We arrived in Buford, North Carolina around 4:00 PM and took a slip at the Town Marina. We had dinner with Don and Mary Lou and prepared the boat for our first overnight. We planned to go directly from the Moorhead City area to Charleston, a distance of 200 miles, and with a course that took us 60 miles off shore.
The next morning, when we left, the air was calm and the sea flat. It stayed that way for a while. By 6:00 PM night fell and we were about a third of the way to Charleston. Black all around, the only light was our instruments. On Jerie's watch around 2:00 am the wind picked up. We began to get seas between 3 and 5 feet on the beam. It made for an uncomfortable ride. All became easier when the sun came up and we could see the ocean's surface. Finally we got to Charleston and stayed at the Ripley Light Yacht Club. We met Jerie's cousin Nancy and her husband Tim. We spent a delightful evening with them. We toured Charleston the next day and in the Confederate museum Jerie was able to find reference to two of her ancestors who served the Confederacy in Alabama regiments.
All good times are tempered by less pleasant events and our stay at Charleston had such an event; hurricane Ida. Ida came up from Alabama bringing with it lousy weather and a lot of rain. Once in Charleston, the storm seems to stay. Three days of wind and rain. We learned the "tropical depression" met with a low from the Midwest and slowly marched to the northeast. New England took a pounding for a few days.
We were anxious to move on and kept watching the weather. South Carolina and Georgia have sections of the ICW that are difficult to transit, especially in a boat drawing 6 feet. We decided to do our "outside" routine again. We were watching the off shore forecasts and the reports were not favorable. 10 miles out the winds were still 30+ knots and the waves 6 to 9 feet. We noted, however, the near shore forecast was considerably different. ( A new NOAA feature). This report was winds of 5 to 10 and wave heights of 1 foot. We decided to head directly to Jacksonville, another night on the ocean. What a ride, flat calm all the way. The stars were glorious and the trip a joy.