Amel Down-Wind Pole SystemFriday 9 am…Interesting last 24 hrs….we put up the Amel poles, for running downwind (See above) before we left yesterday. Expected wind on the butt till we made the turn around Hatteras about 4:30 am. Well the downloaded grib files (wind and wave files that are superimposed on my chart plotter) were right, wind on the butt but not enough to fill the sail. So we motored on down the VA coast about 5 miles off the beach burning my precious $ 2.99 a gallon diesel. COLD. I had an electric heater I used 2 winters ago in Baltimore to keep my feet warm. Plugged it into the step down transformer…..a nice 70 degrees in the saloon….a happy Joyce…the inverter was able to keep up and the alternator kept the batteries happy… in all a pleasant night.. Woke Joyce up around 4AM to make the turn and see the infamous Cape Hatteras light.
Remember there are more shipwrecks off this coast than any other region. We were following the 10 fathom curve (60ft), the turn was about a mile east of the light. As soon as we made the turn the wind jumped up to 20-30 knots….wow….glad that was not before the turn. We checked the VHF weather ….no mention of our 30 kt gusts…oh well…we are now on a beam reach on our way to Wrightsville Beach…. Trying to go slow so we don’t get there in the dark… since neither of us has any idea of time of day…time for lunch…
Ummmm…liverwurst sandwich….and my two cents…”one of a kind” shooting star last night… yellow and red tail…blue-green star…lasted a LONG time…not long enough for a picture though. Also tried to take a picture of the Cape Hatteras light…in the dark…don’t look for the picture any time soon! Lady H really enjoys 20 plus knots and even though they were unexpected - the 30 knot gusts would have been more fun for both of us if it had been daylight out!
Almost forgot to mention – right now we are doing 7.6 knots in 15.4 knots of wind – we are making water, it is 70 degrees in the saloon (living room) and we are watching T.V. Okay…THIS is cold weather sailing? Gotta love it!!!
7:30 pm…Joyce crashed……looks like Raymarine is as consistent as they were with the autopilot last yr….damn thing doesn’t see the buoys until after I can already see them...forget another boat… looks like another battle on the horizon…now to figure a way to get them to send me a loaner while they fix mine again. Worst damn outfit…all their stuff has broken…some several times and they never fix it right the 1st time. And I paid extra for their crap
Remember there are more shipwrecks off this coast than any other region. We were following the 10 fathom curve (60ft), the turn was about a mile east of the light. As soon as we made the turn the wind jumped up to 20-30 knots….wow….glad that was not before the turn. We checked the VHF weather ….no mention of our 30 kt gusts…oh well…we are now on a beam reach on our way to Wrightsville Beach…. Trying to go slow so we don’t get there in the dark… since neither of us has any idea of time of day…time for lunch…
Ummmm…liverwurst sandwich….and my two cents…”one of a kind” shooting star last night… yellow and red tail…blue-green star…lasted a LONG time…not long enough for a picture though. Also tried to take a picture of the Cape Hatteras light…in the dark…don’t look for the picture any time soon! Lady H really enjoys 20 plus knots and even though they were unexpected - the 30 knot gusts would have been more fun for both of us if it had been daylight out!
Almost forgot to mention – right now we are doing 7.6 knots in 15.4 knots of wind – we are making water, it is 70 degrees in the saloon (living room) and we are watching T.V. Okay…THIS is cold weather sailing? Gotta love it!!!
7:30 pm…Joyce crashed……looks like Raymarine is as consistent as they were with the autopilot last yr….damn thing doesn’t see the buoys until after I can already see them...forget another boat… looks like another battle on the horizon…now to figure a way to get them to send me a loaner while they fix mine again. Worst damn outfit…all their stuff has broken…some several times and they never fix it right the 1st time. And I paid extra for their crap
8.6 kts in 36.9 kts of wind
Well we had a nice sail this afternoon. Sun came out…temp almost 62… Had to slow the boat down…were doing 8’s and 9’s but that would have us arriving in Wrightsville Beach at 2 am…New mainsail is awesome….great shape and really moves the boat…..so we slowed down…still too fast…and of course as we made the turn home the wind dies now idling along at 5 kts . Seems my back is pissed…left hip…thanks Jenny for the loan of one of her magic lasers…15-20 min and I’m almost functional…need a hot tub and a Bombay Martini…that always works. At least for a while…really need to get off the boat and walk.
Joyce has decided I need to write a cookbook and Caribbean Provisioning Book. People keep asking for my recipes…maybe I could pay for some of these expensive repairs….hmmmmmm…I could give one to Matt then he would not be calling and emailing me every time he gets hungry.
Another shooting star…I am enjoying the night watch…short as it is for me… I had to wake Paul up after only two hours of his sleep because the GPS kept giving the error message of “off course”. I waited a little while….then got a little worried…”what if” (like what if I really was off course – in the dark it is a little hard to tell and I forgot to get the course “degrees” before he went to sleep)…so I woke him up. He got us going on a better course anyway…sailing…rather than beating into the wind so all was good…except his loss of sleep. He woke up after another couple of hours and I went back to bed. I woke up rolling to the other side of the bed…ha ha ha…in other words…Paul had tacked and we were sailing (and pounding) in 30 – 38 knot winds into Wrightsville Beach N.C. Once quietly in anchorage here we did some laundry and the dishes - then went into the beach town. Cute beach town…but pretty much deserted…everyone headed south – seems like many have gone ahead of us. The ICW (inter costal waterway) connects here.
Well we had a nice sail this afternoon. Sun came out…temp almost 62… Had to slow the boat down…were doing 8’s and 9’s but that would have us arriving in Wrightsville Beach at 2 am…New mainsail is awesome….great shape and really moves the boat…..so we slowed down…still too fast…and of course as we made the turn home the wind dies now idling along at 5 kts . Seems my back is pissed…left hip…thanks Jenny for the loan of one of her magic lasers…15-20 min and I’m almost functional…need a hot tub and a Bombay Martini…that always works. At least for a while…really need to get off the boat and walk.
Joyce has decided I need to write a cookbook and Caribbean Provisioning Book. People keep asking for my recipes…maybe I could pay for some of these expensive repairs….hmmmmmm…I could give one to Matt then he would not be calling and emailing me every time he gets hungry.
Another shooting star…I am enjoying the night watch…short as it is for me… I had to wake Paul up after only two hours of his sleep because the GPS kept giving the error message of “off course”. I waited a little while….then got a little worried…”what if” (like what if I really was off course – in the dark it is a little hard to tell and I forgot to get the course “degrees” before he went to sleep)…so I woke him up. He got us going on a better course anyway…sailing…rather than beating into the wind so all was good…except his loss of sleep. He woke up after another couple of hours and I went back to bed. I woke up rolling to the other side of the bed…ha ha ha…in other words…Paul had tacked and we were sailing (and pounding) in 30 – 38 knot winds into Wrightsville Beach N.C. Once quietly in anchorage here we did some laundry and the dishes - then went into the beach town. Cute beach town…but pretty much deserted…everyone headed south – seems like many have gone ahead of us. The ICW (inter costal waterway) connects here.
Lady H at Anchor Wrightsville Beach NC (Yes we know there is soot on her hull)
Lady H seems to be the largest sailboat here right now. Probably the other boats are using the ICW. Still cold here for me – although the sun is out and it is dry…Paul keeps telling me the temperature (68 degrees in the cockpit) as if that will make me warm…I’m waiting for FLORIDA warmth…I’m thinking 80’s!!!! We are having meatloaf and broccoli for dinner…and, yes, I think a cookbook is definitely something that needs to be done…we are enjoying our meals (mostly Paul’s cooking)…and now that I have added Paul’s roasted red pepper with garlic and olive oil to my sprout and avocado breakfast he actually enjoyed my unusual breakfast this morning! Of course that was the last of the avocado…so until we re-provision in perhaps Charleston…we will be having something else for breakfast!
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Hey there...let us know what you think...Capt Paul