Another Overnighter
18 November 2018

After our short but very enjoyable visit in Beaufort it was time to get moving again. When we awoke on Saturday morning we were again greeted by a clear sunny day, although still damm cold (+3). In this area of high tides and strong currents it's not only important to plan departure times around the tides but also arrivals, even though they may a couple of days in the future. With our plan set we were off the hook by 9:30 to ride the last of the tide out of Royal Sound with the idea of running in to St. Augustine on the Sunday morning flood tide.
The forecast called for north winds, 5-10 knots with 2-3 foot seas and a sunny day with warming temperatures. For the most part they got it right and we enjoyed a beautiful day of sailing, combined with some motor sailing in increasing warmer temperatures. However, it all fell apart after midnight, the winds increased with gusts over 20 which in itself isn't an issue but the seas became very confused. It was like riding in a washing machine for 7 hours with 6 foot waves tossing us around making sleep almost impossible. Despite the conditions we arrived off St. Augustine on schedule and rode the inlet channel through some nasty looking breakers. We're anchored right downtown and may stick here for a day or two, who knows maybe we can find the fountain of youth.
Today's sad picture was taken on our way out of Royal Sound of a victim of one of the hurricanes. Remember, no matter how bad you think your day is, somebody else's is worse.