In spite of the forecast calling for spicy to salty weather, we shoved off from Cape May around 10 am. We motored for the first few hours waiting for the wind to settle in and to catch up with svScoot and svCalypso2. The forecast called for significant sustained gusting. Overall we saw very mild conditions resulting in a broad reach till we separated company with our buddy boat friends. We turned for Montauk expecting building wind. This never materialized and we spent a good part of the remaining journey rolling with just the headsail deployed. The wind totally abandoned us off the west coast of Block Island. All in we burned about 15-20 gallons of fuel. Only did the wind return with a vengeance as we were docking to offload the boat. I think we raised the waterline by an inch or so. We had a good welcome home by friends after tucking away Redshift on the mooring. Now, a month of refitting begins.

Left Hospital Point at 8:30 am. Encountered two container ships working their way into Portsmouth. We stayed outside of the channel on the starboard side and were not called out. We steamed into a commotion of the USS Truman Aircraft Carrier returning from deployment. Tugs firing off water cannons and plenty of security was on hand. We were contacted via VHF to remain 500 yards away at all times. It certainly was a challenge for us to remain that type of distance. After the hubbub, we crossed the bay exiting using the Chesapeake Channel. It was pretty much a straight shot to Cape May with great sailing till the middle of the night when the wind and boat speed dropped below 3 knots. We fired up the motor and made our way to the Cape May inlet at 12:30ish. We dropped anchor in the crowded anchorage near green#7. We were done with motoring and will stay till be find suitable sailing conditions.

Hoping for a good Weather window for Narragansett Bay

And like that, the Bahamas Cruise is over. Off We go refitting and planning for our Nova Scotia/ Maine Cruise!

Long run from Tuckahoe Point to Atlantic Yacht Basin. We made the right decision of skipping Bellhaven as very strong winds from the south funnel there. We picked up the anchor with no snags at 9pm and had a nice headsail run down the Alligator River through the drawbridge. It is one of the pillow that request registration numbers and record boat names. We took care to follow the nav aids as one boat near us ran aground. The ride across the Albamarle was sporty with short chop and gusting to 20 knots. We decided to stop at Coinjock at an up and coming “marina”. Greg at The Landing was very nice and helpful. He currently has space for 2-40’ boats with 50 amp power. He is developing a small full service marina on the east side 100 yards north of the bridge. It will be away from the hubbub. There is lots of development going on so the money is flowing in. We slept in and made the beak for Atlantic Yacht Basin. Ran into many old and some new friends. We plan to leave the boat for a few weeks while we do some adulting.

See the trip update.

Mile Hammock was cosy till an early morning squall hit hard. Lightning splashed across the sky while gusts built. I noted 39 knot gusts but I am sure we saw 45 at least. Once the storm abated, there was no wind. So close to everyone in the harbor fired up their motors and hightailed it for Beaufort. Dropped anchor in Adams creek across from Oriental, NC.

I did swear I would never do the ICW again and here I am doing the ICW! Pretty boring other than running hard aground between Wrightsville and Figure 8 bridges. Thank the Gods I have 57 ponies under the hood!

It’s been a good run with some ups and downs. Eluethera and the Exumas were all that and more. The Abacos were busy but allowed me some downtime. I was able to pick up a nice 2-stroke outboard at National Marine in Marsh Harbor. One downside was losing my refrigeration about 2 weeks into my stay. A new controller module just installed has my back up and chilling. We are staged for the offshore run to Charleston and I for one am looking forward to be back in the states.