We just arrived at Jekyll Island, Georgia, this afternoon.
We left Oriental, NC at 9am Sunday morning and motored 3 1/2 hours to Beaufort, North Carolina. We had arrange with 'Cattiva' to meet at 12:30 to begin our ocean passage. We went non-stop for 48 hours on the ocean.

The same distance via the Intracoastal Waterway, would have taken us a couple of weeks. It was getting colder and colder in the Beaufort area, so we decided to try to do the journey in one jump. The Intracoastal Waterway, would have meant motoring almost the whole way. We are a sailboat after all and we want to sail!
We sailed parallel to the coast about 30 miles out.

The ocean is awesome. I spent hours looking at it while I was on watch.
Something popped into my head today as I sat there gazing across its waves: the ocean and fire have one thing in common, an unusual thought I know, but both are completely mesmerizing.
You know how watching a fire draws you in - well it does me - the ocean does the same. The movement of the waves is hypnotic. There is a rhythm and strength to it that is very appealing.

We had excellent weather for our passage. We were heading south-southwest and the wind came from behind us from the north-north east. This was really good for two reasons.
First, we weren't pounding into the waves, we were running with them.
Second, we were being pushed along by the wind, making really good time.

I think I discovered where the expression: 'riding high on a wave' comes from. When the wind began getting a little stronger the wave size increased. The waves were coming from behind us, at a height of about 4-6 feet and passed underneath us pushing us way up. We were suspended on the crest , just momentarily, and then we surfed back down in between them.
Who needs a roller coaster?
It was so exciting.
I love the ocean!

Michael and I both wore an anti-nausea patch and the kids took Gravol.
When I asked the kids to rate the ocean passage experience, they all
said they would give it 9 or 10 out of 10.