Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone has enjoyed their holidays (Passover & Easter) with family and friends.  This weekend several boats had to move temporarily so that C-Dock can be repaired.  The work is scheduled to begin Monday.  At some point, the power will be cut off on C-Dock.  Although they said between 4-5 hours, as we all know Murphy’s Law can prevail and it could be longer.  If you have perishables on-board you may want to remove them from your refrigerator or throw them out when you come up. 

It was a quiet weekend at the lake.  Not many of our sailors were up as they spent the holidays with friends and family.  Saturday started our gray and cool.  It took a long time for the sun to burn off the clouds and warm up.  On Saturday, Tenacious, Unplugged, Godspeed, Aquila, Fortune’s Fool, Honeycraft, Islander, Namasti, and M&M were out.  (Others stayed at the dock to work on their boats). We were sailing down towards Satterwhite Pt.  We had nice winds, 7 to 10 knots.  After about an hour, M&M went off to anchor for lunch.  Tenacious and Honeycraft rafted up with us.  Several of the fleet passed us.  On our boat, Gabby, Katie and friends braved the cold water (62 degrees) for a swim.  (personally I’ll wait till the water is at least 70 degrees).  At about 4:30, we started to pull anchor and head back to the marina.  There was a gathering of sailors by Wrenagade.   It was a great night’s sleep with just the hatches open.

Sunday was a gorgeous day.  The sun was out the temperatures warmed quickly.  Several sailors left early to enjoy Easter Sunday.  Tail wind, Unplugged, M & M, Namasti, Respite, Pronto, Eliza Grey and Fortunes Fool were out enjoying 10-15 knot winds with 20 knot gusts.  Unplugged made it past the power lines.  Several made it up to the dam.  We sailed (both sails out full), up to Kimble Pt then tucked in and anchored for lunch and a nap.  The winds held all day and some had a great sail back to the marina.  What a great ending for a nice weekend.

Next week Saturday April 30th, we will have the Fox and Hound Race.  We will need a volunteer for the Fox.  The Fox is given a 5-10 minute head start.  The fleet is given 3 water balloons each and the Fox has 10 water balloons.  The chasing boats then follow according to their PHRF ratings.  Participants attempt to overtake the “fox” within a specified period of time. The fleet can only hit the fox with the water balloon in the cockpit but the fox can hit the fleet anywhere on the boat.  We will have a captain’s meeting at 10:30 AM and start the race at 11:30.  The race will end by 1:30 PM.  We will need to get back to the dock so that we can get ready to have our Boat Oriented Flea Market from 4-5:30 PM.  Bring your extras, old stuff, stuff that didn’t work, unreturned stuff, etc.. Put a price on it and we will have tables set up for you to display.  One man’s junk is another’s treasure. 

Then stick around for our International Cook-Off.  Think of foods from other parts of the world.  Expand your taste buds, have fun.  Bring a chair to the top of C- Dock and enjoy the cooking and camaraderie.

Hello Everyone,

I hope that this e-mail finds that all of our members are safe and sound from the wild and turbulent weather.

Hello Everyone,

Got back from seeing the boat pulled.  After some work to be done, M & M will be delivered to the lake on either Tues. April 19 to Wed. April 20th.  We are excited.  Doug sent me a write up of this weekend.  I hope you enjoyed.

“Saturday was gray and cool.  Light winds - NE-N-ENE.  Eight boats made it out for a group sail.  The plan was to start at the Goal post - sail to E buoy - (just got your email as I am writing this) - the boats that got the E before the last boat were to sail around the Diamond Shoals until the last boat in the group rounded E then all were  to sail back to the Goal posts.  It didn't work as planned.  I get no respect (ha-ha)  Wrenagade and Tenacious got to E way ahead of any other boats.  Two boats dropped out before they got to E.  The rest of us struggled to E while Wrenagade and Tenacious putzed around the area.  We did sail back to the Goal Posts.  Tenacious flew their code 0 and were at the dock and through their second set of cocktails before the rest of us got in.  Unplugged flew their spinnaker also.  It was all fun but we could have used a bit more wind and some warmer air - it got a bit chilly.

The dinner was fun.  We were a bit lost with out our leader but we did get a table set up by Chiang Mai.  We decided everyone would bring their own plates and silverware.  The food started to show up just before the rain started.  Tenacious took us in and 10 of us had a grand feast aboard Tenacious.  Bobette made a rice and spinach casserole, along with a salad, Diane and Eddie had spiral deli rings (not sure what they are called) and bread, Line and Terry brought a fruit platter, Cary and Ella cooked pork tenderloins and rice and beans.  As the table was being cleared - to the surprise of Diane - Eddie began washing all the dishes.

There are two new boats on C.  I (Doug) spoke to them both and they plan to join the club.  “

While we were down in Oriental, Paul told us that a Catalina 34 was going to be coming to the lake this week.  Next week is race 3 & 4 of the Spring Racing Series.  Our next Club event is Saturday April 30th.  A fox and hound chase and International Pot Luck.  Have a great week and we will see you at the lake.  For those of you who want to see a bit of our coastal adventure, here is a YouTube link  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqkc4HF4seA

Hello Everyone,

The temperature this weekend is going to be great.  Doug Miller will lead a group sail tomorrow.  Captain’s meeting at 10:30 AM.   We hope to be back by 5 PM to share a wonderful Fit and Trim PotLuck.  Please help Doug out and have volunteers to get a table (there may be one by Cheeseburger) and the paper and plasticware from the shed.  Also, please help clean up and put away afterwards.  Have a great Day out there.

Hello Everyone,

As some of you may know, last Thursday, Mark and I started our adventure of bringing our new boat  M & M, (a Catalina 350) down from Deltaville VA, to Oriental NC.  Along for the ride and crew were Jeff Matthiae and Rich Kamens.  Our friend Shelley & Gabby drove us up to Deltaville.  

About an hour from our destination, I asked Mark if he had the key for the boat.  We looked around and could not find nor remember taking any of the 3 sets we had.  We started to laugh it up.  We were going to have to break into our own boat.  In Deltaville, we stopped at a hardware store to get a crowbar.  We were able to pop the lock into the cabin but then we needed a key to start the engine.  We decided it would be better to change the switch and put on a new key.  Mark went to West Marine while Jeff opened up the electronics on the helm .  We got the new key in and it worked.  We then sent Gabby and Shelley back to NC.  We got everything stowed away and I put up some pot roast to cook.  After dinner, we looked at the charts to plan the route. 

We were up at 7am and had waffles for breakfast, took some Dramamine, got all the lines and electric disconnected and set sail for Norfolk.  This was a 50 mile leg of our journey.  The water coming out of the inlet was skinny and we had to be careful.  When we got to the Chesapeake, we had about 2-3 foot seas hitting us a bit on the broad side.  The Dramamine made me very sleepy.  Mark Rich and Jeff took turns at the helm.  We tried to pull out some headsail but could not get it out.  We then pulled out about 1/3 of the main.  This was a good learning experience to work the chart plotter and radar and working the autohelm.  With the wind off the water, it was extremely cold.  We all had on several layers of clothes.  ( I had on 4 layers). We had lunch about noon time.  

We pulled into Norfolk’s Waterside Marina at about 5 PM.  There was a little mall there and we went to Joe’s Crab shack for dinner.  About 150 high school band members came in shortly after.  They were up line dancing. We had to hold Rich back cause he wanted to join them.  After dinner, several of us took showers and then planned the next day’s leg.  We were going down to Coinjock.  This was also about a 50 mile leg.  

We left early after sunrise.  We had several bridges to go under and a Locke to go down.  I was expecting more of a drop in the Locke.  It was only about a 2 foot drop.  Most of Saturday was in the ditch.  We got to Coinjock at about 4 PM.  This was a nice stop.  We just beat a rain band in.  I went for a shower.  We filled the fuel tank and pumped the waste tank.  Dinner was grilled chicken marinated in hoisin-garlic sauce with grilled veggies all served over rice.  After dinner, we talked over Sunday’s leg.  We either could do 30 miles or we would have to do 85 miles to the next marina.  

We decided to get up early at 5 AM and go for the 85 miles.  This day we would have to cross the Albemarle Sound.  A tug had passed us at 6 AM, at 11 AM we saw it anchored near the Alligator River Swing Bridge.  As we were going to the bridge, we bumped the bottom.  Jeff got us off the bar.  We called the bridge operator and he said that an electrician was working on it and he did not know when it would open.  We saw about 20 boats anchored on the other side.  We headed towards shore and anchored.  I heated up some Matzah ball soup and as we were about to sit down for an early lunch, the bridge operator hailed everyone and said they were going to try to open the bridge, get over there.  We dropped everything and pulled anchor.  It opened, we got through, we think that those heading north were stuck there overnight because they did not open on Sat. due to the wind.  After everyone passed the bridge closed and did not open again.  They needed parts.  

We made it down to Bellhaven and pulled into the Bellhaven Marina at 6:30 PM.  I had a lasagna in the oven and made a salad.  We had heard the weather for Monday.  It did not sound great for the wind.  We had a choice either to go and chance it or we would be stuck in Bellhaven till Wed. cause Tuesday’s forecast was worse.  

The last leg was about 45-50 miles.  We decided that if we could leave early, we might make it before the winds built up.  We all took Dramamine before we left at 6:35 AM.  Going down the ditch was not a problem.  The winds were stiff.  Once we hit the Neuse River, things were a different story.  Jeff was manning the helm.  The wind was blowing a steady 30 from the SW, right on our nose.  Our speed went from 7 knots to 3.1 knots.  The seas built to 4-6 feet.  The waves were breaking over the bow and crashing over the dodger.  We got wet several times.  The boat handled the beating pretty good.  We were doing this for about 3.5-4 hours.  We were getting pretty tired of the ride.  Jeff was definitely getting his exercise.  He was doing this all on manual, no autohelm.  We kept the main out 1/3 to help steady us.  

About 4 miles from Oriental, Mark spotted a pod of Dolphin.  We all enjoyed watching them.  Finally we got closer to Whitaker’s Creek, we had to go down past it and then come back to get in.  Paul Wells told us to hug the red buoys on the way in.  What we did not know was when there is a SW gale, the water is pushed out of the creek.  Needless to say, we got stuck coming into the creek and had to get towed.  The slip that we had to get into was also too shallow.  The tow boat used it’s engine to blow the mud/sand out of the way and we helped winch the boat into the slip.  We were standing on our keel.  What a ride! Thanks a million to Jeff and Rich.  We could not (would not) have done it without you guys.   

Mark and I will not be up this weekend.  They are pulling the boat on Saturday and we want to be there and discuss the things we want done before M & M comes to the lake.  Doug Miller will stand in for me.  Instead of the Commodore Challenge, we will have a group sail on Saturday.  Captain’s meeting at 10:30 on C-Dock.  Doug will set the destination based on the winds Saturday.  

We will return to the dock by 5 PM so we can get ready for the Fit & Trim Pot Luck (prepare an appetizer, entrée or dessert that is healthy, low calorie and yummy).  We need some volunteers to get a table from the shed up at the top of C-Dock, get the paper goods and plasticware from the shed and we will need a crew to clean up and return everything.   We also need 3 volunteers to judge the food.  (3 non-cooks).  Speak Up.  Also, a reminder of your dues.  Doug will be there Saturday so you can bring your dues directly to him.  Have a great time!  I will need a volunteer to write up what happens this weekend.