WaterTribe NC Challenge

[DawnS]

WaterTribe is planning a NC Challenge this fall.  Registration is up on the WaterTribe site, we are still collecting some information, KiwiBird and I are planning to paddle and scout the route in 2 weeks to scout it all out. 

Dates:  September 24-27, 2009

Event:

* 100-mile circuit race

* Entry fee: $150 (non-refundable)

* All standard WaterTribe classes and rules apply

* Spot Required

Schedule:

* Captain's meeting 1500hrs, Thurs Sept 24

* Race starts 0700hrs, Fri Sept 25

* One checkpoint: Beaufort's Graden Paul Park, by 1400hrs, Sat Sept 26

* Race finishes 1400hrs, Sun Sept 27

* Awards and Banquet 1300hrs Sept 27

Route:

Starting on the beach on Pamlico Sound at the Cedar Island Driftwood Motel and Campground, around Cedar Island to the north, west to the Neuse River, enter Clubfoot Creek and south through the abandoned Harlow Canal (was dug by slaves) to the Newport River, take Gallants Channel to Beaufort, check in at Graden Paul Park on Taylor

[ChrisObee]

Are you planning on making this a habit?  Its a very interesting race but I couldn't be ready by sept.....

[DawnS]

I think we'll have to see how this one goes.  WaterTribe is very interested in adding races, and a Fall one is perfect with the EC in March.

Dawn

[Oyster]

There is a little bit of information that maybe usefull for you. That time of year over the course of my time above the daisies, weather  can be brutal. So plan ahead for the worse. The equinox is around that week and cold front and winds can be ongoing to a level of safety for small craft. This is a historical fact forgetting that hurricanes have a potential of visiting too. Winds blow for either three or seven days in most cases and sometimes in excess of 20 to 25 knots. Consider this as nothing but old wise tales if you will. But if that old sun is red in the morning that time of year you will not enjoy the rest of the day on the water.

[DawnS]

Thanks Oyster for the information.  Picking the dates was the most difficult of the decisions, and I'm open to all information and suggestions, there is still time to tweak things regards the race, though I think there will always be some gamble involved.

We chose late Sept for a number of reasons:

- Summer is just too hot and buggy (though we probably still won't escape that)

- Needed to stay away from the 3-day weekend at end of Aug (terrible time for people to travel and the boat traffic)

- I think boat traffic going into and in Beaufort might be one of the bigger dangers, so we wanted to stay out of the summer season as much as possible

- Oct and Nov might be worse regards hurricane season (still a coin flip though)

- It looks to me like it blows all the time out there.  I am trying to research historical weather archives.

- Anything in summer or tourist season would be difficult to arrange with the campground etc....

- Spring would have been too close to the EC, these challenges obviously have a limited appeal regards participants, and we needed time to organize it all.

I don't really know what the equinox effect is on weather, guess I'll have to look at that too.

I do expect our NC coastal conditions could easily make this more challenging than most ECs in the Gulf, and we need to continue to promote the 'Expert in your Craft' philosophy.  The route does have lots of places to tuck in from weather if needed, and boats can choose their own routes (thought we haven't decided on direction yet, or leaving that open), but the Thorofare and Old Canal if needed to avoid going around Cedar Island (it adds miles but might be more protected) is always a possibility, either side of Harkers too. 

And I think there is room to plan for some potential last minute options if weather is a problem (i.e. start the race Fri night when winds might have lowered, and shorten it to end in Beaufort if needed). 

We can't plan anything like this with a rain date, and money will already have been dispersed, so refunds are not possible.  I think the best we can do is if in the event it's a blowout, we try and have something fun planned for those who came out. 

If anyone has ideas for us to consider, please let me know.

Paul and I did scout the Harlow canal bridges last weekend, no measurements, though we estimated clearance at 6-8'.  I'll know more about depths next weekend when I paddle it.  Here's some pics we took there.

http://picasaweb.google.com/SandyBottomWebShots/HarlowCanal?feat=directlink

Dawn

[Oyster]

I would not be concerned as much with hurricanes as much as with the northeasters. I also would not let winds scare me off simply because wind also keeps you from being carried off with the engineless jet planes, the state bird the mosquito. ;D Many years ago when I used to work on the water charter fishing, we use to say that the first of oct was Indian Summer after the mullett blows and unpredictable weather of Sept, if thats of any use for decision making. But by no means allow me to pick or suggest a date since I can no longer predict what I may eat in the morning, only know that bran will supplement my diets. ;D [Hyjack finished]

[Tom Lathrop]

Oyster could be spot on or way off as it can be very nice that time of year.  Prevailing wind is SW all summer which makes it upwind one half and downwind the other.  The direction you chose allows the paddlers to hug the land in somewhat protection from the SW all the way from Cedar Island to the Newport River.  The sea breeze comes in about 1:30 to 2:00 most days.  That same SW wind, especially in the afternoon sea breeze, would be aft all the way in Core Sound to Cedar Island.  That's why this area is called "Down East" just as in Maine. Just stick your paddle in as a rudder and coast or sail in Core Sound.  Yeah, right.  A NE wind can be interesting in either direction in Core Sound and the Neuse.

I haven't checked the miles but are you sure the Old Canal/Thoroughfare route is longer?

Lots of small villages in Core Sound to pull out but none on the south shore of the Neuse.  There is only the town of Oriental on the north shore but lots of places to pull out.  We used to have a small boat race from Oriental to Beaufort through the Neuse and Core Sound which you can read about on Graham's website.

[DawnS]

The canal routes measure out longer if your leaving from Cedar Island next to the Ferrys.  It's shorter to just go north then west around the Island to the Neuse.  But I'll recheck.

Dawn

[Oyster]

Oyster could be spot on or way off as it can be very nice that time of year

I have never claimed to be right about anything, only that I had an opinion and some extra time to type today. ;D

[Tom Lathrop]

The canal routes measure out longer if your leaving from Cedar Island next to the Ferrys.  It's shorter to just go north then west around the Island to the Neuse.  But I'll recheck.

Dawn

I thought about that after I sent the note.  My slow brain was thinking about cutting across fro Old Canal to Thoroughfare, which you are not doing with your starting point.

Mike,

Ain't we all??

[Oyster]

Rest asssured that I don't think that being right or wrong always  has to do with knowledge or the lack of Tom . I think from my observation this comes with being married where I am always uniformed or misinformed. : ;D

As a side note for anyone looking for a remote area to paddle for a day, the canal is one pretty route to the two bodies of water and actually has a small launching ramp under the high rise bridge that I use on occasions to fish that area with the little boat.

[paul_stewart]

More Information Regarding the NC Challenge (from www.watertribe.com)

On Thursday, April 16, 2009,  Roo (Designer) wrote:

"I have a friend who runs his power boat through those bridges so there is more than 6" of water. When I interrogated him about bridge clearance he thought that the bridges had 6'-8' vertical clearance and at least 12' wide. Water levels in this area are dictated by wind like Florida Bay. South west winds bring low water and northeast winds bring high water. The winds also dictate current, think about a north east wind bringing water from the outer banks and forcing it up the Neuse River, the Harlow canal acts like a relief valve and the south going current can be strong. I hope to go through there in early May and will take more precise measurements." 

On Friday, April 17, 2009, SandyBottom (DawnS) wrote:

"I dumped the pictures we took while scouting the Harlow last weekend, we stopped at all 3 bridges.  We didn't do any measuring.  Bridge heights appeard 6-8' as Roo says.  Paul didn't think he'd have problems with our CS20 on the Canal based on what we saw.  KiwiBird and I plan to paddle it, we won't have time to take measurments, but we can check depths and conditions."

    http://picasaweb.google.com/SandyBottomWebShots/HarlowCanal?feat=directlink

And, on Monday, April 20, 2009, SandyBottom (DawnS) wrote:

http://sandybottomkayaker.blogspot.com/2009/04/harlow-canal.html