The centuries-old annual Blessing of the Fleet is performed in ports around the world to help safeguard the crews and their ships from the danger of the seas. The ceremony is held at different times by different organizations, including yacht clubs, and this year the event seems particularly appropriate as the pandemic eases and sailors go down to their boats again in larger numbers. The United States Navy Memorial held its annual ceremony Monday at Memorial Plaza in Washington, DC. As a member of the Memorial, I made a donation in the name of the Neuse Sailing Association as a tribute to the nation’s rich maritime heritage. You can read more about the Navy ceremony at https://www.navymemorial.org/2021bof Thanks to Kevin and Mary Guilfoyle for their superb handling of the Oyster Roast last month at River Dunes. It was a perfect afternoon, except that we had to limit the numbers of members who could attend. We hope that that is the last time we have to do that. Our first cruise of the season, the Spring (Easter) Cruise, April 1-3, brought out some cold-weather sailors for a brisk sail to Clubfoot Creek and an anchorage just off Matthews Point Marina. Four boats showed up for what turned out to be a pleasant gathering on the marina lawn followed by a peaceful, albeit cold, night. Thanks to our Cruising Commodore, Howard Cheetham, and Ros for reintroducing us to this close-by getaway. Planning and discussion continue about the Chesapeake Cruise coming up in May. If you’re registered, make sure you are subscribed to the Chesapeake Cruise Forum on the website. It has plenty of good information and advice from some of our veteran cruisers. Pat Thomaier and John Messer, our cruise captains, are planning a Zoom skippers’ meeting later in the month. Watch for information about the meeting. We have penciled in Saturday, Sept. 11, for the Shrimperoo at the Oriental Marina & Inn. A lot will have to come into play for us to pull this off, particularly a return to unrestricted outdoor gatherings. Stay tuned. Our virtual seminars, sponsored by the Nautical Co-op, finished up last Saturday with a session on Auxiliary Systems - AC, Refrigeration, Plumbing - by Darrel Foster of Foster's Mobile Marine Service. Thanks to Chuck Gordon for coordinating the great seminar series. All were well received. Be careful out there. We’ll see you on the water. Sailing quote of the month: “The goal is not to sail the boat, but rather to help the boat sail herself.” – John Rousmaniere Carl Crothers |
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A week before Easter the weather was wonderful, but the forecast for the weekend was a return to winter, so we changed plans from West Bay to Clubfoot Creek. Saturday morning started cold with a N wind blowing as 3 and then 4 brave vessels sailed a very nice broad reach across the Neuse. At least the sun was shining, and it was warming up through the day. |
We anchored off Mathews point marina and were welcomed ashore by another 2 members who had driven down from New Bern and Andy the Dockmaster (who many would know from his time as a broker at St Barts and at Triton Yachts).
The 9 members who made it enjoyed our socially distant social without sharing food or drink – but we did share lots of experiences and had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon before it was time for the “Toyota” sailors to return home and the rest of us return to our boats for a chilly night. Sunday morning the wind had swung to the S and we all enjoyed another glorious broad reach all the way back to Oriental. |  |
Chesapeake Cruise Sign-up Ends This Thursday
We're almost ready to go! So far, ten boats are traveling together starting Saturday, May 1. One NSA boat is ahead of us, already on the Dismal Swamp route, and another will be a week behind us. The NSA burgee will fly over the Chesapeake in May!
To recap, we are traveling as a group until we reach the Chesapeake. Marinas are lined up at Dowry Creek, Alligator River, Coinjock, Atlantic Yacht Basin, and finally, at Hampton, VA. The original plan was a four day trip to Portsmouth, but we have added a day and changed our destination from Portsmouth to Hampton. The Hampton Public Pier is right downtown, close to the the Air and Space museum. Oh, and next to a brewery. From there, we'll explore the Chesapeake on our own, or in small groups. There's great info on the Chesapeake Cruise Forum - many thanks to all of the contributors. If you're still on the fence, check out the forum, or contact John or Pat with any questions.
John Messer & Pat Thomaier
Cruise Co-Captains
S/V Wild Goose
The Dinghy Poker Run is scheduled for July 24 and it is looking good that we will be able to have the event this year. As in the recent past, it will be sponsored by the NCO – Nautical Co-op of Oriental. This is a collaboration of the 3 sailing clubs in Oriental – NSA, SCOO (Sailing Club of Oriental) and ODC (Oriental Dinghy Club). The event will be staged at the Oriental Marina & Inn/Tiki Bar deck. Proceeds from the event will go to the Pamlico Coastal Activities Council, to be earmarked for children’s sailing school scholarships. VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED! This event is successful only with the help of lots of people pitching in. The planning stage needs folks to help with advertisement, soliciting & procuring items for the auctions, lining up docks for the poker stops & map preparation, food planning and preparing for event day set up. Others will be needed for the day of the event. I am planning an initial meeting via Zoom on Sunday April 25 at 1:00. Let me know via email if you can attend & I will send out the Zoom link closer to the meeting date. Also let me know if you can help, but will not be able to attend the meeting. I look forward to hearing from you. Sharon Stephenson S/V Pelikan 919-414-7719 |
Wednesday Night Racing Has Started Boats will sortie from the various creeks and marinas to rendezvous at Oriental "1SC" on each Wednesday (weather permitting), for an impromptu race around the government marks. No need to register, just show up. I've developed a mailing list and will try to get an email out each Monday to remind everyone. The start will be at 1800 GPS time. We will try and do the normal US Sailing countdown. This will allow those new to racing an opportunity to learn and practice the start sequence. Hopefully, if I'm not there, someone will start the countdown with a horn at 1755, another at 1756, 1759 and again at the 1800 start. I propose the usual course of whichever is more upwind - Garbacon or Adam's Creek as a weather mark and round the other as a leeward mark and finish at Oriental "1SC". The start/finish line for both courses will be between Oriental "1SC" and O "3". When going to Adam's Creek first, take all marks to port. Going to Garbacon first, take all marks to starboard. Channel 78A will be used for communications. Social will be at the Tiki Bar afterwards. Tell your friends and neighbors and if you have any questions or comments email me at joesail1@gmail.com If you want to be dropped from this mailing list, please let me know. If you know someone who wants to be added, email me their address. See you on the water, Joe Valinoti |
Welcome Our New Members! Please join me in welcoming new NSA members who have joined in the past month! Joining the club this month are Jeb and Anita Blackwell of Charlotte, owners of S/V Tula, which they keep at Pecan Grove Marina; George and Marjorie Dufek of Oriental, owners of S/V Andiamo, which they keep at a home dock; Rick Edwards of Oriental, owner of S/V Three Quarter Time, which he keeps at Sea Harbour Yacht Club; Keith and Janet Gapen of Oriental, owners of M/V Grace, which they keep at River Dunes Marina; and Richard Osborne and Allison Keith, owners of S/V Cirrus, which they keep at Wayfarer’s Cove Marina. Please be sure to say hello when you see our new members at upcoming cruises and events! Stay well and see you on the water soon! Donna Crothers Vice Commodore, Membership S/V Sanctuary |
First of all, thank you to all members who post on our Facebook page. Keep it coming! I love seeing all the photos and information shared. Whether you are wanting to buy or sell related items or looking for someone to cruise along with you on a non NSA event, post it! Our Facebook group is a closed group for our current paid members so I consider it a “safe place” to share. Friendly reminder, if you haven’t renewed your dues for 2021 please do so now. Unfortunately, Covid has restricted some of our events but we will continue on with what we can while still following CDC guidelines. The bridge appreciates your understanding and support with your membership! If you weren’t able to buy NSA merchandise at the Oyster Roast reach out to me or order on our website. We do not ship but I promise to get it to you in person. Stay safe on and off the water! Kathy Kenny Vice Commodore, Social Media S/V Cool Change |
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More photos! Keep those great event photos coming to to jeff.kenyon@gmail.com for inclusion in the main website scrolling photos area. We’ll also select one photo per month as the website background picture. For the background, the photo needs to have "interesting" content along the top and sides, since the website content consumes the entire middle. Jeff Kenyon S/V Calitri |
Neuse Sailing Association | PO Box 253 | Oriental, NC 28571