Stingray Harbour YC members tour a Coast Guard air station.
In typical sailor fashion, twenty two members of Stingray Harbour Yacht Club weathered a huge straight line storm in late February, complete with tornado warnings as they blew into Edenton NC for their annual "land cruise" weekend. They wished their land yachts could be double reefed as they arrived at three charming bed and breakfasts.
Happy hour at the historic Granville Queen Inn provided them the first opportunity to get re-acquainted after a long, cold and wet winter. Edenton, named by Forbes as "the South's prettiest small town" served as the first capital of Colonial North Carolina and offers both trolley and walking tours. Harriet Jacobs' 1842 escape from slavery by way of the Maritime Underground Railroad from Edenton's port was an unfamiliar story, so some took the special Harriet Jacobs walking tour.
One special highlight of the weekend was a pre-arranged tour of Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City whose personnel rescued the crew of the tall ship Bounty during Superstorm Sandy. This is the base that sends out the search and rescue flights for the area that includes the Chesapeake Bay, half of which are for sail boats. So club members were very impressed to meet a few Coasties and sit inside a CH60 Jayhawk helicopter and a C130 plane. Like the infamous Blackbeard, who supposedly hung out near Edenton, many Stingray Harbour sailors vowed to return to Albemarle Sound by water next time.
Mary Ann Moxon, s/v MicMac
Williamsburg, VA
