Dawn Patrol: WaterTribe North Carolina Challenge (NCC2009)

The WaterTribe's second annual North Carolina Challenge is just around the corner: in 41 days, 19 hours, 33 minutes.  Many WaterTribe challengers like to wait until the very last minute to sign up.  Perhaps psych-ing out the competition goes hand in hand with stealth camping and/or sailing at night.   Dawn encourged me to be a good example and go ahead and sign up, so I recently got with it and added Alan and myself to the growing roster of challengers.  Sailing the Dawn Patrol, we will be in "Class 4" which includes all monohull sailboats.

In 2010. Like the NCC'09, the NCC'10 will be a 100 mile race from a Pamlico Sound beach on Cedar Island down to a checkpoint in Beaufort via the Neuse River and Harlowe Canal and then back up to the starting point via Back Sound and Core Sound.  As in 2009 there will also be a 50 mile race from Cedar Island down to Beaufort for those who prefer that distance.   Both races start together at 7:30 am on Friday September 24.

In 2011. Next year there will be three races: 50 mile, 100 mile, 200-300 mile.   That new long race on the drawing board will be on a par with the venerable WaterTribe Everglades Challenge (EC).   Or, some of us suspect it could be even tougher than the EC.

A Look Back at NCC '09

Here's a look at some data from the wonderful adventure Alan and I enjoyed last year in the NCC'09 sailing and rowing the Dawn Patrol. (No motors allowed!)

107 mile track recorded by GPS

Weather History

Friday 25th (Day 1 on the Neuse River and at Beaufort)
     AM: winds 5-10 mph from the WSW becoming WNW
     PM:  winds 15-22 mph from the NE, max gusts 26-32 mph
     Air temperatures 70-86 (F)

Saturday 26th (Day 2 on Back Sound, Core Sound, and Pamlico Sound)
     AM: winds 10-20 NE becoming E, max gusts 26 mph
     PM:  winds 10-20 E becoming ESE, max gusts 26 mph
     Air temperatures 70-78 (F)

Sunday 27th   (Others still on Core Sound and Pamlico Sound)
     AM: winds 5-10 SE becoming WSW, max gusts 20 mph
     Air temperatures 70-80 (F)

Figure 1: GPS speed data for Day 1

The race started at 7:30 am on Friday September 25 with mild weather and good winds off the beach. On the Pamlico Sound the wind gradually faded. Rounding Racoon Island into the Neuse River we rowed for a few minutes (11:15am). Mid-day storms kicked in and sent us flying on a fast down-wind run up the Neuse River toward Clubhouse Creek. The rains caught up with us there as we sailed up into the narrowing creek toward the Harlowe Canal. In the canal we row/sailed or rowed in sprint mode (rowing highlighted by tan band).  The overcast sky and light drizzle of rain helped keep us cool as we rowed.  Otherwise, rowing on a hot humid day in full sun would have been much less pleasant. Alan and I took turns rowing in 20 minute intervals. Friends and family were waiting under their umbrellas on some of the first of the three bridges we passed under. The current in the canal was initially unfavorable and less than 1 knot. After rowing under the 3 fixed bridges the current became increasingly favorable.  Nearing our exit into the Newport River we had just about caught up with Graham Byrne's EC22, "Southern Skimmer",  the sky had cleared, the wind picked up, and we were able to short tack out of the creek into the open waters of the Newport River. We caught up with Graham and Randy at the draw bridge. We heard the bridge master telling Graham on channel 13 that sailboats wanting to pass through should have auxiliary propulsion. "Oh, I've got oars for that!" says Graham. The bridge master was satisfied with that response. We had our oars in ready position as both of our boats passed through the open bridge at about 7:00 PM.  As low tide was to occur at 8:10 PM, the current through Gallant Channel under the bridge was favorable and minimal. As we entered Taylor Creek the tidal flow was also minimal and we had no trouble sailing eastward on Taylor Creek. In Taylor Creek on the Beaufort waterfront we spent a minute or two at the checkpoint (CP) and then found an anchorage at the east end of Taylor Creek for a few hours of sleep.

Key: GPS speed (black dots connected by tan lines), smooth curve (red), rowing (tan rectangle).

Garmin GPSmap 76CSx was set to record [lat, lon] and time at 20-second intervals.

Figure 2: GPS speed data for Day 2

It was a dark, humid, warm night. At 3:30 am Alan happened to wake up and look out the window just as the "Southern Skimmer" sailed past our anchorage. Oh no! He was out of the door in a flash putting on his sailing clothes with one hand and raising the sails with the other hand while telling me to hurry up. "Dad, let's go!" At least I was sitting up, which seemed like good progress to me. I was looking for my clothes having slept in just my underwear. Alan: "Let's go, Dad!" Paul: "Alan, I'm not dressed yet!" Alan: "Oh.... in that case, as soon as you have your pants on we're going!" I love you, Alan. What a great son. Rolling out of Taylor Creek and into Back Sound required very close attention to the chartplotter in order to navigate the shallows while tacking up-wind in the pitch black darkness. No moon. Couldn't see a thing. The NE wind was 10-20 with gusts up to 26 mph. Fortunately for me, Alan loves to sail at night and was as happy as a clam to press onward. I, at that moment, prefered to focus on the chartplotter in my hands. Fully reefed and short tacking in Back Sound, our speed bounced between 1 and 6 knots. At that moment Graham and Randy aboard the "Southern Skimmer" had decided to pull off into an anchorage and sleep for 3 more hours. We had no idea. We were chasing, but chasing no one. At dawn we wondered, "Where is Southern Skimmer?" We spent a total of 8 hours beating upwind through big closely spaced chop on Core Sound wondering "Where is Southern Skimmer?". The spray coming off the bow shot around the cabin and drenched both of us like a fire hose. One of the registration letters on the starboard bow peeled off and was thrown into my lap. Our speed was highly variable due to continually slamming into chop. Consequently, our Anderson bailer in the sole of the cockpit could not keep up with the huge volume of spray coming in. We found that we quickly had several inches of water in the cockpit if we stopped bailing manually. Thank you very much, Core Sound. "Where is Southern Skimmer?" we wondered. We finally passed east of Chain Shot Island and Wainwright Island and turned west into Pamlico Sound at about 2:00pm. The "Southern Skimmer" had taken a shorter route and at that moment seemed to "pop out" into Pamlico Sound just downwind of us. They had eaten up the 3-hour lead we we had. Now they would beat us to the finish line by 12 minutes. And, there streaking home along the shore was kayak racer Ardie Olson ("ArdieO") sprinting toward the finish. He would beat us by 6 minutes. Still reefed, we rode the big swells downwind planing at 8-10 knots. What a ride! Both Alan and I sat as far astern as possible and moved aft any other weight we could. Ten minutes from the finish line, Alan lost one of his shoes overboard. Folks on shore were baffled by seeing us suddenly sailing a tight 360. After successfully picking up the shoe we finished the course. Wow, what an adventure!