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.

I want to thank Doug King, G'ma Rosalie and David S for their helpful
advice on making the trip from Baker Marine in Wilmington NC to N'west
Creek Marina in New Bern. All of your advice was dead on and very
helpful.

I ended up going with Claiborne Young's chartbook (which goes with his
cruising guide). I agree with Rosalie that it's a bit bulky in the
cockpit, but proved invaluable in being really easy to handle with one
elbow tied behind your back - that is, it doesn't flop around all over
the place when you're trying to find a marked shoal in 30-40kt winds.
I couldn't find the ADC chartbook, although I found several resources
for charts online...all of which I'll have to try some time soon.

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.

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.

We grounded only 3 times. The first was nearly intentional - a
powerboat approached head-on and to give him a clear indication of our
intentions, I steered us into the side of the channel. The 2nd two
times were in traversing the Neuse River from Adam's Creek to NW Creek
in Fairfield Harbor. This was Sunday afternoon, from 11am until 5:30
or so - if you're around here you probably know that it was pretty
windy that day. Our windmeter only registered gusts up to 23kts, so
we decided it was safe to go ahead. This being my 2nd trip on this
boat, and about my 12th trip sailing at all, I really didn't know what
35 knot winds were like, so we proceeded ahead. I made the crossing
in almost gale-force winds (with my step-dad & his friend in tow) -
none the wiser that the winds were actually between 25-35 knots,
gusting to 39.

My stupidity, of course, was in not trusting my instincts and pulling
in to the first spot i could when i realized the winds (20 knots or
no) were way too strong for my experience level and my faith in the
boat we just purchased. The potential for serious injury or death was
a lot closer than I really ever want to be, or at least not in the
very near future.

OTOH: My wife and I have a 2 year old and an 11 month old, whom we
plan to take sailing with us at every opportunity. I am seriously
glad I got to experience this boat under those conditions with a
hardier crew, and having had the opportunity to prepare for the
conditions as if they were a hurricane. This I did, since I am very
interested in knowing I can trust our new boat, and especially with
the lives of my family. I battened everything down, planned my
approach and several exit points where I determined to "pull in"
should the weather get too rough. My step-father was my navigator
(having lived in the area and being an active powerboater there for
the past 20 years) and did a fine job. The sailing part, however, was
left up to me. If you're curious, we decided not to actually "sail'
this part of the river, but motor, instead. It turns out that the
boom with lashed on main gave us enough windage to act as sort of a
storm-sail, anyway.

Anyway, some of the folks here may remember a few years ago when I
wrote in to the group requesting advice as to whether we (my wife and
I and 1.5 kids) should "take the plunge". For all of the helpful
advice we received then (all of which greatly influenced our decisions
then and now), I am truly grateful. I sincerely appreciate the
thoughtful opinions and advice I read and collect from this group, and
wish the best of weather for each of you.

Here's a link to my original "taking the plunge" note:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...com%26rnum%3D1

Bryan Minihan
S/V Victoria II