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Heading out from Beaufort, NC. |
We’re in the St. John’s Yacht
Marina after our first offshore passage and all I can think of to describe the
jaunt is “enchanting.”
This leg was about 240 miles from
Beaufort, North Carolina, to Charleston, South Carolina. Basically, we were sailing south from
Beaufort for a hundred miles or so and hanging a right for a hundred miles into
Charleston. On this course, we would avoid
the Frying Pan Shoals which have claimed many a boat over the years. The charts were littered with “wreck”
markings in the shoal area so we opted to go around the area but staying a
little offshore. Plus, the
twenty-somethings wanted to say they’d sailed in international waters. Potentially, we could have gotten out to sea
with no wind and sat looking at each other for hours as Oblivion bobbed in the
water. That was the real downside potential
for this planned course. But that didn’t
happen.
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Sunset from Oblivion. |
Why do I call it enchanting? Because everything went right as far as the
sailing. I’ve never seen anything like
it.
Despite having the threat of
thunderstorms every day, not one storm was encountered. In fact, I don’t know that anyone could have
scripted the weather better. With the
winds coming from our rear quarter, a following sea, and picking up the Gulf
Stream’s reverse current (The Gulf Stream runs south to north but part of the
current catches the land mass at Hatteras and forces it to curve back around, flowing
south along this part of the East Coast at the Carolinas.), it was as close to
perfect as anything I’d ever seen. We
even only had to fly one of the two sails for much of the trip to maintain a
good speed and boat stability.
Not only was the weather ideal
allowing us to sail five, six, and sometimes hit seven knots, but the Atlantic
was very generous to us in terms of entertainment and experiences.
Just outside of Beaufort, we saw
many naval vessels including a couple of destroyers and an aircraft carrier
that was launching six Ospreys, the helicopter-airplane hybrid used for troop
movements. We also saw the Coast Guard
using a skiff and Chinook helicopter for training as well as a few cargo
vessels and interesting yachts.
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Dolphins swimming alongside. |
In addition to the naval show, the
dolphins really turned out for our trip.
We had four encounters in the two daytimes at sea. Pods of dolphins would swim up alongside of
the boat and then take turns swimming and frolicking around the bow of Oblivion
as we made five knots.
While the dolphins provided the
daytime entertainment, at night, it was time to take the bimini back and take
in the incredible intergalactic show that can only be seen when you are offshore. While thunderstorms provided a lightning show
in the distance, the skies directly above Oblivion were incredibly clear. Because we didn’t have a moon for much of the
night, the Milky Way was spectacular as were the seemingly frequent shooting
stars that streaked across the sky.
But not everything was
enchanting. With the exception of Karen,
everyone reported pangs of sea sickness especially the first day. After our first lunch at sea of baloney
sandwiches, I reported my sea sickness by throwing up over the side of Oblivion
with the grace and style of a super model.
Afterward, Karen merely said, “That was good baloney.” I have no idea how she acquired such a sweet
reputation.
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Karen's sarongs provided heat relief. |
Also, the sun was a bit intense by day two. Karen used wet sarongs to shield us from the direct sunlight and provide a little relief from the heat. It worked well.
The other aspect of our trip that
wasn’t enchanting was our efforts at casting a fishing line in the hopes of
reeling in a big catch. All we did was
contribute lures and fishing line to the sea. We
were no threat to the fish in the Atlantic.
Overall, the trip was
enchanting. It’s one of the best
offshore sailing passages I’ve ever experienced. I’m glad the twenty-somethings could
experience it before they had to pack up and head back to their working lives
in Baltimore.
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