Thanks to Mike and Nancy, we have found our forever boat in Lucie, our 1979 Bristol 45.5 aft-cockpit ketch. She’s a beauty, and we’re just beginning our adventures with her. The story we’d like to tell here is of our wonderful time on Bernice, our Catalina 22 that we sailed for many years before making the leap to Lucie.

Frank started sailing Bernice in 2000. She belonged to a friend who liked to sail, but wasn’t much into maintaining a boat. So he let Frank keep the boat in his backyard and sail her as much as he liked in exchange for Frank taking care of her. Frank sailed Bernice on Jordan Lake and Lake Gaston, to Bald Head Island, and out of Oriental for a few years. In 2004, after they met through sailing friends, Frank and Kim raced Bernice on Lake Wheeler in Raleigh in a winter racing series in 2004 and came in a respectable 3rd place.

In 2008, Bernice became Frank and Kim’s boat, and they set up about doing all the things Frank had dreamed of doing to make her his own: new standing rigging, replacing the electrical system, refitting the windows, refinishing all the brightwork. She spent many a day on the street in front of our house with Frank diligently working and attracting the interest of the the neighborhood kids. Kim sold her Newport 17, and they purchased a brand new Honda outboard. It was time put Bernice through her paces.

They moved the boat to Oriental, where they kept it at the storage lot on Midyette St. near the Wildlife Boat Ramp. It was the perfect location, because they could leave the mast stepped and just plop her in the water and head out for sailing adventures on the Neuse – everything from lazy day sails to overnight raft-ups at South River to trips up river to visit friends at Beards Creek.

The biggest adventure we had on Bernice, was a belated honeymoon cruise to Cape Lookout, in which we never made it to Cape Lookout. We left Oriental in good time and had an amazing sail down Adams Creek. Yes, we sailed the whole way. People have told us you’re not supposed to do that, so don’t tell anyone. We got to the Newport River at dusk and missed the turn to Russell’s Slue, so we ended up having a somewhat stressful trip around Radio Island in the dark to get to Beaufort. Once we finally arrived, we decided that we deserved a treat. It was our honeymoon cruise after all. So we pulled up to the town dock and went to have dinner at the Spouter Inn. After dinner, we tried to anchor in Taylor Creek across from the Beaufort waterfront. After several attempts and no luck having the anchor hold, we grabbed a mooring and went to bed.

The next morning, we went to the dockmaster to dutifully pay for our mooring, only to find out that all the moorings in the creek were illegal and no money was owed. Frank had heard that there was a back way to Cape Lookout, and with our boat drawing only 2 feet with the keel up, we decided to give it a try. We quickly found out that the way is poorly marked and required local knowledge that we did not have. We soon found ourselves running aground in every direction we took. We were between Horse Island and Shackleford Banks when Frank finally jumped off the boat and started pulling it in different directions looking for a way out. But it was low tide, and we soon realized that we were caught in a doughnut shaped shoal that surrounded us on all sides. So we put out the anchor, and Frank cooked an amazing steak dinner that we ate as the sun set over Horse Island. It was stunningly beautiful and we were all alone to enjoy it. Not we had planned, but honeymoon cruise success.

After a delicious breakfast in our little paradise, we waited for the next daytime high tide and sailed out of our doughnut and back the way we came with no troubles. As we left the canal portion of Adams Creek heading back to Oriental, we were greeted by a pod of playful dolphins. We learned a valuable lesson about sailing on that cruise, and it was that wherever you end up is where you were meant to be, and the best thing you can do is to sit back and enjoy it.

Tomorrow, we will be setting sail for Cape Lookout in Lucie. We think we’ll probably make it this time, but if we don’t, that’s okay. We’re sailing, and that’s all that matters.