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May 15 2019

'The Neuse Juice'

Volumn 46 Number 5

Paul Griffin, 
Commodore



The Commodore's Log 

Many Grand Adventures Ahead!

Welcome back to another edition of the Commodore’s Log! April and early May saw the Neuse Sailing Association activities get in full swing, so there is plenty to be covered in this month’s Neuse Juice. Grab yourself a beverage of choice, sit back, and enjoy a recap of all the fun with a ‘look out’ to the months ahead.


Despite spirited conditions on the Neuse, we had a great turnout at the Easter Cruise at River Dunes! Please check out Jeff’s recap and further cruising info below.


A new event for 2019, our New Member Social, saw a fantastic turn out of new members to mingle with the bridge and officers and learn more about our club and how to get involved. Kudos to Donna Crothers and everyone else in attendance. We look forward to seeing all your faces at upcoming events this year.

Lastly, on May 4, we held our annual Anniversary Race! In the spirit of cooperation between the town sailing clubs, we ran this event in conjunction with the ODC Pursuit series. A great time was had by all despite the wind dying out midway through the race. Congratulations to Chaz Coats who took home first place! The social afterwards at New Village Brewery was of course well attended and we had a raucous crowd!

Many thanks to Kathy Kenny for getting t-shirts and coozies in stock so quickly!! Not only that but we are now live on Twitter - if you have an account come give us a follow @SailingNeuse. If you have no idea what I just said, please ignore and carry on.

Becky, Grace and I hope to be back down in July with an additional crew member aboard! Can’t wait to see you all then and have a great time!

Paul Griffin

s/v Blue Mind

Commodore

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Cruising Outlook

Cruising Outlook

Let the cruising begin!

Memorial Day Cruise

Next up will be the Memorial Day cruise, with 23 boats already signed up.  Besides our usual fun at the beach, we are planning a special activity to “pay if forward”.  On Sunday we will gather for a beach cleanup brigade to leave this special place just a little cleaner than when we arrived.  We are working with the park service to make this an official group activity.  Thanks to board member Buck O’Neil for the excellent suggestion and to motivate NSA to take on this worthwhile activity!

Weeklong Cruises

While it is still early, we are encouraging members to sign up now for either the North or South cruise so we can lock in slips with marinas along the way.  We are planning around 15 boats on both cruises but aren’t (yet) seeing those numbers.  If it is on your “to do” list, please go to the NSA site and sign up so we are not holding space that NSA won’t need.

2018 Cruise Planning Calendar

April 20 – 21           Easter Cruise, River Dunes
May 25 – 27            Memorial Day Cruise, Cape Lookout
June 15 – 23           Weeklong Cruises – North and South options
July 4 – 7                Dog Days Cruise, Little Washington
August 10 – 11        Lazy Days Cruise, TBD Land and Water event
August 31 – Sept 2  Labor Day Cruise, Ocracoke
October 12 – 13       Fall Cruise/Raft Up, TBD
October 26 – 27       Cruise, New Bern or Beaufort

We are hoping for a great 2019 season, and with the interest so far, it sure looks like it will be.  AND we are still looking for cruise captains for the Weeklong North, Lazy Days, Labor Day, and Fall Cruise. Step up – you will be glad you did! Just contact your Vice Commodore of Cruising, Jeff Kenyon!

Jeff Kenyon


s/v Calitri

Vice Commodore Cruising


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Membership

Looking forward to a great sailing season!


Donna Crothers

s/v Sanctuary

Vice Commodore Membership


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 Events

Dinghy Poker Run

The Dinghy Poker Run will be Saturday July 27 at the Oriental Marina & Tiki Bar. Hands will go on sale at 9:30 & the run will start at 11:00. Proceeds from this year’s DPR will go to the Pamlico Coastal Activity Council, earmarked for scholarships to Pamlico County kids for sailing school.

The 1st planning meeting for this year’s Dinghy Poker Run took place March 30. We had a good turn out of interested volunteers, with all 3 sailing clubs in Oriental represented. Work has started on making food arrangements, lining up docks, advertising & soliciting items for auction & prizes. We would love to have any items or services you would like to donate for auction & prizes.

There is still lots of room for volunteers, especially for the day of the event. More specific details will be forthcoming. And, of course, anyone who would like to help in the preparation phase is welcome. Just let me know – srstephenson1420@gmail.com or 919-414-7719.


Sharon Stephenson

S/V Pelican


NSA Anniversary Race

There was a big race on the river Saturday, May 4th. NSA & ODC teamed up. For NSA, it was their annual Anniversary Race. For ODC, it was one of the NAUTICAL WHEELERS 2019 Pursuit Series races.

15 boats (!!!) competed. The big winner was s/v Legend skippered by Chaz Coats.

Many of the ODC members teamed up with our NSA cruising boats to lend an expert hand for less experienced racers.  Those advisers provided a great learning opportunity and had a "whatever it takes" attitude that made the day enjoyable despite the wind laying down after the first leg was completed.

The social and awards ceremony afterwards was held at the New Village Brewery. NSA and ODC members and guests enjoyed music by George Bailey and his friend Tom.  Plenty of appetizers were brought to share.  Grace Griffen was a delight to watch as she attentively looked up to her father, Commodore Paul Griffin, as he announced the winners of the race.  

Thanks to past Commodore Chuck Gordon for helping to arrange the location and hanging up the NSA banners.  As usual, there was plenty of laughter, dancing and story telling!

Many thanks to Joe Mattea for all his hard work in organizing, setting up the course and serving as the committee boat for the race.  Joe also recorded the start of the race and has link posted on our Facebook page.  A good time was had by all!  

                                

Kevin and Mary Guilfoyle

V/C Special Events

“Meridian” Albin 36


NSA Name Tags                                                                       

There has been a human outcry for name tags just like the ones that the Bridge have and I have risen to the challenge!  Please let me know via email (jmesser@mindspring.com) if you would like to purchase one of these nametags. Include each name and associated boat name.

 It will be metal with a magnetic backing that really works well – however if you have a heart pacemaker do not order or use one of these because the magnet has been known to interfere with a pacemaker. I can make arrangements for a pin type backing if you let me know in your email.

The cost will be somewhere around 6 dollars each depending on how many we order, but we are well below one yacht-unit of cost!

The name tag will be white with black lettering and the same red NSA logo as used on the Bridge name tags. We will include your boat name along with the designation of S/V or M/V.

The lead time will be about two weeks after I have the list of who wants them, so let’s set the boat show date of April 13 as the drop dead date to let me know if you want one.

Regards and Fair Winds,

John Messer, Director NSA

jmesser@mindspring.com

919-740-9421



NSA Merchandise and Social Media 

We have a new supply of men’s and women’s t-shirts, as well as koozies, available to purchase. The t-shirts are $20 each and the koozies are one for $3.00 or two for $5.00. Also coming very soon will be caps and visors, which are on order. Contact me at kkennyunc@aol.com if you would like to make a purchase and I’ll make it happen! I’ll also have the merchandise in Oriental on various week-ends and I’ll announce beforehand when that will be.

On another note, for those that may not know, the Neuse Sailing Association is on Facebook & Twitter. The Facebook group is a closed group and approved only for paid members of the NSA. I encourage everyone to post and share your photos with our Facebook group as well as on our website.

I look forward to seeing you and your new t-shirts, caps, visors and koozies on the water and about town! 

Kathy Kenny

V/C Social Media

s/v Cool Change                                                                            




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Misto on World Arc

Misto Completes her Circumnavigation and the WARC

The celebrations for the completion of the WARC in St Lucia lasted several days, first at Marigot Bay and then in Rodney Bay.  In Marigot Bay a more informal dinner, with an excess of rum punch, and a presentation put together by some of the original boats from this fleet, started the festivities.  Then there was a Parade of Sail between the two harbors, with all the fleet dressed overall.  Unfortunately, the wind was rather strong that day which made it difficult for 20 or so  boats to sail at the same speed in a straight line! That, combined with the late arrival of a large cruise ship into Castries harbor meant that the intended route around Castries harbour had to be omitted.  However, we all arrived safely at the finishing line in a Rodney Bay where festivities started on the dock at lunch time and ended with a formal evening party and prize giving.

We felt very proud to have joined the relatively small group of sailorswho have sailed around the world. It has been an incredible journey full of amazing cultural experiences, stunning landscapes and challenging sailing which we will certainly never forget.  People often ask us what was our favorite place, which is an incredibly difficult question to answer.  If pushed, we would have to say that the Pacific Islands, particularly Vanuatu, the Marquesas and Nuie, with their brooding, mysterious darkness and secretive history would be our favorite places. They have a completely different vibe to the Eastern Caribbean, which is even demonstrated by their music.  The reggae of the Eastern Caribbean is positively light and bright compared to the haunting and often aggressive drumming, and Hakka-like chanting, found in the Pacific.

And so the WARC fleet has dispersed, some to stay in the islands, others back to Europe and some to the USA. Misto made her way north, up through a couple more islands. We visited Martinique for Easter where we enjoyed French cuisine and many pain au chocolat for breakfast and then sailed up to Dominica for a brief two night visit.  Unfortunately, here in Dominica we started to see the impact of hurricane Irma.  Houses are still in ruins and what is really unfortunate for the economy, is that the Ross medical school has left the island following the hurricane, which has removed their major source of income.  But despite this, the islanders are still their happy, helpful selves.

Then it was an overnight passage across the Caribbean Sea to the US Virgin Islands.  This was a great beam and broad reach sail, probably one of the best sails we have had for a long time.  Arriving in St John at midnight on the second day we picked up a mooring ball in the darkness, with no moon and very little light from the shore in Caneel Bay.  The latter was explained in the morning when we could see that hurricane Irma had impacted life here as well and several resorts, including the one on Caneel Bay, are now in ruins.  After a couple of nights on St John we moved to St Thomas and finally to the Crown Bay marina where will meet up with the Salty Dawg Rally participants.  We will be returning to North Carolina with this rally, which expects to depart on May 4.  However, with  a high sitting over the North Atlantic and pushing right over to the US east coast causing a huge area of doldrums, it is difficult to estimate when we will actually arrive home. But in any case, we are looking forward to meeting up with old and new friends again, and hope to see you all on the Memorial Day cruise to Lookout.


Ros and Howard Cheetham
s/v Misto

Neuse Sailing Association | PO Box 253 | Oriental, NC 28571


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