Open Water

March 30, 2021

Wake at 0100. Pushing off from the dock by 0230. Water in the Marina glassy, winds calm, temp about 60. Dramamine already taken because I have a feeling I am being baited.
The first swells started at the mouth the inlet. Common to have some swells where the ocean and river waters meet. A couple of barges and fishing vessels nearby but no difficulty avoiding those.
Full moon over the water with good illumination. I kept telling myself the swells would die down when the sun came out. We had checked the ocean state and the waves were predicted at 2 ft. It turns out that was correct, they failed to mention how many there would be! I have had washers that made fewer gyrations than the swells.
The sun came up and the light winds continued. We were able to sail at 4-5 knots with just the head sail. The saving grace of the day was when a large pod of dolphins, about 20 in number, decided they wanted to play. They jumped and swam under the boat. They would come alongside and snort and chatter. This went on for miles.
Aside from the dolphins, the other floor show occurred when he who knows everything, decided he needed something to do from the refrigerator. This man who can spout scientific principles all day long failed to understand if you are heeled over to the right and the refrigerator is sitting high on the left, opening the door might be problematic. We all have our duties on the boat and mine is obviously refrigerator door opener under sail.
Charles decided to roll in the head sail about two hours out from our destination, Masonboro Inlet. We immediately began to wallow in the swells. He put up the main sail and we stabilized to the point of some comfort…enough to prevent whiplash!
We reached the inlet about 1630 and found our way in with no drama. We had selected an anchorage near Wrightsville Beach but reviews of all the anchorages spoke about the large number of small craft with rude, inconsiderate operators. Truth! Overall, it was a lovely evening, albeit an early one. We think we have found how the other half lives based on the mansions on both sides of the river.