Sail to Ocracoke

[wolverine]

Our 1st outing joining SCOO (sailing club of oriental) is to Ocracoke.  We left the slip at 0640 and headed down Greens creek and under the bridge.  The little wind that we had was on our nose so we motored for an hour before the winds picked up.  My crew is our 14 y.o. grandson and I put him at the helm.  After quite awhile making only 2.3 knots, we gave in and started the cougher.  There were other sailboats in our party and all but one were motoring.  About halfway across Pamlico Sound we were treated to a Marine jet flying low. A dip of it's wing then a near vertical climb into the clouds and all that remained was the roar of it's engine.  2 Nonsuch 30 cat boats passed us and we followed them into Silver Lake.  A quick call to the marina and by 1430 we were snugged up dockside.  After getting the boat ship shape, we strolled around stopping for fruit smoothies.
SCOO had a nice little get together and then it was time to head back to the boat.  You can't keep a 14y.o. away from his phone for too long.

More tomorrow.

Edit:  I should mention he went below and quickly fell asleep for 80% of the trip.

[Frank]

Awesome you had him aboard!.enjoy yourselves!
Pictures?

[wolverine]

Day 2:  We rented bicycles and immediately stopped for ice cream. Afterwards Logan spotted "British Cemetery Road", so we pedaled down the road a bit until finding a small cemetery dedicated to 4 Brits that perished during WWII.  Riding around the narrow streets is taking one's life into their hands as tourists renting golf carts aren't aware they have to follow the rules of the road.  Stops signs are but a mere suggestion, and if a vehicle is waiting to make a left turn, they will run pedestrians off the sidewalks.  We headed towards the lighthouse and discovered another ice cream shop and found ourselves enjoying fruit smoothies.  Logan quickly located the lighthouse on Lighthouse Road.  It's closed to the public so that was a bummer.  From there we headed to the beach and guess where we found it?  Next to the ocean!  The water was cool and refreshing and after several hours it was time to head back.  Two more stops along the 2 mile ride for ice cream and we were back at the boat.  We ate pizza for dinner with the group and later walked to the west side of the island to watch the sun set over Pamlico Sound.

[wolverine]

Day 3:  Sleeping in to 9am we had to eat fast in order to meet the group at the dinghy dock for a ride to the clam beds.  For 30 minutes we unsuccessfully tried to bring up a clam, then after moving a few yards away, we quickly acquired 8 clams in a matter of minutes.  The group total was over 100 clams.  It drizzled on us but no one seemed to mind.  That evening we had a clam bake, well steam is more accurate, and enough food to feed a small army.  The temperature dropped and the wind was right on the nose of our boat in the marina, so we a very pleasant bug free night.

edit:  I forgot to mention, this was our last night and a very large motor yacht pulled into the marina late.  About 9pm it started blasting 50s/60s music.  The music was good, but they only played 15 - 30 seconds of each song before moving on to the next.  The boat was lit up with colorful lights too.  About 10:10 I decided it was time to cut the noise and headed over to their dock.  The music was much louder at our dock as their stern was pointed at us and the speakers obviously were too.  I hailed a man in his early to mid 70s on the boat and asked if they could turn the music down.  He gave me a menacing look and stunk of alcohol as he un-boarded.  I asked again and said it would be a shame if such a beautiful boat became known to have the rudest captain in the marina.  He pointed towards the boat and told me to tell the others.  Before I could say anything, the music was silenced and I walked with the gentleman lighting his way with my flashlight.     

[wolverine]

Day 4:  I awoke a 5am hoping to get an early start, but the kid had other plans.  We left at 7am with the help of the dock hands.  They handled the lines and with the boat in reverse, they walked us out of the narrow dock way.  Once we cleared the inlet we raised the sails and began our 7 1/2 journey home.  I got the boy on deck when dolphins appeared next to us.  Along the route the Marine planes again came into play.  This time one came in low and circled us twice.  The roar of it's engine was incredible!  Again like before, it headed almost straight up into the near cloudless sky.  Winds were predicted to be 7-8mph and they seemed to have gotten it right.  It was a vey pleasant beam reach sail most of the way.  The last 3 hours we wing on winged it into Oriental with the geona poled out to port.
The grandson only took the helm when I needed to adjust something or wanted a short break.  He like to sail, but anything over 3 hours and he's on the phone.  I need to get him somewhere without cell service. 

[Frank]

Sounds like a good bonding tour for you.
Yep, no cell service would help with yo7ng folks 😃

[CapnK]

I need to get him somewhere without cell service.

I have a nephew like that. When I was a kid, you would have to drag me off of the boat - *any* boat.
(Still like that to this day, actually...)

Good thing I don't have kids, as I wouldn't let them near a &#$*! cell phone until they were 28 or so...

Good on ya for trying. :D lol

[w00dy]

I think about this a lot as I hope to have kids someday. Trying to deny them what has become a ubiquitous part of modern social life seems wrong, but like you I'd rather encourage them to keep their heads up and externally focused. I guess I'll have to start policing my own phone use first.

I have often enjoyed the marina life and having a community of people with a common interest, living closely together. That said I have struggled with people who lack the conscientiousness to understand how their choices affect others in close proximity. I have both kept my mouth shut and also angrily banged on the hull of a neighbor boat when their music was playing too late. It really takes a lot of patience sometimes.