We slept like the dead through saturday night, even the sound of the band from the deck above the docks as they late into the night didn’t keep us awake. Lack of sleep from the friday nightgale and a long day racing saturday left us exhausted. While many partied late into the night after the race, most of us that had been there for friday night’s storm made an early night of it saturday. In contrast to friday night the water and wind saturday night was calm to the point of flat with the boat not moving at all through the night other than to rock to the wake of the rare vessal that passed by on the inland waterway just yards away.
Sunday morning dawned bright and clear with blue skies and a strong chill breeze. Though slow to get up and moving just about everyone was ready to leave and had cast off the docks by 9am. Orrin on La’ Bon Vie was towing Angela on Valkyr down the waterway and back to Little River. Pirate Girl (Patty) and Winds of Freedom (Ben) also took the waterway back to Little River.
I in my vast wisdom decided that I had come to do some sailing and by God was going to head out side and sail back 🙂 And Miriam obligingly went along with me 🙂 Actually it was a beautifull day on the water, just a little longer than I thought. All the experienced sailors motored back down the waterway.
It took us a good hour and half to get out Cape Fear Inlet and start for Little River Inlet. Not only was the current coming in at a good 2.5 to 3 knots but the wind was against us going out of the inlet. After 30 minutes sailing up the river to get to the inlet I found that I just couldn’t make any head way under sail against both the wind and the tide. Eventually I went ahead and cranked up the engine and we motored out. By then though we had eaten up two and a half hours.. It was about 11:30 in the morning when we turned right out past marker #8 and started sailing again.
Miriam got some good pictures of the light house on Bald Head Island
The bouy we couldn’t get past because of the current through the inlet with the wind on our nose. We finally turned the engine on and motored out.
The last time I sailed out of Cape Fear it was on an outgoing tide with the wind on my nose. With seas piled up in the inlet in the 6 to 8 ft range. By myself I tacked out without the motor.. Actually because of the high seas i couldn’t use the moter to get out. But that tiem with the current with me it was very doable. This time the seas were about flat with maybe one foot of chop. Even so with the current and wind both against me; they stopped me in my tracks till I cranked up the engine.
The sail on the ocean from inlet to inlet felt longer this time than last, but in reality once I figured it out was not much different.. maybe an hour more this time. The extra two and a half hours it took dock to dock, were caused by a starting point in South Port instead of the closer Bald Head Island, and the contrary current and wind conditions that stopped me in my tracks.
Once out the seas were 3 to 4 feet and winds from 15 to 25 knots, with the average around 20 knots. Most of the day was spent with me and Miriam hiked out on the windward side of the boat, tiller pilot steering and me manning the mainsheet and traveler to compensate for gusts.
Here I’m tweaking the Jib which is out all the way. There is one reef in the main.
We both were still tired even though we got a good nights sleep. Though I stayed warm by layering up, wearing foul weather gear, fixing something hot to drink on the stove and making sure to eat during the day, I still had to fight off wearyness later in the day.
It really kicked in after dark. With three hours of sailing and motoring up the waterway left to go after sunset I had to fight the urge to just lay my head down and nap. The autopilot makes it easier to contemplate this as you are not as critical to keeping the boat on course. However this close to the coast it is an unthinkable option. How easy to run into a bouy or fishing vessel if your attention lapses. Later that evening we actaully had to tack away from one fishing vessel that had it nets deployed and was sitting dead in our path. Lit up bright as daylight with multiple flood lights turning its decks and the surrounding ocean to day it was hard to miss, but if we had dozed or not paid attention we would have hit it. During the day we passed within yards of two differned markers and bouys marking fishing spots and inlets between Cape Fear and Little River Inlet. Theses things just underscore the need to have a alert watch on deck.
About a third of the way back to Little River Inlet as we came up on Holden Beach, Jay in Walkabout (a Jenneau 43) met us. He played for a bit, doing circles around us for a little while, before heading back to Little River. He made it back about 3 hours sooner than us. In his boat he was doing 8 and 9 knots compared to us at 4.5 to 6 knots
Here are a couple pictures Miriam took of him.
Also as the wind built through the afternoon the seas started to build a little and we started to get some spray once in a while back on us.
Later in the afternoon we started reefing as we got more tired and the winds built.
Here is me watching a bouy off of sunset beach from the low side to make sure we cleared it. It is just before sunset here and we have put saftey harnesses on and clipped onto the Jack lines. (I was tired and had fumbled handling a couple of lines in the past few minutes so Miriam said she would feel more comfortable if we clipped in. On a minutes reflection I agreed with her.)
A little while later the sun sank below the horizon. The chill in the air became much more noticable once the sun went down. I can say how much good layering under good foul weather gear helps to keep you warm and dry. Also good boots and wool socks.
It was about an hour to a hour and a half after sunset that we entered Little River Inlet. When I turned right out near the Sea Cow (Sea Bouy that marks Little River Inlet) and started running into the inlet we had 2 reefs in the main and only about half the jib out. The wind was strong enough that we were doing 6.5 knots steady over water. At this point I was hand steering as visibility was very low and I wanted to be able to react quickly incase I needed to turn the boat. Even though we were watching as hard as we could the first bouy in the center of the inlet between the jetties slid by barely 20 feet off our starboard side. I only saw it when it was a boat length in front of the bow. Miriam had been looking for the power cord for the spot light for the last few minutes and found it about then. The rest of the time we were able to spot the channel markers and bouys with the spot light well before we got them. Not long after coming in the inlet we pulled all sail in and down and had a anti-climatic motor back to the dock.
Hot showers at the marina never felt so good and another night of exhausted sleep on the boat layed the day to rest.
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