July 12, 2007

At anchor

Wrightsville Beach , North Carolina

Moving north and learning as we go…………….

It appears that we are suddenly two weeks behind in or log, time seems to pass quickly as there is always something that needs to be done.

We spent almost a week at Beaufort, SC (long u) working on the boat and enjoying the town which has a very interesting historical district which we explored both on foot and by bicycle. So far it was one of our favorite locations.

But Beaufort is not the Chesapeake, which is our initial destination. We need to move north more quickly, which is the dilemma of cruisers on the ICW……inside or outside? The decision is always based on comparative distances and the weather. We have generally chosen inside when the distance is significantly shorter, and outside when the distance is more equal and there are adequate inlets on both ends of the journey……..all depending, of course, on the weather. For the leg from Beaufort to Charleston we went inside as there was no wind.

Our several days in Charleston were most enjoyable as we met old friends Scott and Jan Clarke for a day on the town (and a trip to West Marine!) and also got to visit with NFCC friend Guy Anderson who was up for the CORA race to Savannah Light and back. We used our marina time to clean and brighten our teak trim with the ‘free’ water.

Next stop was Georgetown, SC (inside, no wind) then on to Southport, NC (outside). The Southport leg was where we learned about planning offshore stints- “the conditions will never be as predicted, so plan for it”. As our destination was the Cape Fear Inlet (bad in rough seas) we wanted to arrive in daylight, on an incoming tide and incoming seas. NOAA, Buoyweather, and Windfinder all said winds 10-15k from the SSW and seas 3-4ft from the south. “SeaWings” has pretty good legs so we calculated leaving at 7am would get us the 81nm before dark on a nice broad reach.

Well, of course we figured a rhum line course directly to Cape Fear and we immediately saw winds directly aft so we headed up in light air and following seas which were more like 6ft. After a few hours sailing away from our destination at only about 6 knots, it became clear that we would not make Cape Fear before dark so we had no choice but to change course and motor sail with the 150. The wind was back to aft and the seas now almost on the beam. The seas were building to 8ft with some 10s just for fun and the wind was about 20. So we spent most of the day getting pitched around by the seas, not wanting to use the main as it had jibed a couple of times rolling off of waves, but making great speed and surfed into Cape Fear Inlet at about 5pm, turned up the Cape Fear River (into the wind) and immediately soaked us both to the bone, even with the dodger up.

We were tired; a little beat up, but learned our lesson. Don’t calculate your course on ruhm line and best boat speed because you may not get the conditions you expect. We should have left before daylight and then could have sailed a jibing course. We could have sailed the whole way, been a lot more comfortable, and had a lot more fun.

Southport , NC , however, was an absolute delight. Beautiful historic seafront town, very quiet and laid back. We stayed at Southport Marina which has just been completely rebuilt with fantastic floating docks……nice facility. But best of all is that it is within walking distance to the Yacht Basin Provision Co…….a fantastic local restaurant with great seafood, a real fish camp atmosphere, all outdoor seating, locals and transient boater clientele, and best of all they are on the honor system for all your food and drinks……………..we kind of thought of it as Outback Crabshack done right. If you are in Southport, it is not to be missed.

The next leg up to Wrightsville Beach was a no brainer, 21 miles inside vs 61 out with a less than ideal inlet at Wrightsville Beach. So it was inside for us and along the way we encountered an inordinately large number of large wake producing boats, most of whom pretty much ignored the fact that anyone or anything else was around who might be damaged or inconvenienced by their wakes. We are 46 ft and over 22, 000 pounds but most of my underside sees daylight when a 50ft sport fishing boat goes by at full song. We came to the conclusion that the size of the wake is inversely proportional to size of the operator’s appendage……….(hint, on the ICW slow to idle when a faster boat approaches from behind, most will throttle down and give you a slow, low wake pass)

We spent the afternoon today with Lew standing in the dinghy and Lyn on deck trying to put sealer on the toe rail teak with ski boats, jet skis and anything with a motor not only speeding through the channel but using the anchorage as a slalom course. Wrightsville Beach is a great anchorage, with great holding (we got 45kts last night with no problems), free city dinghy dock, and good grocery only a few blocks away. But be sure to get all your dinghy travel and boat chores done before 10:30 when the vacationing teenagers wake up and come out to play-they TRY to make wakes ‘cause they are fun to play on!

Yet as bad as the boaters are, the people of North Carolina seem to be terrific. We asked the folks at the “Provision Co” in Southport where we might find a local market. A waiter was immediately dispatched to drive us to the market, wait while we shopped and drop us off at the marina and would not accept a penny for his efforts. And when we asked Teresa the checkout woman at the Wrightsville Beach market if there was any good east Carolina BBQ on the island, she insisted on picking us up at the dinghy dock after her shift, drove us over 10 miles to her favorite BBQ joint, waited while we ordered and drove us back to the dinghy dock. Great people and great BBQ in North Carolina!

Our next stops look like Swansboro; Beaufort (long o) where we pick up our mail which includes a new Magma grill (don’t buy a Tasco, we threw ours away at Beaufort), then across Pamlico Sound to Kitty Hawk to absorb a little of the Wright Bros; then on to Norfolk, VA and the Chesapeake where we hope to get some real sailing in at last!

Best to all and fair winds,

Lew and Lyn

S/V “SeaWings”