Truly not wanting to be anti-social, but seeing an opportunity in both time and weather to do a trip that we had wanted to do for a couple of years, we chose a busy trip to Wrightsville Beach and Masonboro Inlet. With our work schedules allowing us to leave work Thursday night and not having to return until Tuesday morning, we had a little more time than the rest of our peer group in NSA. Also with the weather not being favorable to get out the inlet Friday and not wanting to sit around the marina for a day waiting for the weather to turn, we chose to use that weather disadvantage to our advantage.
We arrived at Matthews Point about 2345 (11:45 PM) with full provisions, fuel, and water aboard from preparations the weekend before. Everything was stowed and the skiff rowed around by 0100 (1:00 AM). We steamed our way in a head wind down the river, into Adams Creek, and down to Cedar Creek, where we dropped the hook for the night (morning) at 0300 (3:00AM). We wanted to get ahead of the wind expected Friday so we would not have to pound our way up Adams Creek. By 0800 (8:00AM) Friday morning when we climbed out of the bunk, the wind and rain that had been forecasted had arrived. I pulled on my foulies, hauled the anchor, and headed south with the headsail and a little engine. Kari, not enjoying a brisk sail in the rain as much as I do, chose to stay below with a warm engine and a good book. With the wind steady and strong we kept the 150 Genoa up all they way down the ditch and saw speeds as high as 8+ knots with the help of a little current. Visibility stayed fair all the way down Bogue Sound and by the time we reached Topsail Island the sun popped out long enough to dry off my foul weather gear and for Kari to decide to spend a few minutes on deck. At the New River Inlet a kind power boater pointed out to us, just a couple hundred yards after missing the turn to stay on the ICW, that we might be going the wrong way. They’re not all bad! We chose not to anchor in the anchorage near the New River Inlet when we reached it about 1800 (6:00 PM) and so forced our hand to go all the way to Wrightsville Beach in the dark. The bridge tender at the bridge a mile or so north of Wrightsville Beach strongly warned us as we passed through the fenders to stay in the middle of the channel as it was a very low tide. We thanked him and went on our merry way. We found out a little later that he was very serious. We were using our Garmin GPS Map 76S to make sure we stayed in the middle of the channel. I had just checked our position on the GPS when I looked to port and in the faint light realized the gray stuff floating on the water about 10 feet away was not foam but a shoal exposed by the low tide while we were in 7 feet of water. How much potential danger do we miss when we sail in the dark? We made it to Wrightsville Beach and anchored, without incident, in the deep-water anchorage at the junction of Motts Channel and Banks Channel a little before 2300 (11:00 PM).
We spent all day Saturday being lazy enjoying the sun and watching the silly power boaters scream up and down the channel at amazing speeds.
Sunday morning broke bright and beautiful with the predicted moderate south to southwest wind blowing light from the northeast. Oh well, so much for the best laid plans. We headed out Masonboro Inlet and had a great motor sail, main and jib, with beautiful weather all the way back to Beaufort Inlet. As the wind finally moved to the south we picked up speed and were eventually able to shut down the engine for a little while before we got to Beaufort Channel. We heard a few radio conversations among NSA members returning from “the bight” and tried to call a few of our close friends but were just a little too far away. After a pleasant dinner at Sanitary Fish Market we motored around Radio Island in the falling dark, looked into Taylor Creek for a place to anchor (yea, right) then waited for the bridge to open to eventually find a place to anchor near Town Creek Marina.
Monday morning, after weathering the thunderstorm that rolled through early, we ate breakfast and started our way up the waterway and home to Matthews Point. Near the high-rise bridge we were passed first by Chip in Chip’s Ahoy and then by Sherri Ivy & George Hommé in Spirit, all waving and asking about our mutual weekends. I’m sure we looked a bit of the tramp with our big canvas sun shade hung from the main halyard covering the boat, mast to stern, but we were comfortable and out of the sun. Once we cleared the entrance to Adams Creek we noticed Spirit off in the distance over toward Oriental sailing one way then backing sail for a while and then sailing a different way with sails loose, very uncharacteristic of Sherri and George. We later discovered that Spirit’s odd behavior meant that Sherri and George had beaten us to the punch and recovered MOB Jack before we had the opportunity to try. From there it was an easy motor in the falling calm back to Matthews Point with another trip, including a day offshore, a first for Kari in a sailboat, safely under our belts. Next time Charleston?
Page updated 22 September 2003.
Copyright © 1998-2003, The Neuse Sailing Association, Inc. ® All Rights Reserved.