Monday we said goodbye to my parents and drove back to Belhaven, NC,
arriving late Monday night. Tuesday morning Sabrina drove our rental car two
hours each way to the West Marine in Morehead City and bought the two new
engine control cables for the boat. (She had to drive to that store because
West Marine messed up our order, and the cables wouldn’t have arrived into
Washington, NC until Friday, even though I explained to the guy that I
needed them Tuesday, and he guaranteed they would be there on Tuesday. Boooo
West Marine!) We spent the rest of Tuesday installing the new throttle and
shifter cables, which went about as well as you can expect for a boat
project.

This morning we bid farewell to Dowry Creek Marina and spent 11 hours
motoring up the ICW in hot weather with light winds. Before sunset tonight
we dropped the anchor just north of the Albemarle Sound near Broad Creek in
the North River. Thankfully there’s a light breeze helping us keep cool as
we seek shelter from the bugs inside the boat. We’re at statute mile 62 for
those familiar with the Virginia Cut of the ICW, 10 miles south of Coinjock,
NC.

Tomorrow we’re going to try to clear the numerous bridges in Norfolk and
exit into the Chesapeake Bay before dark tomorrow night. From there we’ll
continue north through the night, and Friday night we hope to visit good
friends near Annapolis. If all goes as planned, we should be hanging on the
hook in the Bohemia River on Saturday night, in time for Jimmy Buffett’s
live concert on Radio Margaritaville.

If you’re on the Bo, swing on by, we’ll be the boat with the ICW moustache!

Position Report #8:

Current time:
1:40 am / 8:45 am, June 13, 2012
Current position:
North 35d 09.55′ West 77d 31.14′
Vessel status:
Motoring up the ICW

Yesterday we had a great downwind sail in strong winds and building waves.
The winds were shifting around today, so we entered the ICW at Morehead City
rather than to try to round Hatteras into the Chesapeake. The waves were
large at the Beaufort Inlet, but we made it inside around 6:00 pm and then
continued up the ICW looking for a good place to anchor. Late in the night
(much later than it should have been) we ended up in Bonner Bay off of the
ICW at statute mile marker 161.5.

Today we’re headed north, trying to make miles until the wind subsides from
the NE and we can sail up the Bay.

Position Report #7:

Current time:
8:15 am, June 12, 2012
Current position:
North 33d 47.11′ West 77d 31.14′
Miles traveled:
Somewhere around 275 nm? (See notes below)
Vessel status:
Sailing downwind under genoa while charging batteries with engine

I had knew we weren’t going as fast as I wanted, but I didn’t think we were
going as slow as the GPS was saying, and now I think something is amiss with
the Raymarine software. I had reset the “Ground Trip” odometer before we
left, and right now it is reading 247 nautical miles. But a straight line
from Fernandina to “Frying Pan Shoals #2” is 250 nm? We passed that at 6:00
this morning, since then we’ve gone 14 nm, plus the 10 nm to leave
Cumberland and get out the St. Mary’s entrance. (Not to mention the path
we’ve taken to dodge ships, thunderstorms, and catch wind.) We’ve gone at
least 275 nm straight line distance, and probably closer to 285 over the
ground. So, we aren’t as slow as the Raymarine was telling us.

We’re currently off of Cape Fear, headed for the Beaufort Inlet which is 63
nm away. Hopefully we arrive there by sunset and we’ll anchor at Morehead
City and then head north through the ICW. The batteries have pretty much
given up at this point, and I can’t wait to replace them when we get home.

Position Report #6:

Current time:
8:15 pm, June 11, 2012
Current position:
North 32d 56.00′ West 79d 40.70′
Miles traveled:
177.2 nautical miles
Vessel status:
Sailing downwind under genoa

Today the predicted winds finally filled in and we made good time for a few
hours. Now we’re sailing downwind with the genoa rigged with the whisker
pole. This will make it easy to roll the sail in if any thunderstorms
develop in the area. We’re about 62.4 nautical miles from Cape Fear, and
should cross there in the morning.

Position Report #5:

Current time:
10:00 am, June 11, 2012
Current position:
North 32d 13.85′ West 79d 43.37′
Miles traveled:
116.5 nautical miles
Vessel status:
Motoring through light winds

We’re about 30 miles offshore of Charleston, SC, still headed for Cape Fear,
which is still 130 miles away. We spent last night dodging thunderstorms,
and managed to stay clear of them. We did experience some rain and some
localized headwinds that really slowed the boat. Now the storms have moved
out and we’re waiting for the wind to fill in. The forecast shows good wind
for the next couple days that should hopefully help us click off the miles
more quickly.

We were further delayed for an hour this morning when I hooked into a large
tuna that we released, story and pics to follow on the blog when we get
back.

Position Report #4:

Current time:
8:15 pm, June 10, 2012
Current position:
North 31d 23.85′ West 80d 30.65′
Miles traveled:
60 nautical miles
Vessel status:
Sailing (slowly) and dodging raindrops

We’re about 40 nautical miles offshore perpendicular to Savannah, GA. Our
next waypoint is the “Frying Pan Shoals” off of Cape Fear, NC.
Unfortunately, that waypoint is still 194 nm away, just about 40 hours if we
keep sailing at this rate.

Position Report #3:

Current time:
8:15 am, June 10, 2012
Current position:
North 30d 45.76′ West 81d 28.44′

There’s a light rain falling, but no thunderstorms, so we’ll give this
another try.

Position Report #2:

Current time:
6:10 pm, June 9, 2012
Current position:
North 30d 45.76′ West 81d 28.44′
Miles traveled:
7.6 nautical miles
Vessel status:
Anchored…..

A blog we follow (Zero to Cruising, see the link in the side bar) recently
wrote about the most difficult maneuver to perform on a sailboat, “The 180
Degree Turn.” After days of being stuck in Fernandina and Cumberland with
the weather, the stars were starting to align. I was getting a series of
favorable forecasts to facilitate our offshore run. The winds would be
clocking around from the northeast to the southeast throughout the day, so
we didn’t need to leave until late afternoon. The thunderstorms would be
behind us at that point, and we’d only experience some light rain and
moderate winds. So we went into town one last time, gave our $15 bike to
charity, checked out the “Goin’ Coastal BBQ Cook-Off” and put the dinghy on
deck.

Halfway out the St. Mary’s channel we decided that while the forecast may
have looked good, the actual conditions were much different. We were
experiencing 20 knot winds with gusts to 25. Not too bad, but the problem
was the wind was still north of east, which meant we would have been tight
on the wind as we sailed (i.e. miserable and wet.) In addition, the Sirius
Weather was showing a line of nasty thunderstorms that was coming north, not
south like predicted, which would throw some thunderstorms into the mix as
we fought our way to windward up the coast. The final straw was the outgoing
tide opposing the wind that was stacking waves through the long St. Mary’s
entrance. When we plowed through a series of three tight eight footers and
we hadn’t even reached the end of the breakwater, I knew it was time for our
“180 degree turn.” Now we’re anchored at Cumberland Island, and we’re going
to let the storms pass this evening (hopefully they’ll finally get out of
here.)

Tomorrow morning we head NORTH. Whether it’s through the ICW or the ocean…
we don’t know yet, but luckily we’re flexible.