Gale Creek to Beaufort: Breezy Sailing and Heaving To

JAMEY'S POST:

We woke up early this morning in a quiet, well-protected anchorage that we had almost passed.  Motoring along last night, I noticed two other boats anchored just out of the channel, checked the charts and decided it would be a great place for us to stop for the night as well.

We left just after first light under sail headed further south, either to Oriental, N.C. (about 20 miles or hafl a day) or on to Beaufort, N.C. (about 40 miles). The weather forecast called for winds from the northwest between 20 and 25 miles per hour.  Very windy, but  blowing us in the direction we wanted to go.  The blue dashed line on the picture below shows our planned route. We would sail southeasterly out into Pamlico sound, then gradually turn southwesterly around Maw point and into the Neuse River.

Oriental calls itself the sailing capital of North Carolina, and is about 10 miles upriver on the northern shore.  The route to Beaufort continues southward from Oriental across the river, into a creek and then down a long, narrow, dredged canal.

This is a snapshot from our iPad navigation app. The blue dashed line is our planned route. The app will also record our actual route.

After pulling up the anchor, I quietly rolled out the jib, hoping to let everyone else sleep for a while longer.  In the peace of the sheltered anchorage, it was hard to imagine how windy and rough it actually was out in Pamlico Sound, but once we got away from shore, the wind was strong and the waves were choppy.  C. Spirit sailed near her fastest speed, about 9 miles per hour, but below decks, I knew it was not a comfortable ride with too much rocking and rolling.

Often, the kind of sailing we do as a cruising family is different from how we might sail the boat if we were out without the kids or out racing.   With the little people on board, we like to keep the boat moving along at a good speed, but comfort and not overstressing the boat and its crew are also major factors.

One easy way we make this work is to simply wait for a following wind.  Sailing with the wind is easier on everything; the motion is gentler, wind and wave forces on the boat are smaller, and we can sail straight for our destination with no tacking back and forth.

Another trick we use is to sail with just the jib sail.  The jib pulls the boat nicely downwind on its own, making it easy to steer, and since we can roll up all or part of it with the pull of one rope, it is a simple sail to handle.

Sailing with the wind means the flag might want to flap you in the ear if you sit in the wrong spot.

As we made our way around Maw Point, which the guidebook mentions as frequently a rough and difficult stretch of water, I kept telling myself to think of it as being named after Maw as in southern version of Ma and Pop, rather than a gaping Maw waiting to swallow unfortunate mariners. The wind gusts kept getting stronger, and I saw a few wave tops getting blown off sideways which I know means it is blowing in the 30's.  I decided to start slowing the boat down by rolling in some of the jib.  My rule of thumb, a common one I think, is to begin reducing sail and slowing down as soon as I first think of it, so I rolled up about one third of the jib and carried on nearly as quickly as before, with less worry about overstressing the sails or making the girls down below extra sick.

Sailing like this is exhilarating -- the boat surfs the waves, leaving a foamy trail tracing your path through the chaotic seas.

Sailing like this also requires care, since there is no easy option to turn back if you sail into a bad spot. As the gusts continued building, I was counting the miles until we got far enough into the Neuse River to get some shelter from the waves out in Pamlico Sound.  It took about two hours of highly attentive steering to get up into the river and close enough to shore to take a break.

For generations, sailors have paused their boats at sea by setting their sails to work against each other and hold the boat essentially in one spot.  The general name for this trick is "heaving to"  because one way to do it involves pulling (heaving) the tiller to the windward side of the boat, while setting the jib sail on the windward side as well. There are lots of ways to set a boat up to make it basically stop in its tracks so you can take a break, have a nap, make a sandwich and cup of hot coffee, reel in that big fish, or do whatever else needs to be done.  Every boat will heave to slightly differently, and it is a great idea to practice this technique before you really need to do it.  I made C-Spirit heave to by rolling up all but a tiny bit of her sail and then letting her drift slowly (about 2 miles per hour) along with the auto pilot holding her on course just outside of Oriental harbor entrance.  "Macho," the autopilot, had an easy time keeping her on course with minimal battery drain while I went below to check in with the others.

I filmed a short video clip while we were "hove to." You can hear the wind whistling past, but notice the boat is pretty still.

After a bit of clean up and rest, we decided to press on to Beaufort.  It is amazing how much better everyone felt once the boat stopped rushing along at full tilt.
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WHERE WE ARE: Anchored in Taylor Creek, between Beaufort and the Rachel Carson Reserve.  Many boats in the anchorage, including some that look as if they have been here for some time.  Not difficult to find a spot.  Domino's Pizza delivered to the closest crossroads for us. 

WHERE WE STARTED: Bay River, Gale Creek

RACHEL CARSON RESERVE:  Created in 1977 to prevent development of the area into a resort.  The reserve has two nature trails and a boardwalk.  It is home to feral horses (a "wild" horse that is of domesticated ancestry), and we saw several of these horses grazing along the beach where we had just played.   "They are eating our [sand] meatballs," said Skye.  Rachel Carson was a marine biologist and conservationist who wrote Silent Spring, the book that helped start the contemporary American environmental movement.  Jamey was very moved by this book and plans to have Phoenix read it soon. 

A feral horse grazing at the shoreline.

These horses are descendants of horses introduced to the area in the late 1940s.  To prevent overpopulation, female horses receive birth control shots. 

There are lots of oyster beds along the shoreline. 

View of the Taylor Creek anchorage from the Rachel Carson Reserve.  Across the creek is Beaufort.