stern - hoping to make him/her decide not to come back. We'll see.....

Sailboat racing a motor yacht near Vandemere

I know, we're a bit silly.....a fine motor vessel - Solitude - was approaching at a leisurely pace from our port side.



We had just caught some good wind with only the main up. So, of course, we had to race. Pulled out the jib and gave it all we had ... I don't know if they know they were racing or not....but I suspect they did because they seemed to "pour the coals" to it....




I'll call it a draw!

Quick Trip to Cape Lookout

We had planned a long weekend on the boat...but the weather looked a little "iffy"...so we made a last-minute decision to fly down late Thursday evening to avoid rain/fog on Friday morning.

We don't fly much at night - just not as many safe spots to land in case of trouble....but Thursday was a beautiful, smooth night...the instrument panel is cool at night.



It's only an hour flight - but I kept busy trying to get my camera to take photos of the pretty illuminated cities flying along below us. I never could get the settings to take a good, focused shot - the shutter stayed open too long. Since we're obviously not standing still, this is all I could manage. Kindof cool in an "artsy" sort of way...



We looked at the weather and decided it wasn't too bad for a trip down to Cape Lookout. We hadn't gone this year and I wanted to go look for seashells before the temps get too cool for comfortable beach walking and dinghy riding!

So off we were Friday morning. Forecast was 10-15knots, seas 3-5 feet and building to 15-20 knots later in the day. Shouldn't be too bad.

To get to Cape Lookout from Oriental, you have to motor a good bit down the Intercoastal Waterway. It's a nice little jig, one we've taken many times.

Good to see a little bit of house construction along the way - maybe it's a sign that the housing industry is on it's way back!!




We kept seeing a plane circling in the distance - he kept swooping down towards the water. One time- someone is just having fun. Over and over - he obviously was doing something else. As we got closer, it became clear that he was a aerial spraying operation. The trees along the shore kept us from seeing what he was spraying.



As we approached the Core Creek bridge - we were a little concerned because our mast height is 64'4"...we pay very close attention to the bridge clearance signs!


No problem on this one - we had a few INCHES to spare!


To get out into the ocean at Beaufort, there are two routes available. One has a "fixed" bridge that we've had problems getting under before - so we opted for the safer lift bridge. It's a little bit of a problem because it only opens on the 1/2 hour - so you have to hover until it opens. No problem - we throttled back and timed it perfectly. Note the dreary sky - this is 1:30 in the afternoon!


The winds and rain picked up after we got out into the ocean....note that it's just 2PM...fun sailing!!



We got out to Cape Lookout and anchored in a stiff breeze. We were a little tired from the sail over and decided to make it an early night. I got up several times during the night to make sure we weren't dragging anchor. We had the GPS set to alarm us if we moved too much - but the good ole' Fortress anchor was stuck good in the mud! The boat lurched and swayed in the winds and waves all night. We opted not to go ashore - bummer! It really wasn't pleasant - 35 knot winds and rough waves even inside the protected bight.

So, about 8AM on Saturday, we decided to head back north - this was the only shot I made of the lighthouse....again - note that it's 8AM and the sun should be shining!! The forecast was for 20-25 knots and seas 4-6 feet. We were not relishing the thought of the sail back, but were resigned to it. I made sure everything was secure below before we left so that we didn't throw everything around in rough seas.


But, strangely, when we got out of the Cape Lookout Bight, the winds actually calmed a bit - the sail back to Beaufort was actually pretty nice - we saw 7 knots with just the jib and the seas were really not that bad most of the way.

As we approached the Beaufort Inlet - we passed a tugboat and barge going out to sea. We still had our sails up going down the channel, so I'm sure we made this tugboat captain nervous. It was strange to see a small barge like this going out to sea - mostly the barges are going on the inland waterways to deliver phosphate or other minerals mined nearby.


We determined that we should have no problem with the fixed bridge this time, because we were several hours from high tide.....but it was not to be - the clearance when we got there was only 64' - too low for us!! So, we had to turn around and go back to the lift bridge we used when we came down.


We passed a dredge and barge operation on the way - this explains the tugboat / barge going out to sea - neat to see them pull up sand and load it onto the barge.


That's about it for the trip - no terror, but no sunny walks on the beach either!

As we approached Oriental - we saw the Ladies Regatta - the winds were pretty strong - 20knots or so. These ladies were doing a fine job....


We spent Sunday just reading/relaxing - flew home in smooth, clear air....nice..


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Sail back from Ocracoke

Just wanted to share this photo - it pretty much sums up the sail back from Ocracoke to Oriental. 7 hours of this. Mist, rain, mist, more rain....pruney fingers and toes. Not a dry spot outside the boat. Inside was nice, dry and warm....but the roll-y seas made it just a bit yucky down there.

Oh, and we lost the dinghy (for just a few minutes!) It "sub-marined" in big following seas and broke it's line. We quickly dropped sail and went back to retrieve it though! Just glad it was fairly warm.....

Sailing to Ocracoke

Back in Oriental now and have the bandwidth to upload this short video clip....40+ knot winds. I couldn't hold the camera up too long because it would get wet from the spray. Note to self - bring my underwater enclosure that I use for the camera when SCUBA diving....

We had taken in the jib and were sailing under a double-reefed main. We're making about 7.5 knots - with just that sliver of a sail!!

Live from Ocracoke

I've got a little bit of an internet connection as long as I'm up on deck on the boat - so I'll try to post a little entry about our trip over to Ocracoke yesterday....

Flew down to New Bern over a really pretty overcast layer. Our wheel just were touching the tops of the cotton-y clouds for most of the flight. Just had to dive down thru them for the approach into New Bern.


HaHa - here's all the "stuff" I brought along for the long weekend.....lucky we've got a six seat airplane for two people!!!


Sharon and Buddy met us Wednesday night - we left early Thursday morning for the 45 mile sail over to Ocracoke....the weather forecast was not too good....not our usual pretty sunrise start!


The winds kicked up early... here they're 31.4 knots...36 mph...



Now they're 35.7 knots - 41.1 mph!! 39 mph is a Tropical storm!!



Waves were splashing us over the bow...Capt'n Duane in rain gear!


We had to "reef" - or take some of the sails down. The winds just got too strong. Duane saw 42 knots or 48.3 mph . This is the highest we snapped a photo of. We were busy holding on!!


As we approached the channel leading into Ocracoke, we ended up behind a nice catamaran named Kentris.....nice folks - Tom and Pat from Chapel Hill.



Safe and sound, though, in Ocracoke!

Out for the evening - at the new Dajio restaurant (which replaces the old Pelican, one of our favs...)


Pat and Diane drove down with their camper and A.D. (Airport Dog). Visiting this morning at the marina.


Pretty dog and pretty Diane!!!


Went over to Jolly Roger, another fav, after Howard and Peggy arrived on the noon ferry.


Met some nice folks who sail up in Maryland -Gene and Ann...got their names and email's on a napkin for further communication! Always nice to have sailing buddies!!


Went back to the Dajio today for their $0.15 shrimp - met some folks that we had seen there on previous trips.

One of the kids was showing HIS fingernail art....

A cool cowboy!!!


We always rent bikes for the weekend (since we don't have any other way to get around....) Pat volunteered to "ride back to the boat" with me on my bike.....this was the result...just a few minor bruises.....