Thursday, April 12, 2018

It’s a dewy morning but the sun is shining. We made our preps yesterday so we are ready to drop off the mooring ball around at 8:00am. We wait a couple of extra minutes as there are several other boats leaving at the same time. As we say goodbye to Fernandina Beach, we’re excited at the thought of being home in 48 hours. We enter the St Mary’s river a short 30 minutes after letting go the mooring ball. Immediately we hear a security call from the Navy announcing that a naval warship is entering the river/channel from sea. Also, all other vessels in the channel must observe a 500 yd security zone. I know that means a submarine is returning from a patrol and heading up to Naval Station Kings Bay just over the Georgia state line. We listen as the Navy security boats call each sailboat ahead of us and direct them to exit the channel. Eventually, they call us; we oblige and cut outside of the channel to the north where there is plenty of water for our draft.

We’re heading out the channel at a good 6-7kts because we’re with an outgoing tide. That’s good and bad. The good is the speed. The bad is the choppy waves we encounter once we pass the jetties due to a 10 kt opposing wind creating some standing waves against the current. Once we’re able to turn more northeast, we get far enough away from the channel that the current no longer has an effect and our ride smooths out somewhat. The forecast for our 48 hr passage predicts an E to SE swell, with winds clocking around from the N to E to SE over the course of the next 24 hrs at no more than 10 kts. Seas 2-3 ft. The forecast proves accurate, but the winds are so light that we motor most of the day. We eventually motor sail with our headsail later in the evening and throughout the night.

Sometime in the afternoon we hear the engine slow down and then speed up on its own. I think we may have taken a slug of air into the engine as a result of the choppy, rolling seas we’re experiencing. I visually inspect the primary filter bowl and see no water or debris, which makes me believe I don’t have any contaminated fuel. A couple of hours later it happens again. Now I suspect I might have a clogged fuel filter. The motor runs for several more hours without problems until we sit down for dinner around sunset. The motor again loses power and the RPMs slow dramatically. I quickly reduce the throttle and then ease it back up to our average running RPMs of 2200. The RPMs hold. Now I’m fairly certain the fuel filter is getting clogged even though I continue to have good throttle response. We slow the RPMs down to 2000 so that the fuel demand is less and cross our fingers. I am hoping to be able to wait until the morning when I have more light to change the filter. I’ll be able to see what I’m doing and we’ll also be able to observe the sea conditions so we can stabilize the boat as best we can so I don’t spill fuel everywhere. We also adjust our course to come closer to Charleston in case we need to bail out for engine repairs. Fortunately, reducing the RPMs works well and we have no further issues throughout the night.


Friday, April 13, 2018

As the sun comes up we’re about 3 hrs south of Charleston and about 12 miles off the coast. We’re having an easy breakfast of cereal in the cockpit when the motor loses power again. It is now time to change the filter. While I’m prepping the tools and placing oil absorbent pads around the work area to catch any spills, Lynn takes the helm and steers us down the swells to stabilize the boat. I’m able to pop off the top of the filter canister and put the new filter cartridge in with only a little spillage. I top off the canister with some additional fuel and secure the top. We re-start the engine and it fires up immediately. We run at idle for several minutes and then turn back on course and increase the RPMs back up to 2200. All is good. My first time changing the fuel filter was a success! It’s amazing what you can learn on YouTube!

By now we’re close enough to Charleston for cell service. We check in with our Float Plan holder, Stan. We also drop a quick email to Lynn’s parents to let them know we are on track and doing well. We cross the Charleston Harbor entrance channel right at noon. As we near Georgetown, SC (about 60 miles north of Charleston) we decide it’s time to transfer fuel from the three 5-gallon gerry tanks into our fuel tank. The wind is still pretty light, less than 10 knots, and we’ll take advantage of the smoother seas for the transfer. Lynn steers us to a course down swell to stabilize the boat and we start siphoning from the cans into our fuel tank. The siphon works great and is much better than pouring directly into the fuel deck fitting. In about 20 minutes we have all the cans emptied and we’re back on course.

Now we set our sights on the entrance of the Cape Fear River. Late afternoon, we think we just might have enough wind to sail. We put up the mainsail and turn off the engine. We need to make about 5.5 kts to arrive at the Cape Fear inlet by 8am tomorrow. Unfortunately after only 4 hours of peaceful sailing, the wind subsides and we slow to less than 4kts. We need to crank up the engine and motor-sail with both sails up for the rest of the trip.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

In the early morning hours we are able to see the Oak Island Lighthouse at the Cape Fear River inlet far off on the horizon. A welcoming sight! We’re only 34 miles away. We observe sunrise at 6:50 am and start to ride a little with the swells. It’s as if the sea knows we’re anxious to get home. We enter the Cape Fear River at 8:30 and turn to lower the sails just before entering the ICW. We pull in to our slip at the Southport Marina right around 9:00am. We have a Southport Yacht Club welcoming committee of Chris, Colleen, Steve and Cindy who catch our lines and make the docking easy. We tidy up the boat a bit and walk back to the house. Our cat Nonie welcomes us home and Lynn discovers that her garden is full of the carrots, garlic, mustard greens and arugula that she’d planted before we left. The house is fresh and probably cleaner than we left it, thanks to our house/cat sitters Heidi and Wyatt. They left for Connecticut a couple of days earlier and we are sad that we missed seeing our new friends again.

It’s been an amazing journey of 89 days.