Made my first rip of March on the Pamlico River yesterday. My cruise plan was to access the Pamlico River from North Creek and sail 7 miles eastwards to the mouth of the Pungo River. March can be the start of the good sailing in Eastern North Carolina. Sunny skies, mild temperatures and fair winds are not unusual. My trip on the Pamlico River met two of these three criteria. Temperatures were forecast for the low 50’s; a little cold for good cruising but OK for shorter trips. While I waited on the south side of the river for the ferry the temperature was a cool 37 degrees. Not bad for the start for the day; it could only get warmer, right? On the north side of the river the temperature registered 34 degrees and 5 miles down the road at North Creek it was an even chillier 32 degrees. North Creek is one on five small creeks linked to the Pamlico River by a well-marked inlet. Four of the creeks provide good bottoms and wind protection from all directions. I spent a very smooth night there a few years ago while winds of 15-16 knots and a 40 mile fetch created 2-3 foot waves on the river. The private ramp at north Creek ($5) is easy to launch and retrieve from although it’s a bit primitive. A NW wind of 8-9 knots allowed sailing at a comfortable close reach for most of the easterly trip. The only disadvantage was that it meant I was sitting in the shadow of the sail. After an hour I had to put my parka on over my PFD. Shortly after that I put on a second hat; oh boy, a real “2 hat cruise”. Hugging the shoreline I had flat water. The winds held around 8 knots until 1030 when they fell to 5-6 knots. Unlike the Pamlico which has an E-W orientation, the Pungo River lies N-S. The northerly winds had created larger waves and organized the sea foam into long streaks. As the wind died the sailing was through confused chop and little power to push through it. The last mile on the Pungo’s mouth took as long as the previous 2 miles in the lee of the Pamlico’s shore. The good news was that as I turned back I had the sun at my back and soon lost the 2nd hat and eventually the parka. Boat speed on the return trip varied between 1 and 4 knots with an average speed of 3 knots. Due to constantly changing wind directions and strength I sailed from close hauled to runs in 5 to 10 minute cycles. There would be a nice North wind on the beam for 3-4 minutes followed by a 3-4 knot wind from East which would die after just a few minutes. After a short calm the wind would return from the NW. This gave me 2-3 minutes of sailing close hauled before it went back to the North again. The pattern repeated itself for almost two hours when surprise (!), it shifted to the South also. As I entered the North Creek Inlet, the winds were veering from South and East, perfect to get back to the ramp. I have some theories about these rhythmic shifts but surmise it had something to do with the approaching low pressure system.