Almost to North Carolina

Thursday, June 28, 2007
We have about 20 miles to go to get to the entrance of Beaufort Inlet. We've have a pretty idyllic sail for the last 320 miles from Florida. The wind was light as we left, but it was upwind which meant that a little wind moved us nicely and we didn't have any waves to speak of. We had two days of that and then this morning it got lighter and I turned on the engine. We could have sailed but there is a cold front coming through this weekend that I would just as soon avoid, so we motored for about 6 hours.

Now as we approach Beaufort, the wind has come behind us and strengthened. So we unrolled the jib only and are doing an easy 6.5 knots.
I made gambas al ajillo for dinner and they came out pretty well - a little too salty maybe.

We are going to have to make a decision about whether or not to enter Beaufort in the dark. If we don't, then we will have to sail around slowly outside the entrance and await daylight. If we go for it, we will have to blunder around in a strange harbor in the dark. Hmmmmm. We shall see. Stay tuned.

Update: I chickened out about entering the harbor in the dark. Decided instead to sail as slowly as possible to avoid getting there before daylight. We unrolled just a tiny bit of the jib and eventually even rolled that up, leaving us with no sails up at all. But with a 20 knot wind behind us, we still made 3 knots towards our destination, arriving just at sunrise. We entered along with a couple of big ships and found our way to the Beaufort cityfront. There is a lot of commercial business in the harbor, especially at Morehead City across the bay, but Beaufort is cute - kind of restored anti-bellum touristy cute. But there are lots of restaurants and shopping is right near the docks.

Paul got converted to the joys of iced drinks on this trip. He doesn't have a freezer on his boat, but quickly got used to really cold sodas, beers, and ice water. It has been hot and they really help. North Carolina seems cooler than Florida (or maybe just less humid). The wind is howling outside now and it's good to be in the harbor.

In a few days, we'll take the 25 mile trip up the ICW to Oriental, NC on the Neuse River. Paul will fly home from there and a few days later I will fly out to join Andrea in California. Stay tuned.

Back at sea again...

June 27,2007 Wednesday
Off the Georgia Coast - 31 degrees 23 minutes North and 79 degrees 51 minutes West. Yesterday, Paul Brocchini and I left St. Augustine at 1:30 PM. We have had steady winds since then and have been moving along nicely under sail. We are trying to get into the main axis of the Gulf Stream to take advantage of the Northgoing current. But, we still aren't there. We are going as close to the wind as we possibly can but can't quite get far enough East to intersect the current. But later today we surely will.
Boy do I miss Andrea's cooking! Paul and I are doing reasonably well but I have a whole new appreciation for what Andi does in the galley. It will be good to have her back in North Carolina.
So for the meanwhile, we are headed for Beaufort, NC where there is a nice deep and safe inlet to get out of the ocean. The whole East Coast has these inlets. Many are shallow and most of them have strong tidal currents, so once you go to sea, you will have to contend with an inlet to get back to land. In bad weather, many are closed. But Beaufort is always open.
Even at sea we have email so don't hesitate to write.

Still in St. Augustine for a few days more

June 22, 2007 Friday
I'm still in St. Augustine. Andrea is still visiting family and friends in California and I will be flying out to join her in July. In the meanwhile, I am going to move the boat up to North Carolina. I will be joined by Paul Brocchini who I met in Puerta Vallarta after the Baja-ha-ha. He is a great guy, which I knew the minute I met him. I'm glad to have the company and a good sailor.
Originally I had thought about visiting Savannah and Charleston - two classic ante-bellum cities. But, we can visit them on the way back South in the fall. I want to get further along. Paul and I will take the outside route - 365 miles to Beaufort, NC. We will go out to the Gulf Stream to pick up a favorable current and we should be there in 2 days. We'll hang around Beaufort for a few days and then take the ICW up to Oriental, NC - a little town of 875 people and 2,700 sailboats. Obviously, lots of people leave their boats there.
I will do the same when I fly back to CA. Andi will really like it when she sees it in July. A lot of cruisers settle there permanently. Here are some pictures:
I told you that I was varnishing the cabin sole. Here is how it came out.
There is lots of wild life here. Here we see a small egret who is sitting on our power cord to do his fishing. There are also large ones about twice his size. Every evening, a pod of dolphins feeds off our stern. There are SOOOO many fish here!
This is one of the streets in classic "old town" St. Augustine (America's oldest city)
I'll write again from North Carolina. Don't you be afraid to write.

Flakey blogging

June 3, 2007 St. Augustine, FL
Hi folks,
I've been told that my lack of blogging has created some concern about whether we have sunk. Not to worry. We're still in St. Augustine, or at least I am. Andrea is off visiting family and I am taking the opportunity to strip and refinish the cabin floors. This is the kind of job that goes much better with less people trying to walk on it. We have greatly enjoyed St. Augustine and are earning enough money with music to pay for our marina bills. There is nothing like traditional flamenco here and so I'm getting a good response. The dance community has just discovered me, so I'm going to soon be in the position of having to turn things down. There aren't any dancers like Andrea, though. She will find teaching opportunities here if she is interested.
So don't worry, we are fine. I'd enjoy hearing from you, of course. Otherwise, it's back to my sandpaper.