Commodore's Log

  Carl Crothers, Commodore

  S/V Sanctuary

Commodore’s Log September 2021

With continuing unsettled weather and a resurgence in Covid cases, it appears that this year we cannot win for losing, as the saying goes. Most of the fleet did make it to Ocracoke for the Labor Day Weekend Cruise, but Hurricane Ida followed by a cold front made it a real challenge. It was typical rough going in the Pamlico Sound. 

Members who’ve been sailing to Ocracoke with the NSA for years know the cruise mantra: “It’s worth it once you get there.” And that’s true. The 20+ boats that made it – plus some who came by the ferry – had a great time. The weather was pleasant, and most restaurants were open, albeit with reduced hours. SmacNally’s had a one-to-two-hour wait for a table every day.

We had a nice “socially distanced” social at the gazebo on Saturday, which we accomplished by placing the wine and beer coolers up near the pool, so members had to walk back and forth down the dock, thus reducing the crowding on the gazebo. It probably reduced the amount of drinking, too! Thanks to Chuck Gordon and Sharon Stephenson, cruise captains, for the idea and for working all this out with the marina. It was also great to see several new members, whom we had met at the Aug. 21 New Members Social, make it to Ocracoke. 

Back to Covid, news of the cancellation of the Oriental Boat Show got the Bridge thinking about the Shrimperoo, which had been scheduled for Sept. 11. After considerable discussion by Bridge members and others at Ocracoke, we decided that inviting the public and crowding more than 100 people onto the Tiki Bar deck was not worth the risk, so we cancelled the event for this year.

Covid is also forcing us to examine different approaches and perhaps a different venue for the Commodore’s Ball on Nov. 13. More about that later.

Two more cruises are on the calendar to close out this season. See Cruising Commodore Howard Cheetham’s update elsewhere in this newsletter for more information. 

One way or the other, I hope to see you all soon.

Sailing quote of the month: “The days pass happily with me wherever my ship sails.” – Joshua Slocum

Carl Crothers
Commodore
commodore@neusesailingassociation.org

 Howard Cheethan

  VC Cruising

  S/V Misto

The Labor Day Cruise to Ocracoke was a success, as always, despite the weather trying its best to disrupt us again. The Remnants of Hurricane Ida swept up the from Louisiana dumping huge amounts of rain across VA, PA, NJ and NY as it redeveloped into a Tropical Depression. We caught strong winds and thunderstorms in Ocracoke on Tuesday night and Wednesday before Labor Day, followed by a cold front bringing strong N winds for those trying to do the passage on Thursday or Friday, and no wind on Saturday. 

A number of the motorboat brigade and ourselves went early and camped out on the Parks Board Docks, a reassuring number battled the adverse wind and arrived on Thursday and Friday and a few stragglers made it on Saturday in time for a Social under the Gazebo – where we did our best to use the breeze and social distancing to minimize the Covid risks.

By Monday, strong winds were forecast to resume from the South so a number of us departed on Sunday (mostly those who had already been there for a week), a few braved the journey back on Monday and others stayed to enjoy Ocracoke for a day or two more, returning in better conditions on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A big round of thanks to Chuck Gordon for all his planning and work with the management and staff of The Anchorage. Chuck will have a fuller report elsewhere in this Neuse Juice.

A Shout Out to Scott Westwood for detecting the Deliberate mistake in the last 2 editions where the wrong dates for the Fall Cruise had crept back into my report. The correct dates have always been on the website and are corrected below. Hopefully the weather will give us a break and allow us to have a great weekend at West Bay. Eric Hardtle is prepared to provide the beach barbeques that have been promised since Easter.

Over the Labor Day weekend we had some serious discussions around Covid precautions as the Delta Variant has caused another spike in cases. It was decided to cancel the Shrimperoo and we have modified the Halloween Cruise to keep it a local event. A few years ago a Photo Shoot on the Neuse River was very successful, so we plan to do it again, followed by enjoying the Halloween celebrations in Oriental. Hopefully one of the members will get that killer photo of you at the helm while you respond in kind. I predict a lot of new Boat Cards after this with great pictures of our boats. We also need to update the background photo for the website – this needs a special type of picture – lots of interest across the top and down the sides, with nothing in the center – essentially the exact opposite of how you would normally compose a picture. Lets see who can create a great one!

Oct. 2-3 Fall Cruise West Bay – hopefully by October the weather will have settled down again, so we can go back to planned destinations – but we will have a backup if the wind is in the wrong direction.

Oct. 30-31 Halloween Cruise – We will keep local with a day sailing on the Neuse, possibly to South River with opportunities to take close up pictures of other boats and maybe generate a new Webpage background. For those that want to party there is a Pirate Party at the Tiki Bar on Saturday night.

Sail to the wind, not a schedule,

Howard Cheetham

S/V Misto

Labor Day Ocracoke Cruise 

Thanks to the 40+ hardy Sailors who challenged the mighty Pamlico Sound to enjoy a beautiful weekend in Ocracoke. The Saturday social was well attended by new and old members and it was a great time! As well as the Sunday afternoon meetup which came with a surprise of grilled shrimp and tuna supplied by a neighboring boat! You got to love the people you meet on the water! Please remember we have several more events this year and are hoping you will be able to join in the fun!

Thanks! 

Sharon and Chuck

Cruise Captains

A Successful NSA New Members’ Social  

The weather cooperated for a successful and fun second annual NSA New Members’ Social, held on Saturday, Aug. 21, at Whittaker Pointe Marina. About 45 to 50 new NSA members, directors and bridge members attended the social, which was designed to allow new members to meet each other and the NSA leadership, and to learn more about the club, cruising and upcoming events. Commodore Carl Crothers, Vice Commodore of Cruising Howard Cheetham and Vice Commodore of Special Events Kevin Guilfoyle gave informative talks to the new members, after which a plentiful buffet was enjoyed. We appreciate the bridge members and directors who attended and brought food, and we especially appreciate the new members who came out despite the threat of storms!

Both of the NSA’s upcoming membership drives at the Shrimperoo and the Oriental Boat Show have been cancelled. However, if you know of someone who might enjoy being part of this group, please let them know that memberships for the remainder of 2021 will be good until April 1, 2023. That’s a pretty good deal!

Our newest NSA members are Kevin Crockett and Ginger Mott of New Bern, owners of S/V Dana, which they keep at Sea Harbour Yacht Club. Kevin and Ginger attended the NSA New Members’ Social, but if you have not met them yet, be sure to say hello when you do!See you on the water soon!

Donna Crothers

Vice Commodore, Membership

S/V Sanctuary

Marketplace is always available on the website to order NSA merchandise. Please inform me if you place an order so I can deliver it to you in Oriental. 

Thanks to all who continue to post pictures on the Facebook group page. As a reminder our NSA group page is not open to the public but rather only for NSA members. Kathy Kenny

Vice Commodore, Social Media

S/V Cool Change

 Jeff Kenyon
 S/V Calitri (website)

Pat Thomaier
S/V Wild Goose (Neuse Juice)

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