Cape Lookout 2011

Sunday, June 5

We leave the dock at 9 am and have to motor most of the way. We make it to Adams Creek and find a nice anchorage at Cedar Creek. During the evening, several shrimpers come in and go far back up the creek. Only one other boat joins us. Lots of crab pots but still plenty of room.

Monday, June 6

Anchor up at 9:00 and Beaufort Inlet by noon. We are able to sail out to the bight and arrive around 3:00. Porpoises follow us part of the way. The first anchorage seems too close to the shore and we worry about dragging, so we pull up the anchor and drive around looking for a better spot. We settle on a spot after a couple of attempts at getting the anchor to hold, then go about enjoying the evening. First, David fixes the windlass. Corrosion seems to be the cause.

Tuesday, June 7

We dinghy over to the lighthouse and spend a few hours there, then back to the boat and to the beach in the afternoon. Weather is warm, and not too hot with the breeze. We swim, look for shells and walk on the beach.

Wednesday, June 8

The wind is howling. Our dinghy is too floppy to handle the wind and waves so we are trapped on the boat. We think about leaving but don't know where we would go for the night and worry about getting blown to shore going out of the bight. Winds are hanging in at 24. We see few signs of life on other boats. A single hander who has a dinghy that is nicer than his boat picks up some people on another boat and they head off to the lighthouse. Very few small boats venture in. We swing and rock all night but fortunately we do not drag.

Thursday, June 9

David had thought about climbing the lighthouse today but we decide to leave the wind and waves and head out of there. We have to motor back to Beaufort Inlet, but all is good once we are there so we pop the Genoa. We motor sail the cut, following another sailboat a lot of the way. We sail the Neuse and anchor in Broad Creek. It was quiet and peaceful, but so many jellyfish that we could not go in for a dip. The refrigerator stops working and David investigates. He is able to get it going again but determines that it needs a new fuse.

Friday, June 10

We make the green entrance marker around 10 after a leisurely morning. We are able to sail all the way to Gale Creek where the wind dies, but we decide that we are not turning on the motor.  We float some, sail some, and get out to the Pamlico River where there is no wind. We break down and turn on the motor, and shortly after the wind picks up. Quick sail home in time for supper with Rats.

All things considered, it was a very good trip.

POTP 2011

Ceibo enters Pirates on the Pungo and takes first place in her class. She smokes the competition, with the help of her crew. David at the helm, Amy and Louis, our new Canadian friend, at the wenches and Margaret on the mainsail and crab pot look out.

New Sail!

No more raggedy mainsail for Ceibo. Here is her brand new sail going up for the first time, on May 1.

Ceibo Goes to the Boat Spa

Ceibo spent April 1 through April 12 at River Forest Boatyard getting new bottom paint, her teak sanded and Cetoled, and her hull cleaned and shined. She is feeling quite pretty. Her owners are quite exhausted after so much hard work.

Spinnaker

October 18, 2010 - We try out a spinnaker and decide to buy it - the price was right.

Hurricane Earl

September 2, 2010 - Here we go again, anchoring out for another possible storm. Nothing came of the storm so it was another learning experience.

Cape Lookout, May 31 - June 6, 2010

We left Jordan Creek around noon and made it as far as Bonner Bay where we anchored for the night at Spring Creek.  No one else was around. We arrived in Beaufort after 6:00 the next evening and found a boat anchored too close to Stan's mooring to be able to use it. After several tries at fitting into the crowd in various spots on the creek, we went further back and dropped the anchor a little closer to the shore than we liked. We went out Beaufort Inlet the next day and arrived at Cape Lookout that afternoon. Pleasant weather - breezy and sunny, swinging on anchor for my 60th birthday. We launched the dinghy the next day and found that the motor was not working, so David had to row us to shore. We "drove" the big boat as close to shore as we could get so he didn't have so far to go.  After a couple of nice days at the Bight, we started our return via the turning basin. A large thunderstorm hit just as Adams Creek opens onto the Neuse River. We motored on through the storm. That night we anchored with a couple of other sailboats in Broad Creek. Pleasant and calm. We took our time and got back to our home dock the next evening.

Ceibo's Christening

May 2009 - We follow the rituals for the wind gods to dename and rename our boat in hopes that it will bring us fair winds and good luck. Hmm, on second thought maybe we shouldn't have used such cheap champagne.

Tropical Storm Hanna

September 5, 2008 - Our first experience with anchoring out for a storm. We get to the creek late, after the rain is starting. We have difficulty getting the anchor to hold, so we move and reset.  Fortunately, the storm was not a big one, but it was a learning experience.

The Beginning

April 1, 2008 - We buy our 1979 Tartan 37. She needs some tlc after years of being in Schroeder's Boatyard in Deltaville, Va.

June 2 - 9, 2008 - She is launched but has engine problems so we spend the first evening in the water, but still at the yard. It was exciting to see her in the travel lift heading to the water. If a boat had feelings, I think she would have been real happy. We are able to leave the next day so we head out to Tangier Island. Beautiful day and good wind. Enjoyable stay at Tangier's, dock master took us on a tour of the island in his golf cart. Back across the Chesapeake to anchor for the night at Deltaville before heading south. The next night we stayed at the public dock in Hampton, Va. Next stop will be the visitor center in the Dismal Swamp Canal. We see a kayaker who tells us he is paddling the ICW all the way to Baltimore. It is hot and buggy. Things on the boat are starting not to work, but thankfully the refrigeration is keeping us in cold drinks. The hot water heater blew up, but there isn't much need for hot water on this trip. On to Elizabeth City where we can't get through the bridge because of a power boat race. We tie up to a bulkhead near the bridge. We are able to sail the next day once we are on the Albemarle Sound, but towards the end of the day smoke from a fire in the Pocosin Wildlife Refuge takes away our visibility. We stop in at the Alligator River Marina for the night. Still smokey the next day, we head for Jordan Creek and get there just before dark. We are met by friendly River Rats and so glad to see them. Ceibo is at her new home, but doesn't have her new name yet.