Holly Jayne

The day started with a storm at 0700 and some boats around drug anchor. Fortunately everyone was up and ready. What should’ve been a 7 hour day took over 8. We never seemed to get the tide with us and weee often under 5 knots. Even worse the Onslow Beach Bridge, which is supposed to open on the half hour told us at 10:10 we’d have to wait till 11 for an opening! We dropped anchor and shut down while we waited. The ride beyond that was cloudy, drizzly and cool. We had the main sail out most of the journey but wind was to close for the headsail with a short exception only. Anchored in Beaufort right by town. Busy but great spot. Hopefully the calm stays that we have as we pulled in!

Anchor up at 0900. We motor sailed nearly the entire trip with a 10-15 knot close reach. It was obvious that the weekend had arrived as there was more traffic than I’ve seen, maybe ever. An anchor neighbor from last night, Red Shift departed more than an hour before us yet we caught them up, anchoring alongside once more. I suspect our sailing throughout the day made up the gap. Strong winds predicted tonight so we have over 100’ of anchor out. Will keep a close eye on the anchor alarm. Welcome to Camp Legume NC or as boaters call this anchorage, Hammock Bay.

It was a blustery day, but the currents were in our favor. Leaving the Cape Freer River we were doing over 8 knots with just a head sail! We were able to sail 3/4 of the day despite being on the windy ICW. The winds were 10 to 15 knots except in places on the canal where they shifted or fell off altogether. Making the speed we made resulted in a quick day of it. Wrightsville Beach is relatively open and the winds are 15 to 20 with gust to 25. We tucked away as far into the bay as possible and hope for good protection.

Woke up to the most beautiful Anchorage. Amazingly serene and just gorgeous. Enjoyed a couple hours on the boat with our coffee and nature. Set off at about 10 AM plan to make a little over 30 miles. It was nice relaxing, cruising past some beautiful homes in the Myrtle Beach area. Along the way we picked up a neighbor, Stella Blue. We pulled in front of her as we departed our Anchorage and cruise the entire day together. It was fortunate because when we arrived at our anchorage spot, it was far too shallow to anchor and Stella told us about another location, which we followed them too. Got a great walk on the beach and a good meet-up with some new friends, Kim, Larry and their dog, Duke. Hoping for a calm evening as we are hooked just beside the inlet to the Atlantic. We leave tomorrow to do about 30 more miles. That will take us to Southport and one of our favorite meals of the trip going south. It was a must stop on our way back north and we can’t wait to visit Joseph’s for another great meal.

Other than waking up to an infestation in the cockpit of swamp land mosquitoes, it was a beautiful day. The ICW opened up, so there was no longer a worry for shallow water, and although there was very little sailing, it was a gorgeous day for motoring. Happy to report the one area that did open up. We unenrolled the Genoa and made an aggressive sale for about an hour. Truly some great area for boating, if not Sailing. Anchored in a beautiful quiet area and looking forward to a great evening.

Was a short 4 hour cruise to Fernandina Beach. Too many twists and turns to set a sail, though I did for a short while. We motored right on past our anchorage before I realized our mistake and turned around. Lots of current in the anchorage but we set the hook and spent the late afternoon in town.

A fair day, somewhat cloudy but a good temperature. We made our way north often under motor sale. Decided to go to sisters Creek where there was a free public dock however, when we got there, the space that was available for us was filled with Fisher. We decided not to interfere and anchored out in the Anchorage right next-door. It was an enjoyable, uneventful day of sailing. Tomorrow onward to Amelia Island & Fernandina Beach.

We had intention of going about halfway to Saint Augustine when we set out. The start was early because the noseeums were driving us crazy. Anchor was pulled around 8 AM. We thought about taking the outside passage, but winds later in the day were expected to pick up and we did not want to try the Saint Augustine inlet and heavy winds, so the ICW it was. It was actually a gorgeous day. Beautiful sunshine, a small amount of wind that generally stayed off our starboard beam. We were able to motor-sail the majority of the way. It helped us gain incredible momentum, and we used that to go ahead and make the full trip to St. Augustine. 60 miles was the most we’ve ever gone in a day, short of an ocean passage. It was a great day although long. Now we plan to spend several days in St. Augustine. Our iron sale a.k.a. Mr. Yanmar performed flawlessly.

A fair day with sunshine and warmer weather in the 60s. It was a day of motoring through the Alligator and Pungo River canal and a brief bit of sailing on the wide Pungo River. Docked at the free City Dock in Belhaven, NC a quaint, pretty town. Sharing the dock with our new friends on S/V Chungus, David and Holly. Wonderful people!

Set off at 0800 from Coinjock. Original plan was to take the Abermarle Sound to the Safe Harbor Outer Banks. Once on the sound it was rolling waves and winds picking up to gusts of 30kts. Could not find a good angle so decided to deviate back to the ICW and Alligator River. Once on the River things calmed and we did some dead downwind motor sailing the last hour or so. Both sails deployed for a time on the Sound but winds picked up and we had to douse them in a blow. Holly did a great job keeping it off the one back quarter to avoid the accidental jibe while I rolled in the sails. Another learning experience. We tucked in at Alligator Point at the dead bottom of the river. Sun is setting now and it’s gorgeous! As we paid attention to the sunset the Super Moon was rising behind us! I turned and worshipped the rising ala Tom Hanks in Joe vs. the Volcano!