Day 89 – N 34° 12.405’ W 77° 47.933 Wrightsville Beach, NC

 We spent a pleasant evening Thursday night talking with two other boating couples at the marina as we all gathered in the gazebo rather than be on our boats rocking in the strong winds of an approaching storm. One couple, about our age, were from Australia and had been sailing around Asia and India for a few years. They were just arriving on the U.S. coast to explore that. The other couple was from San Francisco and had two young boys ages 9 and 11. They had sailed through the Panama Canal and spent some time in Central America. Now they were heading for Annapolis where they hoped to sell their Catalina 38 and buy an RV so they could explore inland America on the way home. Then back to jobs, and school, “real life” as they put it. Both boaters spoke about what a “confused sea” the Atlantic was. Compared to the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, the Atlantic was always tossing with conflicting wave patterns.  Who knew it could be smoother? The Atlantic is all we have ever sailed in.

We awoke Friday morning to find the wind had indeed turned northwest after the storms passed through in the night. This was what we were waiting for in order to have a day of offshore sailing and avoid the shoaling inlets and the many bridges with scheduled openings that characterize that stretch of Intracoastal Waterway through North Carolina. After a quick breakfast, we left the dock at 06:00 and got tossed around by opposing wind and current in the inlet which was made worse by all the sport fishing boats heading out hoping to win the billfish tournament.

Captain Peter steering through 25 knot gusts and going 7.2 knots.

We had decided to stay about a mile off the shoreline rather than plot a direct route from Beaufort inlet to our destination of Masonboro inlet in order to avoid being further offshore and in the bigger waves still lingering from the strong winds from the previous night.  The waves close to shore were more comfortable 3 to 4 foot gentle rollers. For the first few hours, the wind was just under 20 knots and there were strong gusts going up to 25 knots, so Peter had to be constantly focused on steering the course while Lyn had to reef the head sail and make frequent adjustments to the sheets.  The combination delivered a great sailing speed of between 6 and 7 knots. But it was a bit of a relief when the wind subsided some and we could relax a little more.  Lyn put out the fishing line thinking only a tuna could chase the lure at the speed we were going…. yum! Unfortunately, nothing bit all day.  The only sea life we saw was a couple of schools of rays swimming just below the surface as they migrated north.

Tilt.. only the stove and the picture are level

 

Dragonfly holding on through the gusts

Eventually, about 14:00, the wind decreased enough so that we had to motor-sail in order to be sure to make it to our destination before dark. And we made it all the way to the anchorage in Wrightsville Beach, NC about 18:00.  We had travelled 71 miles and we were fully under sail for more than half the time.  Peter calculated we got “18 miles to the gallon” today -- better than some land vehicles!