SKIPJACK WILMA LEE ARRIVES IN OCRACOKE

Ever since I gave up the original schooner Windfall, I've received scores of calls from people wanting to take  large groups sailing.  My little Windfall II is a terrific boat but can only accommodate 6 at a time. Well, we're finally working to address that problem.

On February 29, the local non-profit Ocracoke Alive Inc. received the donation of a totally reconstructed Chesapeake Bay skipjack, the Wilma Lee and I have been working with them in an effort to obtain Coast Guard approval for carrying thirty or more passengers.  The boat was built in 1940 in Wingate, MD by Bronza Parks and was used for dredging oysters right up until 1996 when she was purchased by Herb Carden of Sandy Point, Va.  Mr. Carden has a deep love of traditional Chesapeake Bay vessels and has restored a number of them but the Wilma Lee was by far his most ambitious project.  He hired master shipwright John Morgenthaler to tear the boat down to the keel and stem and reconstruct it with the best available materials.  (Fortunately, Mr. Carden happened to own one of the largest lumber mills in the Southeast!)  Wishing to put the vessel in a place where she would educate and entertain a wide public, he finally settled on Ocracoke.

Although skipjacks were designed in the late19th Century for dredging oysters on the Chesapeake Bay, they soon spread south to the sounds of North Carolina as Chesapeake oyster beds became depleted and over the next half-century many skipjacks were built and used in North Carolina.  One such vessel, the skipjack Ada Mae was built in Rose Bay (mainland Hyde County) in 1915 and is currently based in New Bern where the non-profit Coastal Carolina Classrooms uses it to educate school children about marine biology and environmental science.

A couple of weeks ago, Tom Pahl, Steve Musil and I brought the vessel down from the Potomac River to her new berth at the Community Square Dock in Ocracoke where, with her 72' sparred length and 64.5' mast, she will be the most prominent feature visible to people arriving by ferry into Silver Lake.

You can find out more about the Wilma Lee and, ever better, get involved by visiting www.ocracokealive.org/skipjackwilmalee.

In an effort to learn more about how these vessels work, I went out on the skipjack H.M. Krentz last month out of Deal Island, MD for a day of oyster dredging and wrote about it in my wife's online newspaper, the Ocracoke Current.  (www.ocracokecurrent.com).

Next time you're on Ocracoke, come check out the new vessel!

SCHOONER WEATHER!

As I write this on one of the last days of January I'm down in the newly re-upholstered saloon of my schooner, sitting at the dinette table with the oil lamp swinging rhythmically overhead. The weather's fantastic! It's sixty-eight degrees with blinding rain and a southwest breeze of thirty knots gusting to forty. The little vessel is pitching and rolling in her dock slip with such spirit that it's easy to imagine myself at sea in any number of places she's taken me. Springsteen on the stereo. Life is good.

What a January it's been! Yesterday afternoon it was even warmer than this without all the wind and rain. As soon as my son Emmet got out of school I took him and three friends out for a sail. We went out to the end of Nine-foot Shoal Channel. As we beat back against the increasing breeze the sun began to set and we broke out our fleeces. The boy took the helm and I went below to brew a pot of tea. Back at the dock, as we were securing the boat and putting on the sail covers, we were even greeted by a few mosquitoes, kindly reminding us that summer is not really so far away.

Many thanks to Lou Ann Homan for the photos of Emmet.

Can it really be January 27th?

                                                                                   Rigging the "fisherman." 

 

Chilly as the sun set.

OCRACOKE'S NEW CURRENT

The big news this week is, well, the news! I'm referring to the brand new online news site, The Ocracoke Current which went active yesterday. This is the brainchild of my wife Sundae Horn and her partner in crime, Jenny Scarborough. These two industrious young women have been talking about doing something like this ever since they gave up collaborating on the Ocracoke Observer nearly a decade ago.  When they called in the assistance of internet expert Carol Pahl a couple of weeks ago it began to appear that the idea was more than just talk.  And then, early yesterday morning, voila!

They've dragged me aboard to contribute a regular weekly column entitled "The Shipping News."  Yeah, I know what you're thinking:  "They think Rob's going to make 'regular weekly' posts? In their dreams!"  So, as you can understand, I'll probably be pretty busy in the coming weeks and may not be able to keep up this blog with the dependable regularity you've come to expect.  Just kidding!

Actually, I think the girls have done a terrific job so far (if I say so myself).  But I hope that, rather than take my word for it, you'll check it out for yourselves:  www.ocracokecurrent.com.

If you like it, please spread the word!  Thanks. 

                                                                 Jenny and Sundae at work. (Mariah's with the band).

FALL SAILING

Here we are at the winter solstice already! I celebrated it by taking the family out on a sail. Actually, Emmet took us out; I handled the dock lines and hoisted the sails. The wind was light, but since it was seventy degrees, we really couldn't pass it up. We had a better breeze two days ago when Emmet and I set out to explore Nine Foot Shoal Channel. I hadn't tried that in years since the last time I took the older, larger Windfall in there on a sunset cruise and touched bottom in a few spots. It was a piece of cake with the new schooner and we sailed clear out to the open sound and back without seeing less than six feet on the fathometer.

I can only hope that this mild weather continues into the winter. About a month ago, my friend Bill and I took a three day cruise to "little" Washington and back. We'd taken on a supply of fresh shrimp so when we got to the dock at Pamlico Plantation, we had our friends Frank and Patti aboard for Frogmore Stew (something I hadn't had since my Hilton Head days back in the 80's). I know that most of you (if not all THREE) who read this "blog" have probably been aboard for a day sail or two, but the little schooner is a pure joy to cruise in. Her only drawback is the ghastly faded pink upholstery which Sundae is currently in the process of replacing for my Christmas present. The new fabric is a nice Scotch plaid which almost cries out for a tired old salt to sit down 'neath the oil light for a wee dram o' single malt!

Merry Christmas!

OCRAFOLK SCHOOL BETTER THAN EVER

Last week the Ocrafolk School convened for its fifth annual session. A combination of old friends from past sessions,interesting new students, a couple of new course offerings and ideal weather conditions made for what most students and staff agree was the best session ever. This year Debbie Block from Massachusetts joined the faculty with a course on English paper-piecing (a quilting technique) and Gary Mitchell taught a special Ocracoke music course. Both courses got great reviews from the participants.

And of course Debbie Wells's ever-popular cooking class was once again a big hit, not only with her students, but with the entire group who enjoyed their breakfast finale.
Ann Ehringhaus once again taught her photography class which treated us all to a splendid slide show on Friday ("show and tell day"). Ann took the picture of the faculty and student body seen here. Also Philip Howard, Dave Frum and I conducted our "Ocracoke Sampler" class which included a trip to Portsmouth, an all-day schooner cruise, kayaking and clamming as well as the creation and consumption of a traditional Ocracoke fig cake and some meal wine.

For anyone interested in a real learning vacation at Ocracoke, I highly recommend that you sign up early for next October's session. You can find out more on the website: www.ocrafolkschool.org.

The season is gradually winding down and the fall weather beckons. Since I won't be able to join my friend Tony on his annual boat delivery to the Bahamas this year due to other obligations, I think I'll cast off the dock lines early Sunday morning for a few days of cruising on Pamlico Sound. So far, the forecast is perfect!

INTERNATIONAL TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY

Avast me hearties! It’s Talk Like Pirate Day!
 
 
Ahoy there all ye stout lads and saucy lasses!  This be Captain Larboard Slushbucket, ye trusty advisor in all matters piratical.  As ye well know, September 19th be International Talk Like a Pirate Day and it’s my aim herein to put ye on course for some proper piratical discourse so drop ye anchor for a gam [chat] and I’ll fill you to the gunn’ls with some salty terminology.
 
First off we’ll get underway with getting’ yer bearin’s.  Never say “left” or “right.”  That’s lubberly talk and ye best clap a stopper on it and stow it below.  It’s always “port” and “starboard” and ye’ve got me starboard flipper [right hand] on that. Avast [stop!] saying “front” and “back.”  It should always be “fore” and “aft.”  When a pirate goes upstairs he “lays aloft” and when he comes back down he “goes below.”  The bathroom’s the “head” and the kitchen’s the “galley.”  If you like a wench’s looks, ye could say ye like “the cut of her jib.”
 
On this special day, I’d advise making liberal use of ye Pyrate’s Alphabet.  Having only two letters, it doesn’t take long to learn:  “Aye!” and “Ahhrrr!”  Whenever anyone says something ye like or agree with just bellow out, “AYE!”  And when they say anything ye disagree with, don’t like or don’t understand, or to which ye can’t think of a fitting response, just yell, “AAAHHHRRRR!”
 
YOUR BOSS:  “Great weather we’re having isn’t it?
YOU: “AYE, CAP’M!”
 
YOUR BOSS:  “So I was thinking you wouldn’t mind taking out the trash and sweeping the parking lot.”
YOU:  “AAHHHRRRR!”
 
Here are a few other expressions to throw around when you’re practicing piracy:
 
Fire a shot across his bow = give him a warning
He slipped his cable = he died
There’s rocks to yer lee = you’re heading for trouble
Sun’s over the yardarm = it’s cocktail hour and time to...
Splice the mainbrace = have a drink of...
Grog = booze (usually a mixture of rum, water & lime juice)
Spin me a yarn = tell me a story
There’s the devil to pay and no pitch hot = we’re in a tough situation
Scuttlebutt = rumor
By the wind = broke, penniless
Shipshape and Bristol fashion = tidy and neat
Making heavy weather = exaggerating the difficulty of a job
Round the buoy = take a second helping at meals
Sojering =  shirking when work is to be done
Lash up = temporary or sloppy job
Half shot or half seas under = nearly drunk
Three sheets to the wind = totally drunk
Shot in the locker = money left over after an evening’s carouse.
 
 
Fair winds to ye now, and smooth sailing on September 19th!

5th ANNUAL OCRAFOLK SCHOOL SESSION

This morning I attended a planning session for the 5th annual Ocrafolk School to be held October 23- 28, 2011. Turns out there's room for a few more lucky participants for next month's term. Once again this year, Dave Frum, Philip Howard and I will be teaching the "Sampler" class. But there are several other exciting offerings including Debbie Wells's ever-popular cooking class (yum!). Chances are if you read my blog you probably already know enough about Ocracoke to be familiar with the folk school, but on the outside chance that there may be a few readers who haven't gotten the word, please check it out at: www.ocrafolkschool.org.

P.S. I just checked out the website for the first time today and, while I think it's really great by and large, I was mortified by the photo of the Turk's head bracelet which displays an obvious flaw! Trust me: I won't let you go home with a bracelet like that.