Neuse Sailing Association - September 2020 Neuse Juice

Summer is winding down, looking ahead to the Fall

The Commodore is on land, looking outside at the rain and listening to the thunder the past couple of days, but smiling about what a great Labor Day cruise the club just enjoyed on Ocracoke Island! Thanks go to Chuck Gordon, cruise captain, and Carl Crothers, VC of Cruising, for hosting such a wonderful event. It was really a testament in these times of our ability to gather as a group for a lot of fun, make some new memories, and stay safe. A collage of the “socially distanced social” is below.

NSA continued in our 2020 support mission of hurricane Dorian relief for Ocracoke, making a donation at their “One Year Post-Dorian Benefit Concert”. We took proceeds from the NSA Oyster Roast and sale of limited edition “NSA Loves Corncrake the Island formerly known as Ocracoke” T-shirts. I am proud to lead an organization that cares about giving back in many ways to the county and others we care about.

Labor Day signifies the unofficial end of summer, and marshals in NSA’s final two cruises of the year – the Fall Cruise and the Halloween Cruise. More on those from the VC of Cruising, but I will just say I hope you are able to join one or both to cap off NSA’s 2020 cruising season.

The last event of the year is the Commodore’s Ball. We had a meeting of available board members during the Labor Day Cruise to discuss how such an event could be held this year while remaining safe. The board voted to hold the event outdoors, expressing concerns to be inside for a large gathering, whether it was within state guidelines or not. With that in mind, we are looking at an outside event under a large tent in the afternoon and are seeking ways to make it special as well as fun. Please look for a survey from me soliciting your interest in attending such an event so we can gauge the number of people to expect and get your feedback.

As always – I hope you are doing well and enjoying some time on the water!

Cruising Outlook

Carl Crothers, VC Cruising

S/V Sanctuary

Cruising Update for September 2020

It took almost the entire cruising season to pull it off, but we finally got to enjoy a cruise as planned without any major weather problems or Covid impacts. The Labor Day Weekend Cruise to Ocracoke was a fantastic time with generally good sailing coming and going and great weather throughout the weekend. The final count was 26 boats, including several first-timers! Most were docked at the Anchorage Inn Marina, but the anchorage in Silver Lake was also filled mostly with NSA boats.

In line with Covid guidelines, we restricted our get-togethers to small groups with one BYOE social under the trees on Saturday at the park next to the National Parks Service docks. The area gave us plenty of room to socially distance. Several members enjoyed an Ocracoke Dorian benefit concert that was conducted on Saturday in scheduled time slots to restrict attendance to small groups. Commodore Jeff Kenyon presented a check for $500 from the club, most of which came from the 50-50 raffle we conducted at the Oyster Roast in February. John Messer also sold most of the “Corncrake” (the Weather Channel’s spelling of Ocracoke during Dorian) t-shirts he designed to raise money for the recovery effort.

Our gratitude and thanks go to Cruise Captains Chuck Gordon and Sharon Stephenson for planning and executing a great cruise!

The voyage home on Monday and Tuesday provided for good sailing for a change in a rare northeast wind. The boats returning Tuesday slipped between several squall lines in Pamlico Sound that at one point included a waterspout. In most cases, boats were only lightly rained on and all returned safely to their home ports.

Our Fall Cruise to the West Bay anchorage, Oct. 9-11, is up next. Registration is open on the website. Scott Westwood and Sandra Emerson, s/v Aphrodisiac, will be our cruise captains. We’ll cross our fingers for a southwest wind to allow us to anchor off the beach on the soundside; If not, we’ll consider changing to Cape Lookout. More on that later.

Our final cruise of the year is set for Halloween weekend at the Galley Stores Marina in New Bern, Oct. 30-Nov. 1. John Messer and Pat Thomaier, are our cruise captains. Please register as soon as possible. The marina has said they can take up to 15 boats. If necessary, we’ll use Grand Marina for overflow.

We hope to see you on the water.

Membership

Donna Crothers, VC Membership

S/V Sanctuary

Let’s Plan for a Great 2021 Sailing Season

COVID-19 has certainly curtailed the NSA’s traditional activities this year, although we have had some fantastic sailing trips, most recently to Ocracoke. There is nothing safer than being out on the water on your own boat, and we’ve been able to hold a few socially distanced outdoor get-togethers.

However, not unexpectedly, COVID-19 has limited our membership, with 192 active members currently on file, compared with 229 at the end of 2019. We are extremely grateful for all those who continue to support the club in these trying times.

We are hoping for a more “normal” year in 2021, and currently are offering membership through April 2022 for any new members who join during the remainder of 2020. That’s about 18 months of membership for the price of 12 months. And we still have a couple great cruises left for 2020, including West Bay and the Halloween Cruise to New Bern. Please share this with any of your friends who might be interested, and they can feel free to call me at 336 403 6534 for more information.

See you on the water!

NSA Wear

Kathy Kenny, VC Social Media, NSA Wear Coord.

S/V Cool Change

This year has been very challenging to say the least. Without the Shrimperoo & boat show, when normally a lot of our merchandise sells, we now still have an abundance of shirts, caps & koozies. Take a look at the marketplace and place an order. Let me know that you ordered and I will deliver to you in Oriental.

I’m hoping to see lots of pictures on our Facebook group (as well as posted on our NSA website) of Ocracoke as well as anywhere else you venture off to.

Stay safe!

AND

Support Our Friends in Ocracoke! T Shirts Still Available

If you were watching The Weather Channel coverage of Hurricane Isaias, you might have wondered where in the world Corncrake Island, NC was. It looked suspiciously close to Ocracoke… Well, we thought we’d enjoy the joke and support our friends on Ocracoke with this special edition, “NSA Loves Corncrake” T shirt. Shirts are still available at $25/shirt. We’ll donate the proceeds to help Ocracoke’s rebuilding efforts.

see John Messer for shirts

Communications

Robert Pugh and Tracy Vail, VC Communications

S/V Solveig

Robert and I have learned that the best way to meet and get to know people in the NSA is to jump in and participate in the bridge!

We are looking for a tech savvy individual or couple to work with us for the rest of the year to learn about taking care of the website and doing the monthly newsletter. We've enjoyed our two years at the helm of technology and are ready to share with others as we will be going cruising this winter! Please contact us if you're willing/able to support the organization as Vice Commodore of Communications.

We also love having members share stories of their adventures on the water in the monthly newsletter. If you have a good story to share or just want us to join you on your adventures, please consider writing an article and sending it to me around the first of the month.

Coming Events

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