"Do you see how windy it is out there?" asked my wife as I prepared to throw off the dock lines. Yes, I had seen the white caps marching across Pamlico Sound and that is exactly why I was going sailing. I had launched my John Welsford-designed Pathfinder "Spartina" earlier in the summer and it looked like I had finally found a chance to sail the yawl under jib and mizzen in a nice little squall.

We were on our annual vacation down in Ocracoke Island, N.C., one of the more remote spots on the Outer Banks.

We were on our annual vacation down in Ocracoke Island, N.C., one of the more remote spots on the Outer Banks. We had been visiting the island for over a decade, staying at a nice little house on a canal leading to the sound. Two kids, four bikes, boogie boards, some nice bottles of wine and a stack of books. It was a family vacation, not a sailing trip. But I did get to spend plenty of time out on the water.

Ocracoke is mostly known for the pirate Blackbeard and 13 miles white, sandy beaches. A 1823 lighthouse looks out over Silver Lake Harbor and the surrounding village. Once a working waterfront for commercial crabbers and fishermen, it is now a vacation spot with a handful of hotels and more than a hundred "cottages" for rent. It is a quiet, isolated island reachable only by ferry. We came from our Chesapeake, Va. home by way of the Outer Banks towns of Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk, then taking the Bonner Bridge over to Hatteras Island. At the southern end of Hatteras we caught the free 40 minute ferry ride to Ocracoke. From the ferry docks it is about 12 more miles to the village at the southern end of the island.

Eventually the rain moved on and the breeze slackened. I raised the main with a single reef in place and continued sailing.

It was midweek when I spotted the white caps out on the sound. I motored down the canal and out in to Pamlico Sound, raised the mizzen and then the jib. And I was off sailing, perfectly under control. It was shallow water in that spot so I raised the cb a bit and still sailed to the windward very nicely. After about 20 minutes the rain came. No lightening or thunder, so why worry about it? I tacked back and forth in to the stiff wind, working between Ocracoke to the east and Howard's Reef, marked by a line of crab pot markers, to the west. Into the wind, or downwind, I felt very pleasantly in control. Eventually the rain moved on and the breeze slackened. I raised the main with a single reef in place and continued sailing. It was a real treat to the out there.

For most days of the vacation I was heading down the canal before dawn, raising sails as the sun crept up behind the cloud banks to the east. I would get in a two or three hour sail before the rest of the family was up and running (it was vacation for them after all). One morning I sailed out to a spoil island a few miles out in to the sound. I cut a good mile off the trip a by raising my cb and sneaking over a shoal in to the deep, well marked channel leading past the island. As I got closer I found I was tacking in to both the wind and the current, a nice little challenge for an early morning sail. Eventually reaching the island I heard the protests of screeching birds that used the spot as a rookery. I came about, cruised back down the channel, and jump over the shoal and sailed back to our house. Other mornings I would sail around to Silver Lake harbor. The entrance there is narrow, with rock jetties on either side. I found I struggled a bit getting in to the harbor as a copse of trees blocked the wind at the narrowest point. I think I could have made it in under sail eventually, but since I had to share the narrow channel with the large car ferries I opted to crank up the outboard and get in to harbor as quickly as possible. In the harbor I tacked back and forth under the old lighthouse, watching the watermen and fishing guides head out for a day on the water.

I put Spartina through the paces, tacking and jibing; learning how to sail with a mizzen.

After a morning with the family at the beach the wife and daughters would take an afternoon walk in to the village for some ice cream. I would head out on the boat once again. The winds usually seemed strongest mid-afternoon. I would put Spartina through the paces; tacking and jibing, learning how to sail with a mizzen. Much of the time I sailed with the cb partially raised, and found that she sailed very well. A few times I did find the bottom with the 100 lb steel plate cb. A "shooshing" noise would tell me that the cb was nosing its way in to sand and mud bottom. A quick turn on the winch raised the board a few inches and on I went.

After dinner it was time for a family time. A short sail followed by anchoring and then a sunset swim was just right for everybody. The sunsets were spectacular, and off in the distant we would see the "pirate" charter schooner Windfall taking that evening's passengers out on for a sail.

I can't say enough good things about sailing down off of Ocracoke. Plenty of wind and lots of sunshine, perfect for a small boat.

I can't say enough good things about sailing down off of Ocracoke. Plenty of wind and lots of sunshine, perfect for a small boat. The issue for larger boats is the skinny water, but with a centerboard and shallow draft, plus a little common sense, it is not a problem. I hope to be back down there for some more sailing, maybe with a boom tent and plans for some extended cruising.

I also can't say enough good things about the Pathfinder design. I spent about 18 months building my Spartina, she replaced a Devlin designed Nancy's China that my Dad and I had built almost 20 years ago. I'm not a woodworker by any means; skills were picked up on the job. Spartina has a work-boat finish, nothing fancy there. But the hull is true to John's design, and very solid. That was the goal for the boat. The Pathfinder is solid, spacious and easy to handle. I feel very comfortable sailing her by myself, but I've also sailed with four people on board and found her to be very comfortable. I'm still learning to use the mizzen, but it makes more and more sense as I go along. Plenty of dry storage and positive flotation add the secure feeling of the design. The gaff-rigged yawl, with bird's mouth masts and spar that my Dad and I made, draw the attention of a lot of folks out on the water.

The gaff-rigged yawl, with bird's mouth masts and spar that my Dad and I made, draw the attention of a lot of folks out on the water.

I believe the safety and comfort of Spartina will expand my sailing horizons. The sounds of North Carolina, the Chesapeake Bay, maybe even the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. I can't wait to find out where this boat will take me.

More about Pathfinder

• Cutting Gains
• Open Boat Weekend
• Spartina under Construction
• Paul Groome's Pathfinder
• Cabin Pathfinder
• Cabin Pathfinder Update
• another Cabin Pathfinder Update
• Craig Gordon's Pathfinder
• Plans for Pathfinder