October 2009 Pirate Sail

My husband Bill and I are part of the NCSail.ORG group who include in their yearly activities two "pirate sails" to Cape Lookout, heading out from Beaufort NC.  Members are widespread, around the Triangle and Wilmington and the coastline of North Carolina.  Many members have their boats in slips in Oriental.  We keep BB2 in our driveway :o)

There are a number of MacGregors ... 26X and 26M ... in this group.  We get a kick out of lining up all the Macs along the shore on our excursions, or try to get them in adjacent slips at the Beaufort docks.  We usually number 5 or more Macs. 

All Macs lined up off shore.

Lined up at the launch site at the end of the weekend.

As mentioned, twice a year we head to Beaufort NC on a Thursday or Friday.  We sometimes have as many as 20 boats in slips at the Beaufort docks, all flying our pirate flags.  It's all just so much fun. 

We call our Spring trip the Flamingo Sail, and the Fall trip is our Pirate Sail.  Friday night we dress up like pirates and have dinner at the Beaufort Docks cafe.  We take lots of photos and act really silly, and then spend the night dockside.  

end end end end end

Saturday morning after a captains' meeting, we all head out for Cape Lookout.
		Some of us beach our Macs, because we can, while the larger boats in the group anchor off shore.
Several of us have dinghies so we all work together to get our provisions on the beach for a BBQ and bonfire in the evening.  Good times.  Really good times.
		Sun setting as things come to life on the shore.
If I wake up in the wee hours, I try to take a photo.  It is so peaceful, just mast lights twinkling, along with the lighthouse of course.
Last Spring the trip back from Cape Lookout was very rough as we tried to outrun on oncoming storm. Tried to get a photo of the 4 foot swells, but the camera really couldn't catch the ferocious rocking and pounding.
		The storm passed, and back at the launch site everyone gets busy breaking down their boats and getting ready for the drive back home.

Another great experience -- more memories.  And hopefully more clear skys ahead.

May 2009 St. James Marina

In May 2009 Bill and I met up with our friends Debby and Peter Bine who own a 32' motor boat, "Carolina Lady."  They lived in Myrtle Beach at the time, and we met sort of halfway at St. James Marina.  It's a full servuce Marina located at SM 315 on the Intra Coastal Waterway at St. James Plantation.

What a wonderful Marina ! The entire area was beautiful.  The Marina is part of the St. James Plantation (officially Marina at St. James Plantation), a community of lovely homes.  There is a restaurant at the Marina as well as a less formal cafe where you can grab a beer and sandwich.  And of course, gift shops.  

The boats around us -- huge, beautiful yachts.  We called ahead, of course, for slip arrangements.  Everyone was very nice and welcoming.  

We just hung out, ate and drank, stayed overnight, hung out some more and then went our merry ways.

BB2 was still relatively new to us, so staying on board was still an adventure.  Bill and I started out sleeping in the aft berth.  At first we used sheets and blankets, but what a lot of trouble that was.

                  

So we invested in a double sleeping bag and are very glad we did.  Makes things much easier.  I roll it up and push all the way back, clearing the berth for "stuff" during our travels.  And at night I just unfold the sleeping bag and we're ready to slip in and sleep.

This is now our 5th year with BB2 (2013) and on our next overnight I am planning to sleep in the V-berth.  Getting in and out of the aft berth was sometimes difficult. depending on what arthritis. shoulder surgery or knee surgery I was dealing with.   So now I guess I use one of the sleeping bags in the V-berth.  It will be interesting.  I'm sure I'll be blogging about that experience in late September when our NCSail.Org group goes to Cape Lookout.

Posting about St. James Marina, I'm remembering what fun it was, and I am so looking forward to our Pirate Sail in September.  We haven't been out on the boat much this summer.