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August 14 2018

'The Neuse Juice'

Volumn 45 Number 8

Coming Events 

Aug 18


Harborfest
Sept 21


Chuck Gordon, 

Commodore


The Commodore's Log
 

AUGUST 2018 – NSA TIME

Hard to believe that we are in the 8th month of 2018! The NSA has had a great year so far and there is still more fun to come. If you have not participated in some or as many NSA activities as you would have liked there is still time! This coming weekend is the Lazy Day Cruise on Saturday with a meet up on the water at 11AM and then a 4PM social at Sea Harbour Yacht Club. Please join in the fun!! Then there is the always popular Labor Day Cruise to Cape Lookout – a favorite weekend in a favorite place! October brings the Fall Cruise to River Dunes followed by the Halloween Cruise to Ocracoke and the 300th Anniversary of the demise of Blackbeard!  And if all that is not enough we finish the year of NSA TIME with the Commodore's Ball on November 10th at River Dunes. So folks there is lots to still enjoy! Come out, be seen, participate and help make us a great club through your participation!

Speaking of SUPPORT: The NSA ROCKED The Dinghy Poker Run!! Alice Petree and her marvelous volunteers came through with a record breaking event despite very poor weather. A record 213 poker hands were played and a record contribution of $5383.50 will be presented to HeartWorks! Your efforts, your donations, your participation made this a day to be very proud of the NSA!!

Over the next couple of months your Bridge and Directors will be reviewing the past year and we will be examining our strengths and weaknesses so we can support the coming 2019 NSA leaders. I invite you to be a part of this process by sending me your thoughts of what we do well and what you believe needs improvement (commodore@neusesailingassociation.org). While many clubs similar to ours are facing declining membership we are growing. We need your help to continue to stay strong and grow.

I have always preferred the Fall of the year to be on the water and that time is not far away so let’s get ready to enjoy! The lovely and talented Past Commodore Sharon and I look forward to seeing you at the coming events. THANKS FOR BEING PART OF NSA TIME 2018!


Chuck Gordon
s/v Pelikan
Commodore 

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 Cruising Outlook

Cruising Outlook

Upcoming cruises just around the corner!

Lazy Days Cruise
The summer is zooming right along and the Lazy Days cruise is upon us.  Join the NSA on August 18th for a fun day on the Neuse and opportunity for the perfect picture of your boat under sail. There will be a social after at the Sea Harbour Yacht Club rain or shine.  The fleet will meet at the Garbacon mark around 11:00 and then back to home ports and SHYC by 4:00.  NSA of course will provide beer, wine and water – just bring a dish to share, and your bathing suit if you want to cool off in the pool.

If you haven’t signed up yet, register here 

And monitor the forum for this event here 

Labor Day Cruise
Completing the summer cruise itinerary is the NSA Labor Day cruise to Cape Lookout September 1–3! Hopefully the heat of the summer and the weather gods will be with us for a great time at a very special place. Boats that want to cruise with company will meet at Oriental #1 at 0800 for the run down Adams Creek and out the Beaufort inlet for the short ocean leg to the bight.  Bring your sand shoes, sun screen and be ready for a fun beach social with your fellow NSA members!

The Labor Day cruise registration is open and available here 

And keep up to date on planning at the forum here 

Pat and Jeff Kenyon
Vice Commodores/Cruising
s/v CALITRI


Fall Cruise (Oct 13-14)
The upcoming Fall Cruise (Oct 13-14) will be the second to last "scheduled" NSA trip of this sailing season.  Maybe a good time to gather, embellish, and swap this summer's sailing stories.  You know, the dolphin sightings, rainbows, and sunsets; plus the groundings, leaks, tows, busted knuckles.  You know: Sailing.   Where did the summer go? 

This year's Fall Cruise will take us to one of the NSA's favorite short hops: River Dunes. The event registration can be found here.  NSA will ask you to register for Saturday night only.  For any additional nights please make your own arrangements with the Dockmaster.  They are always very helpful at River Dunes.  See their website here: https://riverdunes.com/.

There is a planned social on Saturday 4-6pm at the pavilion.  As always, please plan to bring your stories and a dish to share.  The club will provide beer and wine. Times may change so we recommend you monitor the event forum for the Fall Cruise.  This is the beginning of the transient season for River Dunes so sign up as early as possible.

If you have any questions just ask.  

In case you need the River Dunes Dockmaster: 
Rich Beliveau 252-249-4908 or 800-348-7618 

See you there! 

Scott Westwood and Sandra Emerson
Cruise captains, Fall Cruise
scottwestwood@bellsouth.net
919-618-7185
s/v Aphrodesiac

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 Membership

Membership Update

Please join me in welcoming the following new members:  Gordon Towle as a Yacht member on “Mykala”; Debra and Bob Burke as Yacht members on “U Betcha” a Catalina located at Blackwell Point Marina, and Penny Flaherty who joined as a Yacht member in March.  We also want to welcome Henry Boyd, Dock Master, River Forest Manor & Marina as a Patron Member. If you are a new member, be sure to visit the website and ensure that your profile is filled out; this information is used when you sign up for cruises. 

Remember we also have an exciting offer from Outland Hatch Covers.  

Our offer is for the NSA to have a gift for newly signed members as well as a reward for current members.  

   *As an incentive to sign up with the NSA, new members will receive a 25% discount for Outland Hatch Covers. This is an offer you may extend to your newly signed members over the next 6 months.  The offer expires on October 15th this year. 

**This offer ended for current members in May.    

This has been posted at the website along with the other benefits for members.   If you know someone who has been on the fence while considering joining the best sailing association in NC, tell them about this opportunity. 

If any new member has not yet received their Welcome Burgee, please contact me at vcmembership@neusesailingassociation.org.   If anyone wants to replace a weathered burgee, I have a few available at $25.00.  Just let me know and we’ll get it in the mail in time for our sailing season.      

            

Donna Ryder
Vice Commodore Membership
s/v Sea Glass

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Dinghy Poker Run


Dinghy Poker Run After Action Report

Well the day started out promising, with some blue skies and sun.  The hands were selling fast and furious, the dockmasters had their cards, stamps, water guns (and some even had jello shots ), the auction items were labelled and set, and the food had been delivered!  I was even beginning to relax, just a little.  And then the skies opened up…..

I do love sailors – they can’t change the weather but they can adjust their sails.  Some of the dinghies still went around to the docks while others got their hands at the Tiki Bar, the dockmasters dealt the cards (and the jello shots), the chicken stayed dry and warm under the tent and a crack team of volunteers completely rearranged the whole silent auction to the middle of tent.  The live auction, led by the intrepid auctioneer, Buster Kenny, was, as always, very entertaining and raised over $2,000!

There really are no words to thank the amazing group of volunteers who came together to make this event happen. This year we had support from ODC and SCOO members, which I hope will continue in the future.  A great big congratulations to all the dockmasters, dealers, hand sellers/talliers, cashiers and credit card gurus, food servers, raffle ticket and t-shirt sellers, set up and breakdown people, auction item donors, and last but not least the participants

Soooo - In spite of over 2 inches of rain falling in about an hour: we set a record of 214 hands sold and we raised over $6,000 with a final net of $5,383.51 going to Heartworks!  A great fun day for a good cause.

Thank you all

Alice Petree
Organizer, NSA Dinghy Poker Run
s/v Highland Fox

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Harborfest

Harborfest for Heartworks : September 22-24, 2018. 

We are looking forward to a wonderful weekend and hope that you will be able to join us along the shore of beautiful Grace Harbor at River Dunes, outside Oriental, North Carolina. Festivities kick off Friday night with a casual feast of Roland’s Barbecue, fun and friends.  Then rock out to the feel-good tunes of Saltwater Gold and enjoy dancing under the stars.  Tickets are $25 per person. Harborfest continues Saturday evening with a Gala Dinner/Dance beginning at 5:30pm with an open bar and delicious food prepared by The Chelsea, silent and live auctions, music which will surely lead you to the dance floor by The Entertainers performing R&B, Beach Music and more, all for $75 per person.  Seating is limited for the Gala.

Our Boater's Special package has been a tremendous success among the cruising crowd.  For $350, boaters have access to three nights' dockage at River Dunes Harbor Club Marina, reservations for two to Friday night's food/music/dance, to Saturday night's Gala dinner, to breakfast at Yawl’s on Sunday morning, use of the River Dunes' facilities, and easy access to all the Harborfest activities. 

If you’d like to give a little more, for $500 our Boater’s Special Plus registration includes your name in the program as one of our hosts.

To register for the Boater's Special or Boater’s Special Plus or to make reservations to come by land on either night, visit HarborfestNC.com.

Harborfest for HeartWorks won't just make you feel good; it's good for our community.  All proceeds from Harborfest benefit HeartWorks, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization serving the needs of at-risk kids and their families in our region.  Offering a wide range of programs for children including developmental daycare, one-on-one tutoring, an after-school and a summer learning program, as well as mental health counseling, HeartWorks is a nurturing resource for the children and their families in Pamlico County.

Laurie Sampson

s/v Narnia

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Misto

Misto visits Great Barrier Reef


We departed Vanuatu in Mid July with the 2018 World Arc Fleet - we are still trying to get to know everyone but they seem like a good group. We had a swift and uneventful passage coming in second in the catamaran division and also winning the prize for arriving closest to our estimated arrival time. We had to enter Mackay with only one engine as the port engine refused to start - it turned out to be an electrical issue which Howard and Martin were able to solve later.  The inspection on entering Australia is exhaustive, including a dog searching the boat for illegal drugs, but we had provisioned carefully and did did not lose anything unexpected at all. 

Unfortunately one boat in the fleet, Lunatix, a 5x racing boat suffered steering failure 650 nm from Mackay. In this case the emergency tiller was useless as the rudder stock was simply turning in the rudder. Two boats from the fleet stayed with them and the crew managed to jury rig a solution, arriving only a day after the fleet. This is a great example of how supportive a rally can be and how great it is to have access to help and advice along the way. 

In Mackay the inevitable maintenance continued and we fitted a new Doppler radar unit and a new windlass. The latter has been essential as we have cruised the Whitsunday islands.  For any of you looking for a charter a bit further afield this is a great destination with lots of islands, anchorages and some mooring balls. 

We did not expect to take Misto out to the Great Barrier Reef but the weather presented an ideal opportunity and, along with another catamaran from the fleet, we went to Bait, Hardy and Hook reefs. The fish were amazing but the coral is still recovering from the cyclone in 2017. The colours of the water as we motor-sailed between Hardy and Hook reefs were incredible and just like the tourist brochure photos. It certainly feels like an achievement to have taken our own boat out to the Great Barrier Reef and to have snorkeled there. 

As I write we are now starting to wend our way up to Darwin to arrive at the end of August. The true island hopping and day sails have ended and we will be doing a few long passages to get there.  We are enjoying sunny days but cool winds and evenings which are a reminder that we are in Southern Hemisphere winter.




Regards,
Ros and Howard
s/v Misto

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