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.