Happiness is heading south on the boat after a long cruise north this
summer. We are presently off the coast of Myrtle Beach, SC doing a
very leisurely 7 knots at our single engine, super economy speed,
carefully timed to get us into Fernandina Beach, Florida just after
sunrise on Tuesday. It will be good to be back in warm sunny weather
again. Last night it was two heaters on the flybridge with the
enclosure zipped up. Tonight it's a lot warmer and calmer. Thanks to
the magic of a Sprint USB air card I'm able to keep one eye on the
radar and surf the internet with the other. Our faithful autopilot is
steering dead straight courses through it all.

The last of the mechanical work on the port engine and stbd tranny was
finished up around noon time on Friday. We went out for a quick sea
trial (actually the second one) with the mechanics on board, declared
everything working, returned to the dock, returned the rental car,
made a substantial contribution to the North Carolina Detroit Diesel
health and welfare fund, and started heading south again.

Not having much time left on Friday we made a short run about halfway
down Pamlico Sound, behind the Outer Banks. Pamlico is a beautiful,
shallow, and nearly desolate body of water, especially this time of
year. The weather was sunny and crisp with the nighttime temperatures
down in the low 40s. We anchored out in a totally deserted cove near
the mouth of the Long Shoal River, arriving just after sunset. It was
like we were a million miles from anywhere with no shore lights, and
no cell phone or internet service. I used the SSB radio to send up a
position report, get the latest weather maps and then we retired to
the comfort of the aft cabin and electric blanket. It would have been
very chilly without it.

Saturday morning we got underway just after sunrise on another bright
crisp day. We proceeded down the remaining half of Pamlico Sound,
made a turn westward into the Neuse River, rejoined the ICW, and
popped out into the Atlantic just before sunset after a scenic run
down Adams Creek into Beaufort, NC. Coming onto the ocean at sunset
we were greeted by a nasty set of 4 to 5 ft short interval waves as
the outgoing tide met the incoming sou'wester. Our original plan was
to head directly offshore from Beaufort to the Cape Fear Shoals
cut-through channel, and keep going south from there. It turned out
to be a dark and stormy night however as the sou'wester persisted
longer than forecast, and the choppy little 4 to 5 footers morphed
into nasty five to sixes that were right in our teeth. It was
definitely a "high transom" kind of night for those who follow the
running jokes and jibes on "rec.boats".

After a few hours of bashing and crashing we switched to Plan B and
altered course to Masonboro Inlet, a little south of Wilmington, NC.
Fortunately we had also gone through Masonboro on the trip north so I
had a good track line and saved way points to help us through the
breakwaters in the dark. The seas flattened out as we approched the
coast and everything went well at the inlet as we arrived at 2:00AM.
Sometimes your good, sometimes your lucky, and sometimes your good and
lucky. Whatever it was, we found a good place to anchor for the night
not too far from a smallish cruising sailboat, the only other occupant
of the cove. We grabbed 4 hours of well needed sleep and got underway
again early this morning. Mrs B recognized the name on the cruising
sailboat as the one she had heard calling USCG for navigational
assistance the night before. As we speak, the same sailboat is
aground somewhere near Cape Fear Shoals, taking on water, and getting
help from USCG and SeaTow. Hopefully they're OK but it doesn't sound
good from what we can hear on the VHF.

Meanwhile we'll go by Georgetown and Winyah Bay later tonight, and
Charleston somtime tomorrow. We'll turn ito Charleston if we get too
tired or the weather deteriorates but right now things are looking
good for a non-stop passage into northern Florida. We're standing 3
hour watches, seeing each other mostly at meal time.

Wayne.B wrote:
Happiness is heading south on the boat after a long cruise north this
summer. We are presently off the coast of Myrtle Beach, SC doing a
very leisurely 7 knots at our single engine, super economy speed,
carefully timed to get us into Fernandina Beach, Florida just after
sunrise on Tuesday. It will be good to be back in warm sunny weather
again. Last night it was two heaters on the flybridge with the
enclosure zipped up. Tonight it's a lot warmer and calmer. Thanks to
the magic of a Sprint USB air card I'm able to keep one eye on the
radar and surf the internet with the other. Our faithful autopilot is
steering dead straight courses through it all.

The last of the mechanical work on the port engine and stbd tranny was
finished up around noon time on Friday. We went out for a quick sea
trial (actually the second one) with the mechanics on board, declared
everything working, returned to the dock, returned the rental car,
made a substantial contribution to the North Carolina Detroit Diesel
health and welfare fund, and started heading south again.

Not having much time left on Friday we made a short run about halfway
down Pamlico Sound, behind the Outer Banks. Pamlico is a beautiful,
shallow, and nearly desolate body of water, especially this time of
year. The weather was sunny and crisp with the nighttime temperatures
down in the low 40s. We anchored out in a totally deserted cove near
the mouth of the Long Shoal River, arriving just after sunset. It was
like we were a million miles from anywhere with no shore lights, and
no cell phone or internet service. I used the SSB radio to send up a
position report, get the latest weather maps and then we retired to
the comfort of the aft cabin and electric blanket. It would have been
very chilly without it.

Saturday morning we got underway just after sunrise on another bright
crisp day. We proceeded down the remaining half of Pamlico Sound,
made a turn westward into the Neuse River, rejoined the ICW, and
popped out into the Atlantic just before sunset after a scenic run
down Adams Creek into Beaufort, NC. Coming onto the ocean at sunset
we were greeted by a nasty set of 4 to 5 ft short interval waves as
the outgoing tide met the incoming sou'wester. Our original plan was
to head directly offshore from Beaufort to the Cape Fear Shoals
cut-through channel, and keep going south from there. It turned out
to be a dark and stormy night however as the sou'wester persisted
longer than forecast, and the choppy little 4 to 5 footers morphed
into nasty five to sixes that were right in our teeth. It was
definitely a "high transom" kind of night for those who follow the
running jokes and jibes on "rec.boats".

After a few hours of bashing and crashing we switched to Plan B and
altered course to Masonboro Inlet, a little south of Wilmington, NC.
Fortunately we had also gone through Masonboro on the trip north so I
had a good track line and saved way points to help us through the
breakwaters in the dark. The seas flattened out as we approched the
coast and everything went well at the inlet as we arrived at 2:00AM.
Sometimes your good, sometimes your lucky, and sometimes your good and
lucky. Whatever it was, we found a good place to anchor for the night
not too far from a smallish cruising sailboat, the only other occupant
of the cove. We grabbed 4 hours of well needed sleep and got underway
again early this morning. Mrs B recognized the name on the cruising
sailboat as the one she had heard calling USCG for navigational
assistance the night before. As we speak, the same sailboat is
aground somewhere near Cape Fear Shoals, taking on water, and getting
help from USCG and SeaTow. Hopefully they're OK but it doesn't sound
good from what we can hear on the VHF.

Meanwhile we'll go by Georgetown and Winyah Bay later tonight, and
Charleston somtime tomorrow. We'll turn ito Charleston if we get too
tired or the weather deteriorates but right now things are looking
good for a non-stop passage into northern Florida. We're standing 3
hour watches, seeing each other mostly at meal time.

I hope you are getting a quickey at the Chart table.

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:12:56 -0500, Reginald Smithers III
wrote:

Meanwhile we'll go by Georgetown and Winyah Bay later tonight, and
Charleston somtime tomorrow. We'll turn ito Charleston if we get too
tired or the weather deteriorates but right now things are looking
good for a non-stop passage into northern Florida. We're standing 3
hour watches, seeing each other mostly at meal time.

I hope you are getting a quickey at the Chart table.

Heh. Ever since the chart table went mostly electronic, that has
become a whole different experience.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:12:56 -0500, Reginald Smithers III
wrote:

Meanwhile we'll go by Georgetown and Winyah Bay later tonight, and
Charleston somtime tomorrow. We'll turn ito Charleston if we get too
tired or the weather deteriorates but right now things are looking
good for a non-stop passage into northern Florida. We're standing 3
hour watches, seeing each other mostly at meal time.
I hope you are getting a quickey at the Chart table.

Heh. Ever since the chart table went mostly electronic, that has
become a whole different experience.


We've got some guests coming north from Florida this week for the
holiday. Two hours in the plane and they're here.

HK wrote:
Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:12:56 -0500, Reginald Smithers III
wrote:

Meanwhile we'll go by Georgetown and Winyah Bay later tonight, and
Charleston somtime tomorrow. We'll turn ito Charleston if we get too
tired or the weather deteriorates but right now things are looking
good for a non-stop passage into northern Florida. We're standing 3
hour watches, seeing each other mostly at meal time.
I hope you are getting a quickey at the Chart table.

Heh. Ever since the chart table went mostly electronic, that has
become a whole different experience.


We've got some guests coming north from Florida this week for the
holiday. Two hours in the plane and they're here.

yes, but can they get a quickee at the chart table?

On Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:08:17 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

Nice report. Sounds like good times, especially feeling it warm up.
Have a good trip.

--Vic

"HK" wrote in message
. ..


We've got some guests coming north from Florida this week
for the
holiday. Two hours in the plane and they're here.


But they don't get to wake anybody.

S

Scotty wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
. ..

We've got some guests coming north from Florida this week
for the
holiday. Two hours in the plane and they're here.


But they don't get to wake anybody.

S




Nope, and they don't waste their time going 8 miles an hour getting here.

"HK" wrote in message
. ..


We've got some guests coming north from Florida this week for the holiday.
Two hours in the plane and they're here.


Two hours on a packed plane sandwiched like sardines in a can, 2 hours
standing in the security line holding your shoes. 2 hours getting to and
from the airport. And traveling by air around Thanksgiving?

No thanks.

You couldn't get me within 20 miles of a commercial airplane now-a-days. A
peaceful, one month cruise down the coast in a boat, enjoying the sights,
doing the navigation, and exploring new ports is my kind of travel.

Eisboch

"HK" wrote in message
. ..
Scotty wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
. ..

We've got some guests coming north from Florida this week
for the
holiday. Two hours in the plane and they're here.


But they don't get to wake anybody.

S




Nope, and they don't waste their time going 8 miles an hour getting here.

Nope they waste 6 hours in airport security lines.