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Neuse River Friend Run,   May 1st
  Destination: Neuse River
 Took the boat out for just a easy day of checking out and getting back into the swing of things on the water again.  Had a couple of friends join us for a little sailing and some trolling.  Everything went fine and the weather was nice.

Ocracoke ... umm Oriental Memorial Weekend,   May 28th
  Destination: Ocracoke   Oriental
     So we did a Father / Son sailing cruise to Ocracoke... well the winds and waves at Cedar Island were tough by the time we got there Friday morning.  2 foot breaking waves right at the ramp.  Had two other boats that we met up with... Bill and his two kids on Mr. Bill and Buck on Alert.  They were smaller boats and I was very fearful of how much of a beating they would take on rough water... or how much I wanted to take.  So I made a call to Harry on JennaBird and Billy on Double Cross who reported 5 foot seas and 25-30+ winds... Ok... Plan B.

     So one idea was to take the ferry with the boats over to Ocracoke... then found out that only one of the two ferry's were operational... that means 4 hours between ferry rides. Hmmmm.... Plan C.

 I hear there is good sailing at Oriental... so we drove to the Cherry Point / Minnesott Ferry and over to Oriental. 

Amazing what a few miles can change... looking over the Neuse River it was sunny and light winds.

 So we got a slip with the other boats and spent the whole weekend sailing every day and having dinners at the local restaurants.  My Dad had a great time.

Neuse River Raft Up Dinner,   June 12
  Destination: Neuse River
 Ran up to near Fairfield Harbor and sailed around and into Blackbeard's.  Sailed back to Union Point to raft up with some friends for dinner and listen to the band playing on land.

4th of July   July 4th
  Destination: Oriental and New Bern
 Trailered the boat up to Oriental to sail down to New Bern to meet up with some friends, spend the night on the boat and sail back to Oriental.  That was the plan, but the sail part didn't cooperate... no wind during each afternoon.  The Neuse River was like a sheet of glass during the afternoon.  Did manage to motor to Minnesott Beach and anchor off the sandy point for lunch and a swim.  Then slowly motored back to Oriental.  By the time I got to Oriental the wind picked up so I popped up the sail and had some quality wind time. 

      So it was time to head to the launch... I rolled up the jib and Main sailed down one of the creeks while I packed up stuff that I could before going to the dock.  Had a motor boat come up along side and question me about the boat... he was impressed with the motoring and sailing I did all day.  I got the boat up on the launch... and lo and behold there is Buck from NCSail.org putting his boat away.  So we finished packing up and grabbed some food at the Oriental Steamer.

Daughter 14th Birthday,   July 10th
  Destination: Trent River
       My oldest daughter wanted to take her friends to go tubing for her birthday. Didn't bother putting up the mast, just packed some food and headed to the water.  After tubing... and throwing several of her friends off the tube... can you say "wipe-out"... hehe.  We then motored over to a small sandy area, anchored and had lunch.

Jordan Lake,   July 24th
  Destination: Raleigh
       In my quest to take the boat to different bodies of water.... I decided to pick the HOTTEST weekend of the year to go to Jordan Lake.. uh.. whoops.  Oh well, it was still cooler on the lake. 

Video of me setting up in 100+ degrees!

Mostly went to visit with my MacGregor buddy Victor and see his new 90hp toy... it really moved the X. 

Spent most of the day showing Victor how the mast and sail work on the X (he hasn't had his attached in a long while... hehe)  

 Dropped him off at the Ebenezer Launch area and then headed out to explore the lake.  Had some great wind all weekend long.  Sailed mostly towards the bridge side of the lake.

     While sailing back I happen to spot a fellow NCSail boat, Boom Boom II.  They decided to anchor somewhere and do a little swimming.  So I tied off the back of them and joined in the water.  Very refreshing... a little wavy though with all the tubing going on.

     Eventually sailed around some more and looked for a spot to anchor and spend the night.  Found a quiet place near the Vista Point Launch, then fired up the grill and had a great ribeye steak dinner.  Then kicked on the generator and the A/C unit and the HD TV and watched the local weather and then loaded up a comic DVD and watched a show.

     Had a quick breakfast and set off to find the hidden dam.  Motored pretty much all the way to the other side of the lake and found the dam. Then put up the sails and headed down one of the arms of the lake opposite the dam.  Did a lot of sailing VERY close to the shore... just amazed at how quick the drop off was at the shore... I could sail to within 3 feet of the shore and still have5-10 feet of water.

     After sailing until the wind died in the peak of the afternoon, I motored to the launch and brought the boat in... once I got on the pavement with the boat the temperature increased by about 30 degrees.  I probably should have had some lunch and a bunch of water before starting to tear down... I was close to passing out while tearing down, then got in the car with the A/C that died on the way there.  I was no where near a restaurant, but my gps said I was close to Victor's house so I called up and asked for some emergency hydration... I could barely walk up to the house when I got there.   They nursed me back to health and I was back on the road and home in 2 hours.

Emerald Isle,   Labor Day Weekend
  Destination: Emerald Isle
       So my vacation to sail in Florida totally got tanked due to Hurricane Earl.  So we hooked up with some friends from Raleigh who have a rental cottage on Emerald Isle.  After the Hurricane passed just off the coast we loaded up the boat and headed to Emerald Isle.

      Launched the boat early on Sunday Morning at Island Marina ($10) to avoid some of the rush.  Did a rare "stepping the mast" on the water and then picked up Victor at the Cedar Street public viewing area.   The viewing area had a stair that went right into the water... unexpected, made it really difficult to come up and pick up someone... had to go on the side.

    Eventually got him on board, then started doing some sound sailing... ya know 3 - 5 feet of water.  Then decided we would head out to sea.  Pretty much sailed sailed all the way out to the Bogue Inlet... had to motor through a very well marked channel to get out on the ocean.   Winds were doing 10-15 early and then died off as the afternoon progressed.  Had some great sailing on the ocean side, did a lot of long tacks as the wind was following the island.  Eventually motored back to the launch, saw a pod of dolphins in the sound on the way back and then waited in line at the launch to get back in (not sailboat friendly).  Dropped off Victor who grabbed the car and trailer and got in line on land, eventually they let me in and I powered the boat onto the trailer (not what I like doing... usually ends badly) but went really well.  No damage and lots of sailing... excellent day.

Dos MacGregor's,   Sept 10-11
  Destination: Neuse River
       Had my friend Victor and his boat Compromise drive down from Raleigh and see what sailing on the Neuse River is like.  His son and two friends crashed at our house for the night and then we took off for the water in the morning.  My daughter Christina went with me and seemed to enjoy some father daughter time.  We did a lot of competitive type sailing up near Blackbeard's Sailing Club and then headed up to Minnesott Beach and anchored in the hook/cove.   

Here a video of them "supposedly" beating me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_5Cb3flN60
 

Here is how you keep the crew on their toes:

 

It poured down rain overnight but cleared up in the morning.  Christina and I had breakfast and walked around the beach.  Then put up sails and headed out.  While the others were just waking up a pod of dolphins came by their boat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaC__49yZuY

Pirate Sail 2010, Sept 24-26
  Destination: Beaufort to Cape Lookout
     So the Admiral and I thought we would return the favor of all the fun at each years pirate fest and volunteer to host this years.  So I came up with some grandiose idea of doing a buffet out in a park and putting on a game to get everyone involved.    So I set up tables in the form or two ships... partly for the game but mostly to get everyone together in a big group. 

Also had a table with a great treasure chest cake my wife made and some authentic Hard Tack (minus the weevils)  and of course, some home made authentic Grog in a custom cask.

I got Piccata's 909 Catering  which had some great food:

Smoked BBQ Chicken
Maple Bourbon BBQ Pork Riblets
Gorgonzola Macaroni
Grilled Veggie w/Balsamic Reduction
Lemonade
Sweet & Unsweet Tea
Authentic Grog
Hard Tack
Cake (made by Mrs.Cake Boss)

After dinner I started up the game "A Short Drop & A Sudden Stop".  Basically each person drew a paper that said what ship they were on and what rank they have on the ship.  One table was the "Black Skull", the other was the "Vile Disgrace".  After drawing, everyone had to go to the table/ship and each table/ship had a captain... so it would be up to the Captain to decide who would answer the question. 

If they got the question wrong they were hung... this would continue until only the captain was left who would have to answer a question... if they go it wrong they would have to walk the plank... (an actual board with a rope attached that they had to walk like a dog around the tables three times.)  The winning captain won a game called Dread Pirate.
 

Video of the Game in progress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYpIIhrFxgQ

We then called it a night and then did the usual Saturday bonfire on the beach at Cape Lookout.
 

Event Website with more pictures: http://www.enctrader.com/ncsail/

 

Point Marina near Oriental,   October 23rd
  Destination: Pamlico Sound
       Had my friends from Raleigh (Kendall, Victor, Prescott & Cody) join us again at our house and head out the next day to Oriental via trailer then sail over to Point Marina to the north.  Had my oldest daughter Nicole join us for the trip.

 Got to test out the new motor with a different prop and a fully loaded boat.  Here is a video of it:  New 90 hp

Did some motoring around to impress the wife and kid, then headed back to the launch waiting for the other to launch.  We did a quick motor race... I'm still too heavy, but kept up with him for a while. 

Made our way up river and put up the sails, the wind was nice and the weather was still somewhat warm.  We had nice Anniversary sail all the way to Point Marina. 

We anchored out and blew up the inflatable and headed to dock for a nice cookout and company. 

The night was calm... see picture to left... and slept great.  Had breakfast at the dock house... then gave Nicole to the other boat and we took Kendall for pleasure sail.   Pretty much sailed all the way back to Oriental.  Then we drove back to New Bern and all had dinner at Chinese buffet where we met up with my other daughter and my parents.