Moon River-Midnight, Moonlight Cruise on the Neuse!

Location: Neuse River opening to Pamlico Sound South of Oriental Beach, Newbern, NC

Voyage date 7-27-10 time 16:00-18:30 condition wind light and variable, temp 85F

Voyage date 7-27-10 time 21:30-00:30 7-28-10 wind 10-12kts conditions: perfect, moonlit night temp 75F

The midnight voyage on my uncle David's 44 foot Gulfstar across the Neuse River opening into the Pamlico Sound has to be the most surreal experience I have experience heretofore in sailing! It bekons the lyrics of Johny Mercer's "Moon River" performed by of Andy Williams:

listen to Andy Williams on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flm4xcOyiCo

and Louis Armstrong jazz version one of my favorites since trumpet playing is my forte: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd_JDrnBMMA

"Moon River, wider than a mile

I'm crossing you in style some day.

Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker,

wherever you are going I'm going your way.

Two drifters off to see the world.

There's such a lot of world to see.

We're after the same rainbow's end--

waiting round the bend,

My huckleberry friend,

Moon River and me.

Earlier this week, my wife Shelia, my youngest son Parker (12yrs old), and I decided to take a two day soujourn to visit my uncle David and his wife Leigh in Newbern, NC. Upon arrival late afternoon on the Tuesday, 27 July, we met David at the Duck Creek boatyard negotiating a deal on a 40 foot Endeavor. After the buyer was reluctant to move forward because of some apparent blistering on the hull of the boat, we packed our BMW with David and Helen (present owner of the Endeavor) and drove back to the gated community of Fairfield Harbor where David and Helen live. After dropping off Helen at her house, we met David's wife Leigh, former Commodore of the New Bern sailing fleet, and headed out to the Blackbeard sailing club for an afternoon voyage on David's 44 foot centercockpit Gulfstar aptly named "Bomba Shack" after a club in the British Virgin Islands. David and his wife Leigh live on their boat several months out of the year in the winter off the coast of Key West. It has all the amenities of home: covered, sectional type seating in the cockpit around the helm, saloon down below you can walk around in, with couch, bookcases, full galley, v berth in the bow, two heads, shower, master bedroom aft with head and stand-up shower, chart table with Furuno radar monitoring, and is equipped with a Perkins diesel engine (same name as David and Leigh's cat), generator, AC, icemaker, refrigerator, microwave, Garmin GPS chartplotter, autopilot, and self-furling sails. Since the wind on the afternoon on 27 July was light and variable, the voyage was mostly motoring through the Neuse enjoying some beverages with wine and cheese. We arrived back at Blackbeard's around 18:30, and while the girls prepared the provisions for dinner, David, Parker and I ventured out in their water taxi:a zodiac powered by a 15 hp motor. Parker was in his element as our Captain. I loved the look of joyful bliss on Parker's face as he jetted around the upper broad creek of the Neuse at 30 kts imagining he was a navy seal on a covert mission! In fact, he now wants Santa to bring him a zodiac for Christmas! After cooking on the grill at Blackbeard's clubhouse, serendipitously, the wind picked up to 10-12 kts, perfect sailing conditions! Around 9:30 p.m. we departed Blackbeard Harbor and turned the Bombashack into the wind and ironically, directly into a wide beam of moonlight as we unfurled the mainsail and jib. In less than five minutes, David cut off the Perkins diesel and the boat immediatedly began to heel over and come alive on a close reach 30 degree port tack cutting through the dark water of the Neuse illuminated by the moonlight on my first nocturnal sailing voyage. Wow! All the sensations of sailing which I have come to love started to appear once again: the sound of the wind and waves, the halcyon of the water, the wind on my face, how time seems to stand still! I love it! David shined the light up on the Windex wind indicator perched at the zenith of the mast to help me find the slot I needed to be in for maximum efficiency for the 1.5 hour tack across the "Moon River." I tarried for a while in posting this blog, because I had an arduous time determining an apt name for this special time sailing with my uncle. While Shelia and I were playing backgammon tonight, she said how about "Moon River?" After I looked up the lyrics for this song, I immediated realized how perfect it is! The Neuse River is over a mile wide and intersects with the Trent River to form the Pamlico sound out to Oriental Beach and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. I was the captain for most of the outward bound leg of this surreal, midnight voyage, and I have attached a great quick time video showing the band on moonlight off the port side illuminating our path through the dark water. Shelia was at the helm on the inward bound fetch. I hope I never forget this moment in time sharing this surreal, midnight voyage on the "Moon River" with David, Leigh, Christina (another member of the club), Shelia and Parker. The next morning David shared his next project with us. He and Leigh are restoring a 1983 wooden, Gypsy Trawler docked across the Neuse from his house at Fairfield Harbor. Next year, they plan on cruising north to New York across the Hudson, and the Erie canal and down the Mississippi back home to Newbern on what has been heralded as America's Great Loop. Fuel alone for this voyage at 3 gallons of diesel per hour is going to cost around $18,000. The "Great Loop" can be best described as a 6,000 mile journey circumnavigating the Great Lakes, the inland US river system, the Gulf coast, the ICW of Florida, up the East Coast, Chesapeake Bay, through the Hudson, Erie Canal, into Canada's Trent Severn Waterway or Rideau Canal, Georgian Bay, and Noth Channel that can be started from any point. After taking a few pics and thanking David and Leigh for their generous hospitality, Shelia and Parker and I spent the rest of the day at Atlantic Beach, with our new, Tommy Bahama umbrella and chairs, a few choice beverages, enjoying some sweet, sun and surf until around 6:00 pm on 28 July. Again another fortuitous event during this soujourn: temp in the mid eighties, sand soft under your feet, with few shells, and rapid, medium waves in succession: Nature's perfect wave pool! After our day at the beach, we had some fresh catch, flounder, shrimp and scallops at the Sanitary Restaurant and Fish Market in Morehead City before heading home. The cherry on the top of this amazing journey: we stopped at Seymour Johson Air Force base at the end of the runway to see 20 F-15 strike eagles whistle jet noise as they surreptitiously landed around midnight of 29 July. Again, we were at the perfect place at the perfect time. What was even more perfect which reminded me of why I am glad I am a dad, is when my son said, "Dad, this is just like Top Gun, what an experience!" See video footage of Midnight, Moonlight Cruise on the Bomba Shack video below. The answer to "Who's idea was it to sail?" It was me!