25 Apr 2006, Sea Dog's First Day-Night-Day, 35 14.590 N/ 076 35.450 W
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Sea Captain Bob, skipper of Jule-III,
graciously invited me to crew with
him on the journey to Baltimore. Even though I am a rank amature I have
admired SV Jule-III for a long time. I jumped at the adventure. Since
a few of our legs would take us away from the ICW and out to sea, I had
my doctor give me Rx for a motion sickness patch - just in case.
Departure from Carolina Beach was exciting yet uneventful. The two hour
cruise up Masonborough Sound was simply magnificent. SCB showed me the
intricities and attributes of Jule-III. SCB is an excellent skipper
(you don't know how happy I am to write that), he also seems to be more
popular than the pope - nearly every other skipper waved at him as they
were passing!
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Our wives and my daughter drove up to the Wrightsville Inlet and waved
us out to sea. We had a perfect 10k wind blowing Northeasterly at our
back and when we popped the sails.... Whoppie! We were sailing. It is
impossible to describe the simple exhilaration of sailing into the
sunset in a magnificent sailing vessel like Jule-III. For me this
lasted about an hour. Seas were rolling about 6 to 8 feet and waves
were breaking over the bow. What fun! Good sea captains never get
seasick and I was protected by the $40 patch behind my ear. I was
actually laughing out load. It was at that moment I learned a lesson
every seaman knows...... Never laugh at Neptune! A wave of nausea hit
me and sent me to the rail. After two hours I deep-sixed the useless
patch. After six hours I was still glued to the rail with 15 hours to
go to landfall. SCB put Jule in autopilot and fixed me a bunk below
deck at the lowest part of the floor. This helped enormously and I was
able to lay still, with an arm around the P bucket and in a fetal
position all night long.
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With the dawn came calmer seas and
calmer bays and SCB found every one,
the leg into a tiny marina at Hobucken where we tied to at 4:00pm
Tuesday was grand sailing. I must add that SCB made letter perfect,
Captain Ron style loop and dock at the marina. Too bad no one is around
to bear witness except one old man shucking oysters.
Tomorrow - a day at the marina for some minor engine repairs then on
Thursday, off to the Alligator River.
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