Thu 26 Apr 2012
Anchored N end of Skull Creek, SC (Hilton Head)

[photo: shrimp boat in GA]

It was an incredibly restful night after the long day we had yesterday. Diane was eager to get out of Georgia, but not exactly happy to be leaving before 0800. We got underway and had the wind from the SW at 10-15+ all day, so we would go from close-hauled to deep broad reach over and over again, with too many jibes to count. Diane was a trooper and helped with the sail trim quite a lot since our boat is not set-up well for single handing and I couldn't just leave the helm with all the narrow channels.

We were both incredibly busy for much of the day's run; we did 76 statute miles in just under 10 hours, which equates to 6.6 kts average. We again benefited from the wind almost the entire way and had the current with us much more than against us. Our highest speed was 8.5 kts, which sailors will appreciate as a great speed.

Are we happy doing 50-60 miles a day? It was not our plan, but sometimes you realize that there is nothing you want to see in an area and are better off just getting somewhere else. With the last two days of long runs, we have made up our lost time at Jekyll Island.

There were some interesting parts to the day's journey, but most of it was boring. The fact that you are winding back and forth so much is the frustrating part for us, and we understand why so many go "outside" into the ocean and bypass this section. It is no offense to the Georgian people; it is just a long stretch and too many pesky flies!

We are anchored just of the Skull Creek Marina at the northern end of Hilton Head Island. We will be here two nights, with a full day on the island tomorrow. Tonight we enjoyed another delicious, healthy meal aboard and will rest up for tomorrow.

I should report that the bypass cooling system has worked well. I did note that once we had to furl the sail and use the engine harder to fight the current for the last 20 minutes, the engine temperature rose from its 165F nominal to almost 175F. That is perfectly acceptable, but it shows that the cooling is marginal and I need to bear that in mind.