Hammered

Thursday we left Oriental headed for Cape Fear. The plan was to head for Beaufort, NC where the inlet to the ocean is, then decide whether to overnight there or to continue. When we got there, it was noon, it was sunny, it was warm, it was breezy. We said go for it.

We sailed southward with a 20-25 knot wind behind us. I only had the jib up. Tarwathie flew. Several times we hit 7.6 knots, not bad for a boat with a hull speed of 6.5 knots...

There is a shoal that sticks out 30 miles from Cape Fear. We steered for the end of the shoal, planning to turn right when we past it. We got to the turn at 0330, way ahead of my planned schedule. When we turned right is when the trouble started.

We were close hauled into the wind and there was too much wind. The rail was underwater much of the time with water streaming over the deck. I finally took the jib down and replaced it with a staysail plus a double reefed main. The reefing didn't work right. Libby got seasick and went below, leaving me single handed. Then, about dawn the winds picked up to force 8. I estimate 35 knots, which is a gale. The spray was blowing off the wavetops forming spindrift.

To make a long story short, it took 15 hours to go that last 30 miles. When we got there, we were both exhausted. We put into a marina on Bald Head Island, and slept and rested for 36 hours before continuing.

The gale was an excellent learning opportunity. I'll write up a lessons learned blog article soon.

Today we're in Wilmington, and I plan to tour the battleship North Carolina tomorrow. Tropical storm Gamma is approaching, and we'll have to find a place to hide out to avoid that. Boy what a year for storms.

Our next goal is Fernandina Beach, Florida. We may have to stop in Charleston, SC first. I'd prefer to sail it outside rather than use the ICW. We'll see.

Right now I'm in the library, and they limit users to 30 mintues. So I have to go.