An Adventure Before We Even Started

The crew of the Champagne Sunset left for Oriental after work on Thursday. We arrived around 10:30pm if I remember correctly. The Champagne Sunset was waiting for us near the end of the fuel dock with the air conditioning running. By the time we got settled in it was after midnight. Soon after we got settled in and in bed, a storm blew through. Being on the end of the dock we got as much wind as any of the boats in the marina. I woke up what seemed to be about every 30 minutes and the storm was still blowing. About 5:30am in the morning something didn't sound right. There was just too much noise and the boat was rocking in a strange way. I looked out a hatch and saw the rolling jib was partially unfurled. I started up the companionway and as I stuck my head out, I saw a man stepping onto the boat. Good thing I don't tend to yell when I'm startled or a would have let out a howl! The old man stepping onto the boat was about as startled as I was. He and his wife had heard the unfurled jib in the wind and he had come over to fix it. I woke up Scott and the three of us tried to roll of the jib, but the rope around the drum was at its end so it could not be rolled. About 6:30am I called Knute (probably waking him up) and let him know the situation for when he planned to meet us at 7:30am. He arrived and since the wind had died down we could untie the jib sheets, give the jib a couple of extra raps around the forestay, and then unroll it and roll it back in. It worked fine for the rest of the trip.

Knute showed us around the boat and gave us some extra oil for the diesel engine. We had a light breakfast and the ladies headed into Oriental for some coffee, while I finished signing the paperwork for the charter.

Between about 9:30 and 10:00 I backed the 42' Hunter out of the slip and we headed out the narrow and shoalled Whittaker Creek channel where we had run aground earlier in the year with the same boat.....

Champagne Sunset in Ocracoke

We made it to Ocracoke and back! Jennifer, Laura, Scott, and I had a nice trip from Whattaker Creek Marina to the Ancorage Marina in Silver Lake and back.

I complete description of the trip will be coming soon. For now here are some of the pictures.

Stay Tuned

Stay Tuned for our next Adventure!

How to Avoid Jellyfish

After a little Internet research, I think we have figured out how help Scott avoid jellyfish while tied behind the boat. The key is boatspeed!

Avoiding Jellyfish 1

Avoiding Jellyfish 2

Outer Banks

I found two great websites by Fred Hurteau about the Outer Banks.

North Carolina's Outer Banks and OuterBanksGuideBook.com

These have some great information and pictures. We sail out of Oriental, NC located approximately where the red dot is on the photograph above.

Tribute to the Sailors of the Flying Colours

A touching tribute to the sailors lost off the NC coast in tropical strom Andrea on May 7, 2007.

This same storm required the rescue of crew from three other boats. Some amazing footage of the Coast Guard at work in May.

The Coast Guard planes and helicopter where out of Elizabeth City, NC.

Sail Away

I like the words (and music) for Enya's Orinoco flow:

Let me sail, let me sail, let the Orinoco flow,
let me reach, let me beach on the shores of Tripoli.
let me sail, let me sail, let me crash upon your shore,
let me reach, let me beach far beyond the Yellow Sea.

from Bissau to Palau - in the shade of Avalon,
from Fiji to Tiree and the Isles of Ebony,
from Peru to Cebu hear the power of Babylon,
from Bali to Cali - far beneath the Coral Sea.

from the North to the South, Ebudae into Khartoum,
from the deep sea of Clouds to the island of the moon,
carry me on the waves to the lands I've never been,
carry me on the waves to the lands I've never seen.

we can sail, we can sail...
we can steer, we can near with Rob Dickins at the wheel,
we can sigh, say goodbye Ross and his dependencies
we can sail, we can sail...



An interesting side note:

Rob Dickins was the chairman of Warner Music UK and is also the man who signed her with that label. He now owns his own entertainment company, Instant Karma.
Ross is Ross Cullum, who was an engineer on the album Watermark. Interestingly, the Ross Dependency is actually a location on Antarctica, claimed by New Zealand.