Events
Hi all. This is Beau (aka LeftBoat) and Ed (aka RightBoat) here. We thought we would provide a short trip report from our 2019 Shackleford Challenge. We hope everyone else does the same as we would love to hear of your fun, challenges, and adventures.
Launch: Everyone is well aware of the CHALLENGE we all faced just getting trailered boats in the water with clear path to deep water. Dredge…Nuff said.
Once all boats were launched from our alternate ramp in Great Pond, we were cleared to depart at ~10:20am. Off we go.
Once out in Cedar Island Bay, we could see Tony and Shawn headed out of the bay around the point. We set out in pursuit. We followed them through the first fishing net as we were unaware this was possible. Turns out there are passages left in the net systems. In all 3, we went through this passage was just beyond the “cluster” of poles and nets. We now know to identify them by the steep angle the guys lines enter the water from both the outward bunch of poles in the cluster and the 1st pole (or set of poles) for the line net. We went right through. Thanks Tony and Shawn for this enlightenment.
We turned East at Marshallberg between 4:00 and 5:00 to head through The Straits on our way to Beaufort. We had to take our masts down to get under the Harkers Island Draw Bridge. Friday, there was less than 12’ of clearance under the bridge. Once sailing again, we headed down the North River Channel with the intension of bending up to the North to catch Taylor Creek over to Beaufort.
As we were setting our course to Taylor Creek around shallow water, we noticed we could see the West end of Shackleford Banks with nothing but open water between us and it. Then, we remembered Nathan explaining the course to be either circle/clear the 2 buoys OR circle Shackleford. As the light bulbs were coming on, we decided “To Hell with Beaufort. Head to the Point”. It was practically a straight shot and we sailed to whole way.
We rounded the west end of Shackleford Banks at ~7:00pm. The water through the inlet and immediately beyond the inlet in the ocean was rough but manageable. “We got wet.” We sailed across the south side of Shackleford and entered Lookout Bight around 8:45. We headed straight for the Lighthouse, avoided some shallow areas and picked up the deep water again after clearing the east end of Shackleford.
As we turned NE to head inland, a few things became clear; the outbound current due to the dropping tide was very strong AND some idiot forgot to put batteries in the spotlight and test it. OK, I was that idiot. While we were “discussing” our next move, i.e. lack of lighting and currents, some other idiot started yelling at us from the beach on the east end of Shackleford and flashing his light. We’re thinking “We have enough problems without having to recue some idiot from the beach.” Eventually, the beached idiot was able to yell loud enough for RightBoat and I to conclude “That has to be Tony”. We beached at Tony’ feet around 9:15pm. Tony and Shawn had stopped for the night and overheard RightBoat and I “discussing” our issues from inside their tents. To be fair, we were downwind.
After a little catching up and determining everyone was OK, Tony asked, “Got any beer in that cooler?” We’re sorry Tony. We’ll do better next time. Dejected, Tony and Shawn headed back to their tents leaving RightBoat and I to strategize. Revisiting Tide tables, we saw Cape Lookout Bight was reporting low tide to be at 11:00, only an hour and half. And… RightBoat found a flashlight we concluded was adequate for nighttime navigation.
New plan: sleep for 2 hours to give the current time to reverse or at least be neutral, then, we go. Per the new plan, we pushed off around midnight and started inland. While we still had a little wind help, the outbound current was still pretty strong. We pedaled on. RightBoat navigated and I piloted while searching the darkness for markers, buoys, and other shit we didn’t want to run in to. We cleared Harker and Browns island around 2:00am with only 1 run-in with shallow water.
Now…What to do? We elected to “Sail ON” and took turns napping and piloting the barge. The pace was slow but free as the S-SW wind was dying. We reached Atlantic by 8am and decided to “resupply” at Don’s Coresound Grill at Morris Marina. Egg sandwich for me and 3 eggs over-easy for RightBoat. We were back underway by 9.
We reached Cedar Island Bay by 11 and decided to try the shortcut… We should have checked the tide table. From a distance, the cut appeared to be marked. Once we hit the shallow cut, it was then clear the “markers” were birds. DAMN! We paddled (not pedaled), pushed, pulled and drug the barge through the shortcut. We are estimating we only had to drag a total of 75’. But DAMN. Luckily, the rollers we used to launch in the Everglades Challenge were still onboard. Near the north end of the cut, we were able to put a rudder in the water deep enough to steer. We deployed a sail and used the light wind to push us out into Pamlico Sound. Just as we were approaching the beach cut, the curators for the wild ponies herded them down the beach and across our path. That was an awesome sight.
We hit the boat ramp dock at 1:15p to the sight of Tony (yes, the idiot from the Shackleford beach) dancing, clapping, and celebrating. We were thinking “How did that idiot beat us back?” We soon learned…Uber. I’ll let Tony tell his story of trials and tribulations.
That’s it. Nothing left to do now but shower and nap, then beer and Knaked Knees at Sharky’s.
LeftBoat and RightBoat
Double Vision
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