Beaufort to Georgetown

Leaving Beaufort. Darla's first time at sea.

Finally, after almost a week, the wind gods smiled upon us and the steady southwest breeze shifted around once more to the northeast. We said godbye to John and Carol (and their amazing hospitality) and put to sea. We left in blue skies and high hopes. For the most part, the long term forecast was on our side.

The original plan was to head first to Masonboro inlet, going inside to bypass fryingpan shoal, then popping out again at Southport, just past Cape Fear, and heading for Charleston. The real plan depended entirely on the weather. With a couple days gale coming, we planned instead to stay inside and motor to Georgetown. From there it was anyone's guess on the weather.

Weighing anchor, Sean put some chilli on the stove and we headed for the Beaufort Bridge, our final gateway to the ocean. Channel 13 on the VHF and a southern accent let us know we had 15 minutes to wait before the bridge would open. 10 minutes later we ran aground. Off to a great start! Luckily, gunning the engine in reverse pulled us free in four and a half minutes.

In a 3 knot ocean-bound current, we flew past the channel markers and with bowl of chilli in my hand, we turned right and pointed for Masonboro Inlet, almost straight west. You can always tell when you're getting near the ocean; the swell starts up and the boat begins its constant motion.

This crossing was short and sweet. We got the spinnaker flying for the first time and it sails like a dream. I love the thing. It'll pull us along at 6 knots on it's own as long as there's enough breeze to fill it. We also got visited by dolphins for the first time during the day. They seem to love the boat; playing around it and jumping up to get a better look. The night was gorgeous too. The full moon, directly above us, cast a full circular rainbow (moonbow?) in the clouds.

Flying the kite towards Masonboro, SC.

Late that night the crossing ended abruptly. Those rocks sneak up quickly in the dark. We had our chartplotter going and knew where the channel was but the ocean in the dark is never too simple. Not to mention the wind had come up and there was a strong current at the mouth of the inlet. I was off shift and Sean called me up. We tacked quickly to steer back to open water, coming a little close for comfort. We were bouncing around in chaotic waves and in all the excitement out of the corner of my eye, I could see Darla puking over the back.

We got into the ICW and started looking for a place to dock or anchor for the night. Nothing looked too well protected so we just pressed on overnight towards Southport. The ICW is generally pretty mundane; easy little sails in the open sections and long stretches of motoring. At least with the motor running we could turn the radio on. We chugged along as gales blew by offshore.

Open Sesame

We took the opportunity to get a few little projects done, like putting up the SSB antenna. Then late in the evening, we finally pulled in for the night. Sean cooked up a great meal of sweet potato, broccoli, carrots and bacon and we slept like babies in the calms of the dock space.

We left before dawn--before anyone could yell at us for sleeping at a gas dock--and headed on our way. The weather was supposed to calm down and an amazing weather window was about to open. We might have as much as a full week of northeast breeze without a gale. Sean and I talked about provisioning; the only thing we really needed for us to last a week was some more gas.

We stopped in Georgetown for no more than a hour for fuel and we set out again. Looks like this crossing is going to be a big one.

Hanging the Antenna