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Date:Sun, 20 Nov 2022 19:01:00 GMT
Arrived Charleston
First stopover heading south
We are at anchor in Charleston Harbor. How was the journey?
So we left from Beaufort NC in the late afternoon on Wednesday the 16th.
Winds were barely 5 knots as we motored out to sea. I was worried we
wouldn't even be able to sail. Then when we got out about 3-4 miles the
wind picked up and we started sailing south. The sunset leaving Beaufort
was amazing but cold. Even before the sun was completely below the horizon
you could already see stars in the eastern sky. We were on a broad reach
all night with calm water. Just off out of sight of land with a gentle glow
on the north western horizon it was silent and dark with only the light
movement of water along the hull. We were making about 4 knots with 8-10
knots of wind. All through the night we traded positions with our friends
who were sailing with us. I could hit 6-7 knots if I turned 15 deg to
starboard but that heading would take us directly to Frying Pan Shoals so I
couldn't hold it for long. The best course was to accept the 4 knots and be
clear the shoals. In the early hours of the morning the winds started
picking up and the waves increased. Sam and Hannah both took shifts at the
wheel as our autopilot wasn't working. Sometime in the last couple weeks it
decided to stop and I didn't know until we left for Beaufort. I was a long
night. It's nights like these that make sailing such an amazing life/sport.
There's a silence off shore that is difficult to explane unles you
experience it. It's one of the things I was hoping to find on our return to
sailing. Sure enough it was there once we were far enough off shore.
In the morning the wind picked up to 20g30 and the swells were up at 8-10
feet with waves 3-5 feet and breaking. There were large rollers that came
in at about 15 feet when they stacked up. It was rough and cold. when the
wind was still climbing around 18-20knots I noticed the sail was not flying
right and the shackle at the foot of the sail was gone. So I got Sam up on
deck and we reefed the main. Then I reefed in the Genoa as well. It was
good because the wind continued to climb. Our friends saw several peak
gusts at 38knots. I was very pleased at how well the boat was doing. It
was not as wet as I thought it would be and with the cold wind wet would
have been really miserable. Spray? yes, but no crashing waves. Sam and I
took turns at the wheel and then really close to Frying Pan when we were
changing positions the boat rolled fairly unexpectedly and a wave hit us on
the starboard stern quarter and pushed me head first into the forward main
winch on the port side. I tried to grab the dodger but it came out of my
hand wrenching my elbow. As I went down my middle finger slammed into the
cockpit combing and I hit my face on the winch cracking a piece off my front
tooth. But picking my self up I must admit it could have been worse. I
think I cracked the bone on my finger as it swelled up something purple on
the inside of my hand even though I hit it on the back. But feeling rather
embarrased at not holding on I went below for a nap. The sea is both
beautiful and terrifying and should alwasy be respected. Posiden took his
toll that day as my stocking cap that Hannah made me from baby alpaca yarn
whet into the water as I hit my face on the winch. I guess he wanted my
hat.
The boat did very well and even without stressing the rigging and reefed we
were doing 7-8 knots though the day and hit a peak of 9.6. It was a very
tiring day. As we rounded the shoals I cut in toward land to let the shoals
block the following seas and sure enough it did. The wind was strong but
the swells were only 4-5 feet, still with whitecaps but nothing like
before. It had been a tiring two days so we decided to put in at Georgetown
so we changed our course inland. However after discussion later that
afternoon with the seas calmer we decided to continue on through the night
to Charleston.
As we approached Charleston the winds were not cooperating. They were
slaking and moving more north making tacking difficult and time consuming.
Our friends made it to the Harbor before the wind died but we didn't. It
died while on a starboard tack making 2 knots... So then came the choice,
start the motor and go into Charleston at 10pm against the tide or just stay
another night offshore. We opted to heave to near the cargo ship anchorage
offshore and get some sleep. In the preceding 3 days none of
us had more than about 10 hours sleep so we were ready for a nap.
After his watch at about 3 am Sat morning Sam woke me up as the winds had
freshened and changed direction. We had drifted quite a ways during the
night. So we adjusted the sails and started
heading into Charleston at about 4 knots on a beam reach in 7-10 knots of
wind. It was a nice easy sail and at about 9am we were racing Calista, a
Bayfield 36 into the harbor at about 6 knots. We chatted and exchanged
contact information on 17. I called them to say good morning because they
also had red sails. "The cutter with red sails following our red sails good
morning!" After we chatted for a bit I saw him raise the inner jib/cutter
behind his Genoa and I knew it was on so I let out the reefs in our sails
and we raced side by side most of the way into the marked channel. We
turned on the motor and waited till we were in the mouth of the Ashley river
to drop the main sail. Turning into the anchorage south abeam the Battery
we set anchor in 18 feet of water and had dinner with our friends on their
boat.