The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter., 1961-04-14

/ 1t was using the old maxium tha
it is easier to shake one out thar
to tie in, and there was going to be
heavy sea running out there this
morning.
1t was a quicker run down the
back of the shoal to the channel
The water here was smooth, but
not more than two hundred yards
away there was a solid line oi
white water breaking on the shoal
A small boat caught trying to pass
over that would fare badly.
hauled the sheet in for a reach
through the channel out to the bel
buoy in the sand. Time - 6:45
Saturday. 1t was another sunny
day but there was bright haze or
the horizon that cut visibility down
to about six or seven miles. The
sea on this side of the sound was
running about three feet high with
the tops breaking off about half OF
them. l close-hauled "Safari" anc
put her into the wind as high as
she would go. This course allowed
me to sail toward point a mile
above bell buoy number 81" at the
entrance of the Alligator. Allowing
that much for drift to leeward anC
we should raise the bell buoy right
over the bowsprit. The wind must
have been about 20 mph and steady
1t took all three of us on the high
side to keep the boat on a comfor.
table angle "Safari" would ride
to the crest of a swell, then, with
a new burst of speed, sail wildly
down the backside of it. This was
top sailing.
We had only been in the sound
about fifteen minutes when a navy
jet screamed out of nowhere and
passed overhead at about a hundred
feet. This brought US back from the
living-in-th n-the-past-atmosphere that
was introduced last night. There
was a time when this aerial act
would have made me hot under the
collar, but l did some flying my
self the year before and / knew
that it was only when you broke
some of the hundred thousand rules
that flying came into it's own.
Cliff was forward on the "gun-
nep', inasmuch as he was the only
one with full weather gear. Ritz
was midship and l was at the til
ler. They stayed on the high side
at all times, while l tried to main
tain the balance and a constant
trim by shifting in and out. We
were carrying a few feet too much
sail for comfort. But, after yester-
day, / wanted to take advantage OF
the wind while it lasted. "Safari'
was taking in a lot of water, by
spray, over the bow. At times ]
would have to slack up on the main
sheet to allow Ritz to go to the
low side and sponge it out. There
were several times when we took ir
solid water.
1t was twelve miles of oper
water to the Alligator River bel
bouy, and at the speed we were
making we should pass it in about
an hour and a half. Our position
was confirmed when we sighted g
black can buoy in the middle of the
sound. We were we'll to windwarc
of it so we were not making more
leeway than had been anticipated
By this time, due to the haze, al
sign of land had closed out. After
about eight miles the wind deceas
ed somewhat and the reef was ta'
ken out. We were still maintaining
approximately the same pace al
which we started out. Still, it was
obvious that the wind was going te
pull a repeat of yesterdays per-
formance. l wanted to at least be
in the Alligator when it did. Al
eyes were now on the alert for the
bell buoy.
Ritz was first to spot it. In his
best cry-from-the-masthead type
voice, announced it's position as of
the port bow. We were abut hall
mile west of it with at least two
miles. to go to bring it alongside
And the wind was falling fast
When we did pass the bell buoy il
was not as had often imagined il
would be. That is with all sail set
including the spinnaker, and leav
ing boiling, white wake. Instead
we wallowed by with the boon
noisily Stating back and forth due
to a wind that did not seem t.
know which way it was going tt
blow next.
We lay off Durant Island foI
another becalmed hour. Then i
came, hard from the south, draw
ing straight down the river. l
came all at once. There was NJ
darkening of the sky, just chang
in the color of the water. Now
instead of the light blue, it wa
lead gray, and the tops of all wave
were blowing off. Here, in tn
mouth of the river, there was n
large swell that "Safari" coul'
u 4,