Home->Sailing Trips->Nowhere Far

David Swanson presents us with two short articles about his sailing experiences last summer and fall.

Nowhere Far

Text and Photographs by David Swanson.

The last week in August found me heading down to Potters Marine to undo the hurricane preparations on our Stone Horse 23 Flying Beagle after the not-so-near miss from Hurricane Erin. Once that task was complete and I had finished some work on our dinghy, I called my wife to let her know that I was going to head out in the morning for a few days of sailing.

“Going anywhere in particular?” she asked. “No, and nowhere far.” I replied. “I’m just going to see what the wind does and take it from there. I mainly want to go somewhere other than Slade Creek or Bath. It seems like every time I take the boat out I end up at one or the other.”

Tuesday morning dawned clear after a rainy night. My hopes for an early start were foiled by issues with a recalcitrant outboard motor. I was able to troubleshoot and repair a stuck float on the carburetor and finally left the dock a 10:15 am. I motored out of North Creek into the Pamlico River and raised the sails in a North wind around 10 knots, gusting to 15. I headed downstream toward the Pamlico Sound with the wind build to 15, then 18 knots. Abandoning thoughts of anchorages on the sound, I turned north up the Pungo River. I rolled up the jib as it is much easier to tack with just the main sail and the staysail up, but it soon became a moot point as the wind rapidly died away. I spent an hour drifting around at the mouth of the Pungo River waiting for the wind to fill back in, but it never did. Finally around 1:30 I gave up and dropped the sails and started the engine. The Tohatsu ran fine this time, thankfully. I motored up the river and then into Slade Creek, eventually anchoring near the mouth of Becky Creek at 3:00 pm. As I had not eaten any lunch I went ahead and cooked an early supper. Slade Creek is a beautiful and well protected body of water, and usually the fishing is pretty good there too. Not so this day, I had nary a nibble. What I did have later was a pod of dolphins that traveled by going up the creek and then later put on quite a show on their way back down. After the dolphins, it was a quiet night.

Wednesday morning was again clear. The forecast was for NE winds around 5 knots but we actually had NW wind around 15. I got an early start and motored out to the river. From there it was an excellent sail down to Wades Point. Turning up the Pamlico River I was beating into the wind but it was still excellent sailing. I began to entertain thoughts of heading up to Washington, or maybe Goose Creek. About the time I reached North Creek the wind became erratic. It was blowing 20 knots one minute, then dead calm the next, then switching directions by 60 degrees or more. My speed diminished to near zero. By 3:00 it was obvious that I wasn’t going much farther up the river that day so I dropped the sails and motored into Bath, tying up at the State Historic Site dock at 4:00 pm. There was no one else there and it was again a very quiet night after an early dinner. I should have slept soundly but for no real reason I did not.

Thursday morning I walked out to the Grill at the Country Kitchen and splurged for breakfast. It is definitely the best meal that they serve, and there was the usual crowd of working folks getting take out and old men drinking coffee and solving the world’s problems. I left the dock in Bath at 8:40 with no wind, and motored out to the Pamlico River. There was no wind to speak of on the river either, so I motored all the way back to Potters. I packed up the car and started the long trip back home.

Salt Air

Text and Photographs by David Swanson.

Another installment in my “Well, that didn’t go as planned” series of boat trips that turned out well in the end. Sorta.

I arrived at Potters on Tuesday 16 September. It was a cool, cloudy, and windy evening as I loaded up our Stone Horse 23 Flying Beagle for a week long trip. Wednesday morning was still overcast with a west wind of 12 to 15 knots as I cast off at 9:15 am. The sailing was great early on, sailing downwind toward the Pamlico Sound but as the morning wore on the wind decreased. Noon found me nearly becalmed at the junction of the Pamlico River, Pungo River, and the Pamlico Sound. I fired up the trusty Tohatsu Sailpro motor and continued motor-sailing east. At 3:00 pm I dropped the sails and motored into Juniper Bay under the judging watch of three cormorants. Juniper Bay is another anchorage that I visit too often, but it is deep, has good protection from every direction except due south, and it is a very convenient spot. Unfortunately the red entrance marker #2 has been replaced by a floating nun buoy that is much harder to see. After an early dinner and some mediocre fishing I succumbed to the hordes of mosquitoes and closed up the boat for the night.

Thursday dawned cool and cloudy again, with a light NW wind. Breakfast was done and the anchor raised by 8:00 am. With the light wind directly behind me there was no point in raising the sails so I motored toward Ocracoke. Near the entrance to Big Foot Slough I saw both of the big sound ferries coming up behind me. I fired up the VHF and let them know that I was going to hang around outside the channel until they were past me so as not to interfere with their progress. Despite that delay, I was tied up at the National Park Service docks by 1:30 pm. After a little searching I was able to find an electrical outlet that worked, and moved the boat close enough to it to be able to plug in my battery charger. Almost as soon as I finished tying up a large power cruiser with a friendly but unleashed dog came in and tied up right behind me, effectively blocking me in. After checking in and cleaning the boat and myself up a little bit, I walked over to SmacNally’s for a plate of fried shrimp and a drink. Later I joined about 40 of my fellow travelers down by the boat ramp taking pictures of the sunset.

Friday was a lay day in Ocracoke. I treated myself to breakfast the The Stockroom Street Food/Deja Brew Coffee. In addition to good food, they have the best view in the harbor. I walked out to Books to be Red, then headed to Eduardo’s. Since Eduardo’s had announced that they were permanently closing in November my family members had asked me to get tee shirts for them. This turned out to be more involved and more expensive than I expected but everyone was happy in the end. I tried the new Ocracoke Ice Cream Shop on the big curve by the harbor, and was not impressed. Dinner was at Dajios. Since I was planning to be back in a few weeks with my family I just got a burger, but it was quite good as always. Then more sunset pictures.

Saturday morning started as they always do with the sounds of the ferry boats being loaded. I waited for them to depart then left the dock at 9:00 am. The skies were clear and the wind from the NE at 15 knots. I motored out Nine Foot Slough channel to the sound. Note that the navigation notes suggest that you stay close to red day marks 2, 4, and 6. At nearly high tide I saw less than 7 feet of water near #2. Green day mark #7 was completely missing.

Once on the sound I unrolled the jib only and motor sailed leisurely south west toward the mouth of West Bay. Once past the entrance I turned east behind Cedar Island and followed the shallow channel into North Bay. The entrance section to this channel and an area near where I anchored would only have about 3-1/2 feet of water in them at normal low tide, which coincidentally was what Flying Beagle draws. The NE winds pushed the water level up some, and with more NE wind forecast I was comfortable anchoring there. Cedar Island is barely above sea level (and not above it in some spots) so there was little protection from the wind but it did provide some protection from the waves and make for some nice scenery. If not for the small boats buzzing by from a boat ramp nearby you could convince yourself you were near the end of the earth. The wind kept the mosquitoes away, and the fish were biting. Once the sun went down I had a good bath and watched the stars for a while, even seeing one meteor.

Sunday morning brought more NE wind – 20 knots with forecast of more. Discretion being the better part of valor, I decided to stay put and just enjoy the day. Heading farther into West Bay would not give me much better shelter and would have made for a longer trip back to Potters. My Rocna anchor was well dug in and I felt very secure where I was at. During the day the wind increased to 25 knots with higher gusts, so I felt pretty good with my decision. The fishing was even better than the day before, and there was still a parade of small boats going back and forth. One fellow in a little jon boat with a 9.9 Johnson outboard waved at me with his Budweiser on the way out, and again with a fresh one on the way back. Sunday night I could see the lights of a larger craft out on the sound but it was too far out to tell what it was.

Monday morning still had NE winds over 25 knots. By 9:45 am it had dropped to 20 knots so I raised anchor and motored back toward West Bay. The waves heading out into the Pamlico Sound were still very rough and apparently the anchor was not secure in its chock, so at some point the anchor came loose and dropped below the boat. By the time I realized what had happened and was able to retrieve the anchor, the wooden chock and bronze fairlead had been ripped off the bowsprit. Once I got out on the sound I was able fall off to the west and unroll the jib, which steadied the boat somewhat. The motion was still so bad that the outboard stopped twice. By noon the wind was down to 15 knots out of the north, and the waves were diminishing as well. Inside the Bay River I rolled the jib back up and motored up the ICW.

I had planned to anchor in Campbell Creek or Eastham Creek for the night but after the problems in the morning I decided to take advantage of the lighter winds and head back to Potters. Exiting Goose Creek into the Pamlico River, I encountered a large barge full of gravel heading south. A quick call on the VHF confirmed that they were heading south on the waterway, not turning west towards Washington. I maneuvered accordingly and reached Potters at 5:15 pm. I cooked dinner and took my first real shower in almost a week.

Tuesday morning I treated myself to breakfast at Gingerbread Bakery in Belhaven. I cleaned up the boat and packed up the car, then headed back home.

Here are a few more pictures from these two trips.