March 1st this year gave us the first taste of beautiful spring weather and we can only hope that the weather will be just as good for the Shrimperoo on March 26th. We were fortunate to have the perfect weather and location for our Oyster Roast thanks to Tom McElroy and Alice Petree our special events coordinators. Chris Daniels at the Silo hosted the event at the Red Rooster and prepared the Oysters for us. Tom and Alice are now switching their focus from the Oyster Roast to the Shrimperoo. |
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The Shrimperoo draws a large crowd to Oriental and has become our biggest annual recruitment event. I am asking members not only to be sure and come to the Shrimperoo but bring your families, neighbors and friends from the dock to experience the fun of an NSA event. Be sure and ask Alice or Tom “What can I do to help?” March 12th and the 19th are the final 2 seminars of the Winter Seminar Series. Due to Covid restrictions the Seminars have been virtual. Thanks to Chuck for organizing the presenters and to Sharon Stephenson’s technical knowledge we have been able to offer a very informative series. I have heard many positive comments from the membership about the advantages of doing the presentations virtually. Especially with gas prices right now it’s great that you can skip the drive to Oriental and participate in the seminar from your own home. Next month on April 2nd the club will hold the 49th Annual Anniversary Race. Our club initially started 49 years ago as a racing club with a small social after the race. Over the years we have become more and more a social club with a little racing. So as to maintain the history of the club, I hope everyone will participate in the anniversary race and social. More information about the race will be sent out to members via emails. Oriental has become known for having one of the largest and most successful in water boat show between Annapolis and Savannah. NSA members are very active in helping with making the Boat Show the success it is every year. This year the Nautical Co-OP of Oriental (NCO) which includes NSA, SCOO and ODC are working cooperatively to help strengthen and support the boat show. On April 8th and 9th volunteers are need to help represent NSA at the NCO booth at the show. If you are interested in helping at the booth contact Donna Crothers 336.403.6534 to sign up for a time. As you can see the NSA spring schedule is full of opportunities for all our members. Hope to see everyone at the Shrimperoo! Mary Guilfoyle
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Easter Cruise, River Dunes, April 15-17
Cruise Captain: Jason Keys
Hello, captains!
I hope everyone is getting excited for a great sailing season! I wanted to remind everyone that our first cruise of the year will be to River Dunes, over Easter weekend (4/15 through 4/17). This is just a weekend cruise, however, if you would prefer to get there Friday night, that option is available. We'll have a social on the grounds on Saturday. Of course, there is an option to drive for the social only, if you don't want to join us for the weekend. Please go to the website and register, indicating whether you are planning to bring your vessel or just coming for the social. I need to give Scott (the dock master) an idea of how many vessels he needs to anticipate. Each captain will eventually need to call and make their own reservation, referencing the NSA to the dock master. I'll have an update with more particulars at a future date. See ya' on the water!
Jason Keys S/V Sol Mate
Please keep reading we have updates from the cruise captains for the Chesapeake & the Memorial Day Cruise below. |
Chesapeake Cruise, departs on Saturday, April 23 Chesapeake Cruise Registration Open Now, Closes April 1 Cruise Captains: Pat Thomaier & John Messier The second (annual?) NSA cruise to the Chesapeake will depart on Saturday, April 23, with planned stops at Dowry Creek, Alligator River Marina, Coinjock and Atlantic Yacht Basic, ending up in Hampton, VA. Many returning snowbirds will be traveling this route, so the sooner we can book marina space, the better. Registration closes April 1. What to expect? We’ll travel as a group to Hampton, VA, with one night at each stop if the weather cooperates. There are bridge and lock schedules to consider after Coinjock, so we’ll coordinate departure times to take advantage of openings. After Hampton, it’s ‘free cruising.’ There were multiple informal meetups last year, and by the time we reach Hampton, a few will likely be in the works. Four to five weeks is a good timeframe for the cruise, but it can be done in three if you stay in the lower Chesapeake. Boaters may want to coordinate the return trip via Ocracoke for the Memorial Day cruise.
For the latest information, the cruise captains will be posting to the Chesapeake 2022 forum, so please subscribe if you’re planning to go. For some great info on last year’s trip, check out the Chesapeake 2021 forum (thanks especially to Scott and Sandy). |
Memorial Day Cruise to Ocracoke, May 27 – 30, 2022 Cruise Captain: Chuck Gordon
More information will be coming to confirm Social times and other possible activities. Also please use the forum to communicate your departure times so that we can group up to sail over. I know these times and days will be staggered but it will help others make plans. Usually that information is shared closer to the event. If you have any questions or concerns please contact me! Call/text 919.880.7879 or email chuckgordon55@yahoo.com Thanks PS – There are still some Cruises without Cruise Captains. If you have an interest, please contact your Vice Commodore of Cruising Jason Keys. |
We continue to prepare for our Memorial Day Cruise to the beautiful and fun island of Ocracoke. I will be sending a list of those who have registered and requested a slip to the Marina this week. It will take some time for them to figure out how many boats they can fit in so please be patient. I will send out a notice when to expect a phone call to confirm your reservation. Remember they will start at the top of list and work there way down in the order you registered.Thank you John, Pat & Chuck for the updates, we are hoping for a good turnout on all of these cruises.
Jason Keys
S/V Sol Mate
NCO WINTER SEMINAR SERIES
There are 2 Seminars remaining for this year:
You can register for these events separately the week of the event by emailing your request to ncoseminars@gmail.com by the Thursday the week of the Seminar. Both of these presentations will be very informative and both Tim and Wade are NSA members. These events are open to the public so pass this on to those who might have an interest. Thanks, Chuck GordonS/V Pelikan
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Welcome Our New Members New Members' Social, Saturday, April 9, 4 to 6 p.m., Whittaker Pointe Marina It’s time for our new members to get together – mark the date! NSA members who joined the club in September-December 2021 (since our last New Members Social) or in 2022 will soon be invited to our third annual New Members Social. This will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 9, which is the weekend of the Oriental In-Water Boat Show -- so we are hoping many will be in town. This is an opportunity for our newest members to meet the NSA Bridge and each other and to learn more about the club. We will send out email invitations soon with more details about the New Members Social and an opportunity to RSVP. Just bring yourself – beverages and appetizers will be provided. The NSA is very fortunate to have a number of new members who have joined the club recently, several during the Oyster Roast. Please join me in welcoming:
See you on the water soon! Donna CrothersVice Commodore Membership
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Shrimperoo If you missed the NSA Oyster Roast, you missed a great party! The oysters were sweet, the weather was gorgeous, the potluck dishes were plentiful and delicious, and the company was very entertaining. Over 100 people gathered at The Red Rooster on Saturday including over 20 guests, several of whom became new members before the end of the day! Hats off to Chris Daniels of the Silos! He did an amazing job with the oysters and the drinks. A big thank you goes out to the volunteers who showed up early for setup, registered attendees, and those who stuck around at the end to help with clean up and tear down. These events wouldn’t happen without the generous help from many members. If you did miss the Roast – Do Not Despair! You only have three weeks before THE SHRIMPEROO!! This is NSA’s annual membership recruitment event, where you can easily renew your membership for the year and where non-members can attend and find out what a fun club we are. Unlike the Oyster Roast, this event is open to the public. Non-members pay a $10/ person fee for food and cash for drinks at the Tiki Bar. If people join NSA that day, they will get credit for their entry fee towards their annual membership. Members are free, get 2 drink tickets and should bring a side dish/desert to share. Here’s the where and when.
NSA’S ANNUAL SHRIMPEROO, SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 2-4PM ORIENTAL MARINA AND INN/ TIKI BAR We do need volunteers!!! Unlike the Oyster Roast we are responsible for cooking and serving the shrimp. We need volunteers for the following duties.
If you can lend us a hand please contact us. We look forward to another great event! Alice Petree appinfiona@yahoo.com 703 628-8123 Tom McElroy tomlmcelroy@yahoo.com 703 593-1764 Alice Petree & Tom McElroy,
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NSA Merchandise
Our Facebook group is still a closed group open only to our members. Feel free to share any information that you think would be of interest to other members, as well as photos! I look forward to seeing everyone at the Shrimperoo! Check the website for your color and size, if we don’t have your tee-shirt size, please let me know so I can make a note of what we need. Thanks to all for supporting our club by purchasing some merchandise!
Kathy Kenny S/V Cool Change
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Thanks to everyone who came to the Oyster Roast and bought NSA merchandise! If you missed the opportunity, you will have another chance at the Shrimperoo on March 26th.Preparing for Life 2.0 (At Sea)
Suzanne and I worked in engineering for quite a few years, saved well, lived well within our means and had owned our business for about 12 years at that point and it was doing well, but I was 43 and hadn’t really pondered that question. We had always planned on retiring young -- a goal hardened by losing my dad to cancer when he was only 47, missing his opportunity to retire. That simple question kicked off a lot of soul searching, discussion with my wife (she loved the idea), research, calculations and ultimately a change in our everyday behavior and approach to life. Suzanne and I worked in engineering for quite a few years, saved well, lived well within our means and had owned our business for about 12 years at that point and it was doing well, but I was 43 and hadn’t really pondered that question. We had always planned on retiring young -- a goal hardened by losing my dad to cancer when he was only 47, missing his opportunity to retire. That simple question kicked off a lot of soul searching, discussion with my wife (she loved the idea), research, calculations and ultimately a change in our everyday behavior and approach to life. Maybe we were close to being able to? Maybe we could borrow our friend’s plan and retire to a sailboat as well? My research and calculations said that yes, in a few years, if we kept to a reasonable budget, we actually COULD be close! Our knowledge of sailing at this point could have been written in about three sentences, so some education was in order. A weeklong ASA course while living on an old sailing catamaran in the Miami area started that process. We learned A LOT about sailing taking the ASA 101, 103, 104, 114 combined course. We paired this trip with a couple of days at the Miami International Boat show. It was a great experience as well and we made quick friends with the owners of a Leopard 45 catamaran that was in the show. We had gotten the bug. With this fresh knowledge at our fingertips, we were ready to put it to use! The friends we made at the boat show needed help moving their new catamaran from Punta Gorda on the Gulf Coast of Florida to Ft. Lauderdale, so we did that in the spring over the course of five days. It was a chance to try out our proposed new life, and yet again, we were not deterred. More research back home in Raleigh lead us to Bow To Stern and a little town called Oriental. Bareboat charters only a 2.5-hour drive from home; how great is that!? We called and spoke with Jim Edwards and before we knew it, we were scheduled for a two-day, one night charter on a 32’ Endeavor! We sailed, stayed the night tied up to the Oriental free docks and sailed some more the next day. The sailing bug had burrowed deep and we were hooked. Back at Blackwell Point Marina, we asked Jim more about sailing. One thing led to another, there was room in his charter fleet for a 40ish-foot boat, and within a couple of months we found the perfect boat for us to continue to test our plan and sail more while defraying the cost with some charter income. Long-time friends, Reynold and Cathy Taylor, had spent most of their lives around boats and suggested we join the NSA. That was a brilliant suggestion, of course. We started attending events as we could, obviously hampered by the pesky work we had to do. Nonetheless, we looked for every possible opportunity to sail on the Neuse, to Ocracoke, to Belhaven, to Beaufort. No matter the weather, no matter the destination, we always loved it. Yep, this is what we wanted to do for Life 2.0. Our business was listed for sale, and we got within a few weeks of the finish-line, and our buyer backed out (incidentally, while we were chartering a 44-foot catamaran in the BVIs with friends). While utterly heartbreaking at the time, this delay would be fortuitous to our long-term goals. We relisted it about 18 months later and within that time COVID happened. This allowed our business to grow at an unexpected pace as so many people shifted to working from home, staring at the house and wanting changes. We stumbled upon a new catamaran to the market from an experienced South African builder around December 2020. Our plan had always been to buy a used mid-40 foot catamaran that was about five years old. The pandemic not only helped us as cabinet makers, it apparently also drove boat sales to record levels. So much so that many of the models we were considering were now only 10% less than what we could buy this new catamaran for. The new catamaran, the Vision Yachts 444, was unique and fit our needs better than any boat we had seen. It was very new and lead times were only a year. One had not been in U.S. waters yet and wouldn’t be until February in Key West. We made a deal with the Vision boat broker to put down a deposit to secure a spot, but it would be refundable until we got to see it in person in Key West. We expected this boat to be a hit in the U.S. when others could see it in person. For those who know catamarans, think of the cult following of the Antares 44i. We went to the Key West boat show and absolutely loved the boat (we have two review videos on our YouTube channel for anyone interested in learning more – youtube.com/OnANewTack). We told the broker to keep our money and put it toward hull #11. We could have had hull #10, but without the business being sold, we didn’t know if we would have the money to make the progress payments past the first one or two. (For those who don’t know, when building a boat, there are progress payments and marine financing is not an option until the boat is at least 80-90% complete.) Shortly after committing to payments we couldn’t technically make, we found our perfect and eventual buyer for our business. In August 2021 the business sale closed and after the handover period, we officially retired at the age of 46. Our friend Jesse was not only right, but also instrumental in pushing us to explore the possibilities! In December, we visited Knysna, South Africa, and met with James Turner, the boat builder, and selected materials, colors, floors, cabinet material, etc. There were some COVID- and shipping related delays, but we are on track for picking up our new boat in South Africa in mid-September this year. We plan to move over there in mid-July to be there for the final phases and see more of the amazing country (one of the best places we’ve visited to date). Our friend Reynold plans to fly to South Africa and sail our new floating home back with Sue, myself and a professional captain we’ve hired. The trip from Cape Town to Grenada will take 40 days and we’ve promised to write a newsletter article telling everyone in the NSA family what that 5,500-NM trip is like! From Grenada, we will work our way up the Caribbean island chain, visit Florida and be back in Oriental by way of Ocracoke (68’ mast height) around March 2023! We will likely stay for at least two weekends so our Raleigh friends and NSA friends can check out our new home, SV Mira! So let me pay it forward. Is there something you want to do? What would it take to do it soon? By Michael Pail
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About 3 ½ years ago, I had an epiphany, and it occurred at the Annapolis Fall Boat Show. Two things happened that weekend, spent with friends from college, as I picked up an off-lease work van for our cabinetry business. First, I was exposed to sailboats, specifically catamarans, by my friend and bestman Jesse, a lifelong sailor who intends to retire on one with his wife. Second, while peppering Jesse with questions after returning to his home in Annapolis after the show, he asked me a life-changing question about retirement, “You’ve gotta be close to be able to, right?” 
Newsletter My goal is to keep the newsletter on the second Tuesday schedule going forward. So I will need your input by Monday, of the preceding week. Please send your stories and photos to vccommunications@neusesailingassociation.org, and add "Neuse Juice" in the subject line. Jean Hardtle S/V Knot Shore Website The start of the new year is a good time to make sure your NSA info is up to date in your profile. It’s super easy, just click on your name in the upper right after logging in, and click the “edit profile” button. If you’ve forgotten your password, just go to the NSA website (www.neusesailingassociation.org), click on the “Log in” link and click on the “Forgot password” link to reset your password. Finally, if there are any errors, mistakes or updates needed on the website, be sure to let me know, email me at vccommunications@neusesailingassociation.org . Erik Hardtle S/V Knot Shore |
Neuse Sailing Association | PO Box 253 | Oriental, NC 28571