October 21, 2007 Sunday Offshore NC to Offshore SC

I take my shift at the helm and the conditions are not as bad on this leg. There is no fog and no boats are in sight. It is a comforting, but strange feeling being offshore and out of sight of any land. When dawn breaks over the horizon I'm still at the helm. Kelly awakes just in time to see the sun come up over the horizon. It is a beautiful sight. My shift is over and now it is Kelly's turn at the helm. I am just settling down to get some rest when all of a sudden I hear Kelly calling me to see some dolphins that are swimming around our boat. We both scramble to the bow to watch them swim in our bow wake. Kelly is able to get a few pictures of them before they take off.

Kelly decides he would like to try his yo-yo fishing lines. He purchased one at the Newport Boat Show this fall. He and his brother Rick made up copies from their own supplies. We now have 2 yo-yos and enough components to make at least 5 more. He gets the lines in the water just as the girls are awakening in the cabin and join us in the cockpit. Within an hour of setting the lines, Kelly catches a fish. We are not sure what breed it is, but after consulting our friend John on the sailboat Tashmoo, he was able to reference my description in one of his books. It is a Little Tunny and measures about 24" long. We took a picture of it before Kelly filleted it. This turns out to be not a very good eating fish as the meat is very dark. These two events take up most of the morning hours.

I'm tired and I realize we have another 24 hours to go, another over nighter. During the afternoon we take turns napping. I read and the girls relax as the seas begin rolling once again. At round 3:30PM Kelly decides to put up the main. I'm tired but reluctantly help. I made sure I checked my watch to see how long we keep the main up. Needless to say the main was down a half-hour later due to the wind direction. Kelly begins to not feel well, so he falls asleep around 5:30 as I take the helm and talk with the girls. By 8:00PM both of the girls are asleep. As the sunsets I watch the pink glow set over the vast horizon knowing it will be a long night. I awake Kelly at 9:00 PM because I am in desperate need of sleep. I wanted to check the score of the Red Sox game, but I decided sleep was more important. Kelly is now at helm until midnight.