Wrightsville Beach

We ticked off a lot of miles with 2.5 day voyage at sea. Thursday afternoon, we traveled a short hop up the ICW from Stuart to Ft Pierce because the inlet is safer there. There are fixed bridges so we left our instruments off for this leg. We had to do the standard climbing the mast to put all of the instruments back in place to be ready for an outside run the next morning.

We planned to stay out at least one night. The Gulf Stream and wind cooperated so we only needed the engines to get out of the inlet. Free miles! It went so well, we decided to go for two nights. Well, the lesson is that when the wind blows strongly from the same direction for a long period of time, the waves build up. So, the second night wasn’t as perfect. The waves would lift the back of the boat and push it to one side or the other. This made it hard for the person on duty to keep the boat on course. Plus, we were out of the Gulf Stream since we were aiming for Beaufort, NC so we lost our 3+ knot speed boost. At the 3am shift change, we decided to change course and aim for Masonboro inlet at Wrightsville Beach. It still took us until 1:30pm to get there but it was better than coming in to Beaufort in the dark.

It was a deadly time for hitchhikers. A bird landed on board the first evening out at sea, then died. Last night, a flying fish landed on board. We didn’t see him until morning. Same fate. They were both buried at sea. Sorry Jackie, no pictures.

It looks like Spring Break Light here. Lots of college kids in bikinis hanging out on docks and zooming around in speed boats. They are NOT social distancing. A Stay At Home order from the governor of NC goes into effect tomorrow evening. No problem for us, if we stay on the boat, we’re at home. From here, we’ll move north in small jumps and hope the drawbridge tenders are still at work.