Florida to North Carolina

Left the mooring field in Fernandina, FL at 5:55 AM on Tuesday morning May 14 and set our sails for Beaufort, NC.  Had a great 5 hour sail and then had to motor, which we did all night. The seas had calmed down so it was not too lumpy until morning.  The wind kicked up to 25 kts. with 35 kt gusts and the seas were running about 6-7 feet.  It was just getting started so we decided to divert to  Georgetown, SC.  As soon as we set our waypoint and headed due North, spotted, bottlenose dolphins were jumping out of the waves and swimming along side and riding the waves.  They at times would swim 5 abreast as they came alongside.  At one point I counted 30 of them playing in the waves with Emme.  It was a wonderful beam reach sail but very lumpy and they provided a delightful distraction.  We pulled into Winyaw Bay and anchored after a 207 mile sail.   

The following morning we followed the ICW up the Wacamaw River to Myrtle Beach.
the waters were lined with beautiful cypress trees, many turtles, osprey, and an occasional eagle. There were songbirds that we could hear but never saw.  That evening we pulled into the dock at Barefoot Marina and tied up just in front of another Baba.  This boat hailed from Omaha, NE.  John and Cheryl have been out sailing for 2 years but are now heading to Annapolis to sell their boat and head back to land.

After cleaning all the salt of of Emme, we headed to Flying Fish for fresh oysters on the half shell, tuna and crab sushi and a ceasar salad.  Love those oysters!

Awakened the following morning to an ebbing tide which was down to 6.8 ft.  We draw 6 feet so we made quick work of getting the water tanks filled and getting off the dock.  We had sail assist all day as we headed along the Holden Beach area and then into Southport and up Cape Fear River, through Snow Cut and into an anchorage in Carolina Beach, NC.  We are now in Oriental, NC after 2 days of motor sailing.  This place is called the sailing capital of NC.  It is located on beautiful Neuse River and indeed there are a lot of sailboats out and about.  Bird sightings along the way included the American oyster catcher, a Black Skimmer and I think a Dunlin.  There were also many Great Blue Herons, White Herons and Ibis.

From Oriental we will sail to Dowry Creek Marina which is where we spent time waiting for hurricane Sandy to pass last fall. It sure will be nice to see those wonderful folks again.

Crossing the Stream

We hauled anchor at 7:30 AM on Wednesday May 8 and set sail from Great Sale Cay for the USA. The Little Bahama Bank was beautiful as the water was so clear and turquoise that you could see the bottom 30 feet down.  As we moved off the bank into the Atlantic, the water quickly turned indigo blue and the depth changed dramatically to 2000 feet.  The seas were calm as we entered the Gulf Stream around 8PM and our speed started to increase as we caught the northerly current.  We were travelling 9.2 kts. for about 6 or 7 hours.  The north wind kicked in unexpectedly and the waves started to give us an uncomfortable ride so we changed course to head to the west boundary of the stream.  We continued on toward Cape Canaveral where we said goodbye to our buddy boats the next morning and we continued on to Fernandina Beach. We had smooth sailing and calm seas all that day and arrived the following morning in beautiful weather.  Now we are tending to communications, restocking, refueling and resting for a day or two until the wind is favorable for us to now head northeast.  Looks like that will happen on Tuesday afternoon.  Hopefully we will make it as far as Southport or Beaufort, NC, if the weather allows.  Otherwise, Charleston will get another visit from us.
Fernandina is the northern most city in FL and is a very inviting town to stop in.  They hosted a shrimp festival last weekend and reportedly the city was filled with 100,000 guests, craftsmen and food vendors.  Live music on the porch of Green Turtle attracted our attention as we were heading back to the boat after dinner at 29 South.  Mother's day was celebrated by a delicious locally grown meal and locally harvested fish.

Cinnamon Girl anchored at Great Sale

Sunset with Patty Jean at Great Sale

Green Turtle Awaiting Window

It looks like we will get a window to head back to the states soon so we are preparing to head back to sea. While we have been awaiting weather there has been plenty of excitement on this usually quiet island. We have met up with lots of other boats holding here and gotten to know many of the other cruisers much better over shared sundowners and dinners.

On Friday and Saturday the Island Roots Heritage Festival was held with local artisans displaying their wares, music, tug of war, food stands and of course dignitaries from the islands kicking off the event. The Loyalists settled in New Plymouth from 1784 to 1800 and the folks here have created a memorial park in their honor.

Bronze sculptures in Loyalist Park

Mary and the Loyalists at the Festival

 While attending the Festival on Friday the excitement continued when we spotted a waterspout heading toward the anchorage where we were moored. We left and raced the dingy back to Emme to batten things down if possible. Fortunately there was a strip of land between us and the twister and it absorbed its energy before it could harm boats in the harbor. It turned into a tornado as it came on land damaging some homes and causing a power outage for much of the island. We saw one home with the shingles stripped from the roof and others with tree and wind damage. We heard that no one was injured and yesterday people were working to clean up and make repairs.

A friend sent us this picture as we were racing by to get to our boat. It was still over water then. We were too preoccupied at the time to take photos as we arrived at the boat just as the freight train noise was starting. The storm was less than a quarter mile away when it began to break up.

This chair had a ride in the tornado. 

Yesterday things calmed down and we enjoyed the company of friends at Sundowner's Grill watching the Kentucky Derby and some women even wearing fancy hats and drinking Mint Juleps.

We hope to leave this afternoon at high tide and start working our way across the banks towards the Gulf Stream. More when we get back to the states and get connected again.