Randy Jayne

The final leg of the 2024/25 cruising season. It did not start without some excitement! While leaving the Anchorage we ran aground. Fortunately, we were able to use the dink to push the bow off the hard and get back underway. I t was a warm, quiet cruise with very little wind. Later in the day when we got to open water, we were able to unfurl the Head sail. It was a skinny waterway into Zimmerman Marine, but fortunately we came at high tide and were able to get her successfully docked in her slip. Now we will spend the week unloading supplies from the boat and working with the maintenance folks here for the upgrades to be done during the off-season. It’s truly been a great year of cruising, very successful and it’s sad that it’s come to an end.

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.

We made a bit of a last-minute call to take the outside passage to Cape Fear and Southport. Our anchoring friends, Stella Blue pulled out an hour before us and took this route, inspiring us to do the same. Once out of the inlet and headed in the direction of the Cape the winds were perfect 10 to 15 on a broad reach, port tack the whole way. Unfortunately, we arrived at Cape fear on an outgoing tide with an opposing wind of 10 to 15 making it quite sporty getting in the Internet. It definitely lives up to its name and although not the worst in that we’ve experienced it certainly ranked up there. Happy to tie up at Safe Harbor Southport, and enjoy one of our a meal at one of our favorite Italian restaurants, Joseph’s!

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.

The curse of the Charleston current finally bit us. As we were departing Safe Harbor awaiting a dock hand that never came, our neighbor offered to help us shove-off. The Wind should’ve pushed us directly off the dock so we thought we were in pretty good shape, but as we moved forward with a boat directly in front of us, the current was pushing us back into the dock. We did not realize that until we shoved-off. Unfortunately, we contacted the boat in front of us bent two of our stanchions and scratched his hull. My first failure at docking/undocking! Then the day presented itself with fierce 20 to 25 knot winds and a current that seemed to constantly be against us. It turned what should’ve been an eight hour day into a much longer journey. Our first attempted anchoring was unsuccessful due again to heavy current and the anchor not catching. We had to move to location number two, which was fortunately just around the corner, and after letting out an extended amount of chain were able to catch. We were just in time to see a beautiful sunset, that brought a bit of joy to the day.

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.