Feel the Cape Fear, and do it anyway!

As we headed out of Beaufort Inlet and passed through the red & green buoys used by large shipping vessels, we veered south off the channel the moment we saw good water depth. We opened up our sails and by 10:00 there was no land in sight. The winds continued to reduce in strength throughout the day -  just as was predicted...its rare that happens!

Light winds, blue sky and blue water

Going outside isn't always the shorter path as its 8 miles to get out the inlet but the advantage of going outside is that you travel 24 hours a day, not the 5-7 hours on the ICW each day driving the boat trying not to run aground. The disadvantage is sometimes the weatherman is wrong and the ocean will chew you up and spit you out. Any normal person would have some apprehension about doing it...I think we're the normal people. However, after the first hour or two we settle in and prove again to ourselves that its never as bad as you imagine. The seas are good with 1' waves and swells about 9 seconds apart (apparently, 8-10 seconds apart is good, 4-7 not so good). Noticeably, the water is clear and blue; what a difference from any water we have been in since we left Lake Ontario in August. Julie had sent out a telepathic message to the local dolphins to come for a visit...an hour later they were jumping at our bow...being Julie's first experience of this, she jumped out on the bow as well.

Our passage had us off shore about 30 miles, even the large restricted area used for Navy firing range didn't reach out this far. Julie snaps a picture of me sleeping in the cockpit getting ready for our all night run.

Captain catching some shut-eye

In the distance we can see about 3 other sailboats, each with their own destination in mind...ours would take us around Cape Fear....da da da dummm! Yes, never had I thought I would even contemplate going around the infamous Cape Fear that has taken many ships to their grave. Not only would we go around the frying pan shoals, about 15 miles out we would cut through them and not during the day but in the pitch dark of night with no moon; like a jet pilot....with only our instruments to guide us...not the relaxing retirement we had in mind. There is a transition within when the sun goes down and you're out in the ocean, and again we settle in for the night. Tonight, looking out is almost useless...nothing but darkness and the reflection of our red & green running lights mounted on the bow rail. Our radar screen is our eyes, the anemometer provides wind speed and direction, the chartplotter shows our bearing, heading and other AIS enabled vessels, the engine instruments tells you all is well with her constant hum, and our eyes pan the darkness every 5 minutes since not all ships surprisingly appear on the radar screen...that was a scary realization.  

Sunsets as we head for Cape Fear