April on the Pamlico

We started our Spring trip in North Creek which is located near the mouth of the Pamlico River in eastern North Carolina. Here our boat is tied up at a friends dock.

I took this photo the morning after our return everything is pretty quiet. That was not the case when we left the dock on Wednesday morning. I was debating how much to reef when a gust of wind came through and I opted for sailing out under mizzen alone. We were not in a race. This early in the season the water is quite cold so I thought it best to be cautious. Sally was also more comfortable with less sail up. As we headed down the Pamlico toward Judith Island the wind freshened and then eased and sometimes a strong gust seemed to come out of nowhere. The wind was from the North West and we made 5 to 6 knots even with only the mizzen up. Here Sally is taking a turn at the tiller.

As we sailed down the Pamlico we spotted a huge flock of birds a mile or so ahead and to the south of us. They were moving North and as we got closer it became apparant we would be sailing right through the huge flock. I would say around a thousand birds,cormorants, terns, gulls, a smaller diving bird maybe a grebe and the occasional pelican It was a mad chaotic feeding frenzy. The terns wheeled and dove from above, the diving birds would surface then take off in a rush to reenter the water near the front of the school of bait fish that remained invisible to us. The air had a distinctly fishy smell as we passed through and I was grateful that we did not catch a cormorant in our sails.

Judith Island is a huge area of marsh composed of spartina grass and a few shrubs but no trees and no high ground. Because it is so low it is invisible from more than a couple of miles away even in clear weather. When we reached the mouth of Rose Bay we hove to and switched from mizzen alone to double reefed main and mizzen. Skorpa does not tack or head up wind very well on mizzen only and I wanted the extra maneuverability in order to sail through Judith Narrows and into Shell Bay. As we got with in a mile we could see the edges of the grassy island but it was very difficult to distinguish features that would locate our position. The GPS was a big help here.

We sailed easily through Judith Narrows, which actually seemed quite wide, into Shell Bay I began looking around for a possible anchorage. The area felt a little exposed so we hauled our sails in tight and made for the cut leading into Deep Bay. We made the cut and started tacking up to the north side of Deep Bay where the chart showed a promising creek winding into the marsh.

We dropped anchor in a quiet spot when after several attempts we could go no further. The water had shoaled to a depth of about a foot. We dropped back to the deeper water to anchor and left some room to swing as the wind was predicted to shift during the night. We started cooking our rice and vegetables in the cockpit because it was so beautiful, but the mosquitoes and flies eventually drove us into the cabin. We installed screens on the door and hatch and soon had a bug free zone. The boat was noisy for a while during the night when the wind switched to the southeast and blew in across Deep Bay, but then it moved back to the west and grew quiet.

We had hot cereal for breakfast. Made from a seven grain mixture purchased at the co-op this takes a few minutes to cook, but we  much prefer it to quicker breakfasts as long as we have the time. After eating I was anxious to be underway. Why????  Sally was not quite ready so I decided to row over the shallows to see if we could find the head of this creek.

I love exploring areas like this. How far does the creek go and where does it lead? My oars from tip to tip are about 22 feet so we got to a point where we decided to turn around.

Sally took the oars for awhile as we headed back out towards deeper water.

 We headed across Deep Bay for the cut that would lead to Swan Quarter. When we got to the cut we noticed a 2kt current running against us. The wind was light and almost dead astern. I pulled the main across to windward in a technique know as sailing by the lee. This put both sails in clear air and gave us the extra power we needed to make good progress against the current.

This put us in a  position to reach Swan Quarter. The ferry to Ocracoke lands here but this is the first time Sally and I have been to Swan Quarter. We could not see much of the town from the water just a glimpse of some buildings set back away from the water. We headed for the fishing docks. There is a narrow channel lined on one side with docks and boats.

After visiting the work boats of Swan Quarter we headed south down Swan Quarter Bay to a little creek that looked interesting. In the narrows between Judith Island and Swan Quarter Island we worked our way up into a beautiful little cove and anchored for lunch.

I guess you have to be partial to water and spartina grass because that is about all there is to Judith Island but it was paradise to us. On our return up the Pamlico River the wind began to build shifting from South to Southwest and back. Skorpa was soon up and planing. We would slow down as her bow worked into a wave then surge ahead as we broke through. We came tearing into North Creek where we brought the main down and then dropped our mizzen just before getting to our dock.