Day 65 - Oct. 19
Yes, I know! I got my days numbered wrong. It's what happens when I rush. Can't imagine working for a newspaper and having to meet deadlines for my writings. LOL
So I was awake for a bit last night worrying about getting off the dock. All day yesterday we had very strong winds pushing us onto the dock so I was afraid we might face the same this morning. Luckily, the winds had shifted and was actually blowing us off. Easy-peasy. Off and away by 7:15. We had to motor all day. Even though we are going through a large body of water, the channel is a only about 100'(?) wide with shoaling of 1-4 feet on either side. Need to keep sharp so that I don't wander. No chance of falling asleep today....it was our third coldest day to date ( tempted to make it a tie with second, but the sun was shining so I'll knock it down a spot.) I wore my scarf and mitts all day and had a blanket wrapped around my legs for most of the morning. :(
At one point, following the buoys,we had to make a quick zig zag to avoid a shoal. I just happened to look back and saw a power cruiser bombing straight down the channel. My first thought...smiling to myself...this could be interesting. Sure enough.. The boat came to a nice stop in the middle of the channel. It wasn't an abrupt stop as the bottom is sand and I'm sure he made a very nice trench. We watched him rock back and forth for a bit, and finally pulled himself off. Glad I was paying attention to my markers.
Along with the cold today we had 13-20 kt winds, so it was very breezy.
And now I'm sure you've all been waiting to here the verdict. The engine repair was a huge SUCCESS! We travelled 35 nm with an average speed of 5.5 kts and the temperature never went past 195 degrees. ( 190-195 is the recommended temp for the Universal engine) And she purrs like a kitten. We are both very happy and relieved.
We have anchored in a hurricane hole that is in the middle of a military training area. Our resources say to be prepared for a lot of helicopter fly bys and men running training exercises from shore in inflatables. Since today is Sunday, all seems quiet. Let's see what Monday morning brings!
Day 66 - Oct. 20
Monday morning (today) found us waking up to peace and quiet. I guess the military saw our boat and took it literally. Today was pretty much uneventful, but I will fill you in on how it went. This was our first day of having to time our travel on bridge openings. A lot of bridges will open on demand, but the three we had to passage today follow a schedule. The first, 2 1/2 hours away, opens on the hour. The second, 3 hours after that, opens on the hour and the half hour, and the third, 5 miles further opens on the hour.
Four sailboats and a trawler made the first bridge; 2 s/v and trawler made the second bridge, but we weren't among them. We were avg. 6 kts and were still short by about 10 minutes, so we waited the half hour for the next opening. Since missing that bridge we now had to wait 1 1/2 hrs for the next bridge with only 5 nm to go. Fortunately for us, the five miles of shoreline was covered in multimillion dollar, custom designed, showpiece homes, so we coasted along taking in the sights. I didn't bother taking any pictures. I'm sure each one of these homes has graced the cover of Architectural Digest at some point. Just pick up a magazine and if the house has pillars, I saw it here! We managed to get through all bridges without incident and arrived at our anchorage in Wrightsville Beach, NC at 3:00 pm. We also heard from Richard and Heather for the first time in three days. They were out of cell range so we didn't know how far they'd got. Looks like they are a day behind us.
We saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time since leaving Cape May. It was only from a distance at first, looking out through an inlet. So pretty! We also noticed that the water now has a beautiful pale green color, indicating maybe we've seen the last of the mud for a little while.
The Wrightsville Beach, on the Atlantic, is just a short walk from the boat so Greg and I took a hike this afternoon. The water was gorgeous. Why didn't I have my bathing suit on? It would have been so easy to go in for a swim. I guess it was just teasing us for what lies ahead.
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