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Bryan Minihan wrote:

Well I just completed my first big "trip", in which I spent more than
an afternoon or evening sailing a charted course through more than one
zip code.

I must say I truly loved it, and think I'm never going to be able to
stay away from our boat for too long without yearning to go out again.

Glad it all worked out for you.
snip
As for the trip itself, here's the run-down:
Snow's cut was one of the easiest parts of the trip. There was no
shoaling, although the 65ft bridge seemed a bit too short (at the
time) for our 52ft mast...I swear I thought we were going to hit the
bridge.

Snow's cut can be a piece of cake depending on the current. Or it can
be a tiger. WHen I last went through there, there was a red floater
all the way out toward the green side marking a shoal, so I would
hesitate to say there was NO shoaling - only that it was well buoyed.

I still would think that our mast was going to hit, and I always look
up at the bridge to check. It's particularly scary in Norfolk with
the lift bridges - the bridge tender just runs the bridge up high
enough to clear the tallest mast and not all the way to the top. They
say if you are at the top of the mast and the bridge gets higher and
highter, the mast will clear, but if it gets lower and lower, it will
hit. Not something I intend to try, although it might be more
feasible on a power boat. We tried going through one of the side
arches of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge once, and even though I KNEW it
was tall enough, I about had a heart attack.


The Wrightsville Beach bridge was a lot easier than I thought it would
be. My only previous sailing experience was on the Chesapeake, and
I'd never crossed a draw-bridge before, so I was a little nervous. I
paid the current due respect but was glad to learn the potential for
being sucked under the bridge wasn't as bad as I'd thought.

Again, this depends on the wind and current. If either the wind or
current is sweeping toward the bridge it can be nasty. Don't get
complacent. But if the current is pushing you away from the bridge,
it's pretty easy to idle in front of the bridge until it opens. The
other thing about non-fixed bridges is that you have to have the
correct radio channel to call them on. That particular bridge is
somewhat complicated by the launch ramp on the north side and the
marinas and channel on the south side.



grandma Rosalie