09/27/2026
⛵ Sea Shanties, Stars & “Can We Come Back?” 🌌
How do we measure a successful Mariners adventure?
Would the girls want to do it again?
We didn't even have to ask. Before our Beaufort Sailing Safari & Dark Sky Adventure was over, all three Mariners were already asking:
“Can we come back and do this again?”
We’ll take that as a resounding YES. ❤️
Three Mariners and their parents joined us for a weekend of marine science, sailing, primitive camping, dark skies and a few well-placed indulgences along the North Carolina coast.
🏕️ Easing Into Primitive Camping
We deliberately started small.
Our first night was car camping at primitive Oyster Point Campground. We pitched tents, brought our own water and used pit toilets—but we still had the security and convenience of our vehicles nearby.
After setting up camp, we headed to , where college junior Siri gave us a fantastic student-led tour. Then came the “posh” part of our primitive-camping weekend: a relaxing dinner on the Beaufort waterfront overlooking the marina. 😄
Back at camp, the girls built a campfire, made s’mores and explored the campground using only the red lights on their headlamps, discovering how much more they could see as their eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Morning brought freeze-dried breakfasts for the girls and gourmet French press coffee for the adults. ☕
⛵ Sea Shanties & Sailing
Then it was time to sail!
Our friends at generously extended our two-hour trip into a three-hour sail aboard their 47-foot catamaran.
We spotted a wild horse on Carrot Island, and the Mariners received some special hands-on experience: helping hoist the mainsail and jib and taking turns at the helm under the supervision of the licensed captain.
And naturally, sea shanties were playing in the background as the sails went up. 🎶⛵
One of our dads joined the girls in providing some extra muscle for hoisting, probably giving the mate a welcome break from some of the heavy lifting.
Then the girls discovered the netting between the pontoons near the bow.
Another hour of sailing and we’re pretty sure all three would have been completely asleep in their improvised hammocks. 😴
We took that as another measure of success: girls who felt comfortable, relaxed and completely at home on the water.
After sailing, we enjoyed a leisurely patio brunch—including pancakes—and then the waterfront ice cream the girls had been looking forward to since dinner the night before. 🍦
🌊 One Step Closer to Boat Camping
One Mariner and her dad headed home while the rest of our crew continued by ferry to Cape Lookout National Seashore.
This was the next step in our camping progression.
The first night, our cars were beside our primitive campsite. The second night, everything we needed had to travel with us on the ferry and then be carried a short distance to our beach campsite.
We weren't backpacking, and we intentionally kept it to just one night so it wouldn't be intimidating. But we also couldn't simply walk back to the car for something we'd forgotten.
The girls had to think about what they actually needed, what they could leave behind and how to pack their belongings so they could manage them.
That's one more step toward future boat camping, where space is at a premium and packing thoughtfully becomes part of seamanship.
Our beach campsite had few amenities—but perhaps one of the finest bathroom views anywhere. 😂
Dunes and dune grass offered privacy on three sides, with the Atlantic Ocean in front and nothing but open sky overhead. We brought a shovel if #2 became necessary and got a very manageable introduction to another outdoor skill: how to take care of yourself when there isn't a conventional bathroom nearby.
It was just one night. Nothing intimidating. Just one more thing demystified.
The girls collected beautiful shells, especially at low tide the next morning, and learned how to light our backpacking stove and boil water for dinner.
Then came one of our favorite moments of the weekend.
The next morning, the girls got out the stove, lit it and boiled their breakfast water themselves. 🔥
They had learned a new skill, practiced it—and now confidently did it without an adult taking over.
That's Mariners.
🌌 Sleeping Beneath the Stars
After the bright moon set, we could easily find Polaris, Saturn, Jupiter, the Big and Little Dippers, Orion and more.
Haze, moisture and passing clouds meant the Milky Way wasn't quite as spectacular as we'd hoped, but it hardly mattered.
We were sleeping on a largely undeveloped beach with almost no one around, listening to the rhythm of the Atlantic surf while the Cape Lookout Lighthouse swept its beam across the darkness at its steady cadence.
Pretty magical.
We also discovered that the off-season may be our season. The temperatures were still warm without the oppressive heat and humidity of midsummer, the crowds were gone, and a pleasant coastal breeze kept us comfortable and most of the bugs away.
https://www.facebook.com/CapeLookoutNPS/
❤️ Parents Were Part of the Adventure, Too
Having parents along added another wonderful dimension.
Everyone brought something different—knowledge, skills, stories, humor and enthusiasm.
One mom's marine biology education and experience working as an ocean lifeguard on Cape Cod in her younger years meant we had plenty of beach and marine-environment savvy in our crew. Another family introduced us to some truly excellent gourmet coffee. And one dad contributed some welcome sail-hoisting muscle.
One parent, dealing with a bad back, opted for a hotel while his daughter delighted in primitive camping with the troop. He joined us where he comfortably could, while Girl Scouts gave his daughter an opportunity to experience something he couldn't easily provide for her himself.
There was something special about parents and daughters sharing an adventure while still giving the girls room to stretch their own independence.
🍦 Roughing It Doesn't Have to Mean Suffering
That's another lesson we wanted the girls to take away.
Camping doesn't have to mean taking away everything you enjoy and suffering through it.
Camping gives us the skills and flexibility to experience beautiful places that don't have lots of amenities.
We slept in tents, used pit toilets, carried our own water, cooked freeze-dried meals and packed our overnight gear onto a ferry.
We also ate overlooking the Beaufort waterfront, enjoyed pancakes, gourmet coffee, s'mores, cookies and jellybeans on the beach—and made sure there was ice cream. 🍦
We can rough it and still enjoy ourselves.
In fact, if we want young people to develop a lifelong love of the outdoors, making their early experiences fun, comfortable enough and achievable seems like a pretty good place to start.
🍽️ And We Kept It Simple
For a short weekend involving multiple locations, we deliberately didn't make food complicated.
Instead of organizing group menus, coolers, ice, food preparation, cooking equipment and multiple dietary needs while moving between campgrounds, Beaufort, docks and ferries, everyone basically needed to pack their clothing, camping gear and a few lightweight foil meal packages.
We heated water when we camped.
When we were in town, we ate in town.
The girls still learned to use a camp stove and prepare their own camping meals, but we removed a lot of the logistical hurdles that can make getting outdoors feel overwhelming.
That made the adventure easier for families to join—and manageable enough for volunteer leaders to organize without spending the entire weekend dealing with food and logistics.
Which gives us another pretty useful measure of success:
Would the girls want to do it again?
Absolutely.
Would the leaders want to lead it again?
Absolutely.
Start manageable. Make it fun. Build skills and confidence. Then take on a little more the next time.
By Monday morning, the girls were already asking:
“Can we come back?”
And that's exactly what we'd hoped to hear.
Learn • Lead • Leave a Legacy
⛵ Take the helm. Chart Your Course.
