This coming Friday my daughter-in-law Emily and I will begin the Watertribe North Carolina Challenge. This is also called the NC Ultra Marathon Challenge since there is now also a longer Blackbeard Challenge. You can track us from my SPOT site directly by clicking HERE. Or from the Watertribe site Tracking map where you would see us with all of the other boats. For that click on
Tracking Map but you have to make sure you have the NCC2014 and regenerate the view. My paddling name is Passaic Paddler and Emily is Northern Light.
Here is a map overview of the North Carolina Challenge. We begin at the tip of Cedar Island and paddle west. (going left on the map) We can either go around the outside of through the bay and canal into the Neuse River. From there we go into Clubfoot Creek and the Harlow Canal. The Harlow Canal is always a profound and reflective time for me since it was built by slaves. From there we paddle to the town of Beaufort, along Taylor Creek, and then north up the Core Sound. its a wonderful paddle. Hopefully it will take us just 2 days with one night out.
It's been a week since the NCC. Conditions were tough with 15 - 20 knot winds on Friday up to 20-25 on Saturday. Emily and I made our goal of reaching Philips Island on Friday night at Midnight after an exhausting day. I even flipped once when I discovered I was over a sandbar, recovered from one breaker only to meet another.
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| Emily in West Bay - it looks alot calmer than it was |
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| This is MZEE going out from Turnagain Bay into the Neuse River. Note the breakers coming in. |
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| God's gift to us at sundown on Friday was the sun dropping into the one crack of open sky that we had seen all day |
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| Ready to leave Philips Island on Saturday morning (it is for sale by the way) |
As Emily and I left Philips Island for the checkpoint at Beaufort we had modified our plan to ready Atlantic by nightfall and camp there to finish on Sunday morning. After the check point we enjoyed a wonderful paddle down Taylor Creek along the Rachel Carson Nature Preserve. But that was the end of the "wonderful paddles" for the day. As we entered the crossing over to Harkers Island we began to feel the full fury of the wind. After stopping to regroup Emily decided to go back to Checkpoint 1 and call it a day. I decided to press on for Atlantic. Once I entered the Core Sound I felt even more of the fury of the wind and waves. I was paddling NE with a 20 - 25 knot wind coming out of the NE. The waves had built up and seemed about 3-4 ft. every 5-6 feet. Paddling all out I was moving about 1.5 mph. Once I reached Davis Island I decided to call it a day as well. Emily had just caught a ride back to the campground. I called her and paddled up Wade Creek to Willison where she came to pick me up. We ended the day cheering in other paddlers and sailors and enjoying a great seafood meal at the driftwood. We will both "live to fight another day" and felt good that we had given it our best shot.
