Captain’s Log

On our way into Charleston at sunset, we enjoyed sunset dining in the cockpit followed by some impromptu musical performances by Charlotte and Sloane. Elyse was JWO bringing us into Charleston. She had Jack at the helm, and Maddie and Casey as lookouts and did an excellent job managing her crew and navigating us into our anchorage. We anchored up not far from Fort Sumter just before 2200. 

At breakfast, there was much talk of ordering barbeque while in Charleston and Tyler contemplated his consumption strategy. At slack water, we hauled back the anchor and were underway for the dock at Patriots Point. Henry was at the helm as we came alongside at our final destination. We rounded out the day wrapping up schoolwork, had Jack's mac-and-cheese for dinner and played a rousing game of Dutch Blitz. Maddie came out ahead, narrowly defeating Charlotte and Tyler. 

This morning at slack water, we moved to a better dock within the marina. The retired aircraft carrier Yorktown is off our stern, and Cold War era submarine is off our port bow. After many weeks on board, the students discovered the waffle maker. Henry is pressing waffles as I write this. 

Georgetown was a welcome break after our nearly 500 nautical mile passage. Showers, laundry, internet and phones were high on the list. We also had some time to get in some exercise off the boat with a whiffle ball game. With the bases loaded, two outs, two strikes, in the bottom of the last inning, Henry hit in the winning run. Clutch.  The winners walked away with ice cream (as did the other team). We also made a trip to a quiet beach for some swimming, soccer and relaxing. An epic game of hide-and-seek rounded out the evening

This morning I picked up some local shrimp on our way out, as we departed with the falling tide. We cleared the Winyah Bay entrance around mid-morning and have been steaming our way down to Charleston. Barely a ripple on the water this morning.  We found time for a quick swim call in the heat of the day and everyone is relaxing and enjoying our last passage together as a crew.  The wind filled in an hour ago, and we are sailing. The shrimp is on it’s way to dinner as I write this. We will have dinner on deck during our last evening underway. 

We passed Cape Lookout in the morning and then altered course to clear Frying Pan Shoals off Cape Fear. The ENE wind brought pleasant broad reach sailing. Our first glimpse of deep blue ocean water came today, as we ventured further offshore.  In the morning we put out two fishing lines with cedar plug lures. At least five Little Tunny were brought on board, but all were released in hopes of a better eating fish. No luck for dinner. Another song bird or two decided to take a rest on their way south, and believe it or not - there was a bat spotted flying around the boat while 50 miles offshore.   As the day progressed, the wind veered to the SE and our speed picked up. By sunset we are sailing on a beam reach at a steady 10 knots just as we were making the turn toward our destination. We reached the sea buoy to Winyah Bay in the pre-dawn hours and were at anchor at the river entrance not long after. I think the bird and bat may have departed for the barrier island to our east. 

The first sitting of dinner is on the table - chicken, pasta, green beans and homemade focaccia. The sun is out and we are enjoying a really nice broad reach down the coast. Navigation class today was predictably interrupted by dolphins, followed by a sighting of a leatherback turtle. As they often do, a warbler has decided to hitch a ride south for a while. A pleasant rounding of Cape Hatteras appears to be in our future. The 80° water on the edge of the Gulf Stream will signify a profound change in our latitude. We hope to be abeam Cape Lookout tomorrow morning, then  continue on past Cape Fear toward South Carolina. Everyone has made their to-the-minute predictions for arrival.