The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1961-04-14
THE CRUISE OF THE SLOOP "sAFARI"
By BOB l. BASNIGHT

parallel to the Dismal Swamp Ca
nal. We were trying to reach my
Fathers boat works, in Elizabeth
City, N. c., before eight o'clock
that morning. We had been a little
late leaving Newport News, Va.
where Cliff and l work as desig
ners for the shipyard. The reason
for pushing the old car so fast was
due to a telegram l had sent to
the third member of our proposed
sailing trip. Shirley was not going
due to delicate condition she now
found herself in. In fact, she claim
ed that l had chosen this time to
make the Albemarle Sound cross
ing, instead of some other period
during six years of being married
to her just so she could not 60.
This would be the first summer
since l had owned the sloop "Sa-
fari" that she had not sailed with
me.
The telegram had informed Rich
ardson Smith, known as Ritz, that
if we were not at my fathers
boat dock by eight o'clock Friday
morning, to either go back to bed
or proceed without us, and l knew
crossing of the Albemarle sound
at its widest point between the
Pasquotank River and the Alliga-
tor River, small affair as boating
goes, had grown out of all proper
ton to us three. We had planned
and talked about it for years, ever
since l had "Safari'' built right
after l got out of the Army in
1858. About a dozen times a year
someone would say, "lets sail the
sound this year,. That would set
off hours of talk. How would we
get the boat back? Would we sail
her back or get a trailer? Could
we all get leave from jobs and
school at the same time? Not
enough crew members. To many
crew members. At last things had
finally become coordinated.
Upon arrival at the Basnight
Boat Works, at sos, Ritz was wait
ing on the pier for us. He said he
had planned to give US twenty-five
more minutes, and had already rig
ged the boat.
"Safari" is a seventeen-foot, flat
bottom, open cockpit sloop. She
carries a three foot bowspirit and al
twenty-four foot mast. The boat is
rugged heavy. There are two rows
of reef points in the main and one
in the jib. The sail material is 240
drill topsail ducking, and they were
made by my uncle, J. W. Alexan-
der, who was sailmaker years be-
fore he was forced into the tent
and awning business. He made sails
for working boats such as the bug
eye and the skipjack, and the sails
Tor the "Safari" were cut with the
same practical lines.
Ritz, who was attending school
upstate and was off for the Easter
holidays, had arrived in Elizabeth
City the day before. 1 had mailed
him a list of instructions for things
1 wanted done to the boat before
>ur voyage. And Ritz, who grew Vi
on the water growing in Moth boats
as ballast and in Snipes and Hamp-
tons as "jib man., had carried out
the instructions to the letter. He
had not questioned any of the items
on the list, even one request that
would have sent the modern-day
sailor yelling to his group leader. 1
had failed to put the traditional
coin under the mast when I step
ped it in the spring, and I wanted
it under there for no special rea-
son that l could explain to anyone.
Ritz had without change of express
sion taken down six turnbuckles,
the mast, and slipped
under a dime.
Another item, a little more logi-
cal, was the slowing of juniper
boards and some screws that could
be used to repair any rudder dam
age. "Safari" carries a relatively
See SAFARI, Page Six