Cruising with Osprey: SailBlogs

Florida!

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:36:02 -0600

We are safe and sound in Florida! It was a pretty exhausting trip so I will keep this short. Docklines were dropped in Charleston at 09.00hrs. We followed the long shipping channel back out to the Atlantic. The first half of the trip was amazing - perfect in fact! Warm sunshine, beam NW winds (as forecast) and dolphins playing in the bow wave. The wind died out at sunset (not forecast) so we were motor sailing. About 1.00am the winds picked up again, from the NE, and were accompanied by increasing seas and swells - exactly as forecast! At this point it was all hands on deck and strapping on for the ride. I have never been so glad to see the sunrise - everything looks better in the light! Our "bail out" plan (remember it had been forecast to get "challenging") had been to duck into St Simon's inlet first thing in the morning if it was nasty but after much thought and discussion we decided it was safer to carry on to the St Mary's inlet which is bigger, deeper, wider and has jetties built out to protect you from the swells as you make your way in. This meant another four hours of crashing about in nasty 5 - 6 ft swells. But Osprey handled it like a champ and once I realized how well she was riding the waves I was less afraid. So, we made it in - have learned a lot and feel relieved to have gained some experience without breaking anything! We're off to dinner with "Charisma" tonight. (Continued...)

Captains are from Mars, Admirals are from Venus

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:18:22 -0600

Photo is of the sun rising this morning over the Schooners docked at the Maritime Center (Continued...)

We're in High Cotton Now! (With apologies to Pete on Prim!)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:34:04 -0600

Here we are in Charleston, South Carolina! We pulled anchor in Wrighstville, NC, at 06.30am just as it was getting light. We then headed down the ICW to the Cape Fear River (stopping to top off fuel and water tanks at a handy marina on the way). Once we made it into the River our speed was boosted by the ebbing current and we were on our way! It was a grey, cloudy day but the forecast North winds were blowing and we were optimistic we would have a good sail - we were not disappointed. Once we were spat out of the River we hoisted all sail, switched off the engine and were off. The wind stayed steadfastly out of the North - a perfect beam reach. It did build in strength however until we were down to a double reefed main and jib and still were on target to arrive at Charleston in the dark. After one particularly lusty gust which had us surfing down a wave at 9 knots, we furled in the jib completely and sailed along much more steadily under the staysail - thanks heavens for a cutter rig. We sailed the whole way, not switching the engine back on until we were in Charleston Harbor itself. Our only complaint was that the seas were a bit rough and confused so it was difficult to sleep soundly because of the motion of the boat. We both snatched some sleep but didn't feel up to continuing on for another 24 hours to Florida. We arrived in Charleston at 7.00am and had to wait until 8 to call the Maritime Center. We totally lucked out (Grandma's luck!) as they had had a cancellation and were able to squeeze us in. This is our favorite place to stop - good price with a Boat US discount, close to the wonderful City and only 2 blocks from a great Harris Teeter grocery store. We are able to wheel the cart from the store to the boat - as seen in the picture. We always feel a bit like "bag" people but actually Tom is truly in "High Cotton" as our cart contains a case of beer, 3 boxes of wine plus a "good" bottle to have with dinner tonight. We are staying here tomorrow and hope to head out to Fernandina Beach on Thursday - another 24 hour run. We really hope the weather forecast holds - as we hope to meet our dear cruising friends from "Charisma" and "Legacy" in or around Fernandina Beach on the weekend. (Continued...)