We Have a Home

Can't see the forest for the masts.

It looks like this will be our new boat home for the foreseeable future.  After an exhaustive search along the coast in the cruising area I was looking for; Neuse, Palmico, Albermarle Sound, we have found a perfect place.  If we had to write a recipe for the ideal place; this would be it.  It has all the right elements as far as cruising area, depths, wind, sea state.  But more importantly it is a family focused, member run organization that has a true sailing community spirit. (and no power boaters)

It has a great kids program for the First Mate to learn without this Captain doing the teaching.  It has enough Admirals that participate and join in that our Admiral has a certain comfort level.  It also has a nice clean bath house and club house, a dog friendly policy with a fenced in dog play area; All very high on the admirals list. The entire property is fenced in with a card access gate in the back of a gated community that grew up around the club.  Safe, friendly atmosphere.  More pure sailing knowledge in one harbor than you will find anywhere. There is racing and cruising going on from this club. These are active sailors that actually sail their boats!  Very refreshing.

Timing is everything.  I had heard about this club about 4 years ago and looked into it.  At that time it was full and had a waiting list. You had to be known and nominated by two existing members.  It was, I thought, just too far to go.  Turns out the economy, age and a couple of Hurricanes have depleted the membership.  There is currently room for member families to join and there are some slips available as well.  We have spent two weekends there and met some wonderful people that I sure will become good friends.

Yes it is very, very far away.  4 hours is a long haul.  No we will not be there every weekend.  But with our schedule, we wouldn't be there every weekend if it was an hour away either.  We will have to take advantage of all the three day weekends and some vacation time to really get the most out of this.  Also, too much, too soon can be a bad thing.  This enables the Admiral and First Mate to ease into sailing life in a safe community environment where there are people to share their knowledge, experience and to ask questions.  My crew is still not convinced I have all the answers.  Who knew?