April / May 2018

In which we sail back to the East Coast of the U.S.A. to leave Ruby for the summer.

We began April at Elsie’s favourite island – Conception. We didn’t have it to ourselves but it was good to relax after our, more exciting than expected, voyage up from Mathew Town. Just one trip ashore, to walk the beaches and photograph the ‘mashed ship’ that I had spotted last time here.

Mashed ship

A period of calm was coming up and we decided to make our way towards another favourite spot to wait it out there. On Monday 2nd, we heaved up at 0830 and headed towards the bottom of Cat Island on a broad reach. Up past Hawks Nest point and then close hauled across The Bight to Fernandez bay. Elsie took charge for the day and enjoyed an unofficial race with another boat, who changed his mind and went up to New Bight instead. On arrival we found a beautifully sheltered spot for the night, moving a mile up the coast the following morning to dinghy into Smith’s Harbour for provisions. There was conflicting advice about the state of the harbour but we could easily have brought Ruby in and, maybe Med Moored to the dock. Back on board, we had a fine beam reach up past Alligator point then close hauled into Bennet’s Harbour for a relaxing afternoon. On the 4^th, we had a short sail up to Orange Creek, anchoring close to the town and dinghying in. The entrance has strong currents and was a bit splashy but we were delighted to find that our chosen landing spot was directly opposite the store which was not only well provisioned but were able to fill our cooking gas tank and let us get our laundry done. A well spent afternoon.

In the morning, we motored a mile or so away along the coast, just for the privacy. Later that afternoon, I spotted a local walking his boat along the beach, took pity on him and gave him a tow back to base. We then went ashore for one of our favourite walks, though we were aggravated to find one other person on our private 2 mile beach. Friday the 6^th gave only light winds, so we stayed put for another lazy day then, on Saturday morning we heaved up and broad reached back to Little San Salvador under main and cruising chute in a southerly F3. Our ‘usual’ anchorage at the north of Half Moon Bay was pretty rolly in this wind but today’s cruise ship obligingly left at 15:00 so we scuttled across to the southern side for a comfortable berth, dinghy ashore and walk along the beach.

Beach cabanas at half moon bay

Our next planned stop was Highbourn Cay at the top of the Exumas. There are strong currents at the entrance so wanted to make it near the high water slack in the middle of the day. To do this, we planned for a 5 O’clock departure. As we were both awake at 3, we brought this forward and were underway at 03:30. A northerly wind had been forecast for overnight but this changed so we decided to anchor in the north bay, with a big, wide entrance where we could have arrived at any time. Anchor down at 12:20 and a lazy afternoon. Well, it was Elsie’s birthday! We were away again at 08:00 on the 9^th, heading for Nassau. The plan was to cruise through the harbour and anchor in a bay to the west but we made such good speed under main and chute that we decided to anchor in the harbour, opposite the excrescences of Paradise Island and have a wander ashore. We walked up to the cruise ship terminal for a gawk and an ice cream and then back to the local’s area to find our first proper supermarket in over 4 months. Elsie was pretty excited at both.

Two boats in Nassaua

Paradise Island, Nassau

Cruise ships

The weather forecast was again changeable so we decided to top up on fuel the following morning before heading out. Today, the wind was disappointing and we made slow progress up the eastern side of the Berry Islands under main and chute, sometimes goose-winged and sometimes broad reaching. Eventually, we motored for a couple of hours to reach Great Harbour Cay, dropping anchor at 1835. I wanted to be well up as anchorages on this side would provide no protection from the northerly and easterly winds forecast for the following 24 hours. As it happened, there was an unforecast front that night with gale force northerly gusts. This caught many by surprise, especially in the Abacos where it went up to 50 knots, causing a few dragged anchors. To find shelter, we picked up at 0800 on the 11^th, sailed up to the top of the islands, past a couple of cruise ships discharging their passengers onto purpose made resorts on Great and Little Stirrup Cays, back down and into Bullock’s Harbour. 22 miles on the log to move 2 miles. The water here was green and the bottom was grassy but the anchor bit first time and I gave it an extra tug to make sure that it was well bedded in.  The wind, for once, behaved exactly as predicted so we spent a comfortable night and rose the following morning ready for a big hop. The hope was to make it in one go to Charleston, S.C., with St Augustine, Fl, as an alternate.

Making 11 knots across the ground, courtesy of the Gulf Stream

Up anchor at 0810 on the 12^th and broad reached away in a F4 easterly, with one reef in the main, heading for the south-west coast of Grand Bahama and the Gulf Stream. By late that evening, we were off Freeport and back in internet coverage to update the weather. This did not give us good news: we could certainly make St Augustine but there was a strong front forecast for Sunday and, if we were late, or it was early, continuing up to Charleston could expose us to some very strong winds. So, the fall-back option was selected. We continued heading north west, to find the Gulf Stream then caught a ride north with a 4 knot assist. By this time, the wind had veered to just south of east and we had an easy motion, with 12-14 knots of wind giving us 6-7 knots though the water and up to 11 knots over the ground. On the evening of the 13^th we, reluctantly, altered course, set the sails for a run, and headed for St Augustine, arriving at the fairway buoy at 0900 on the 14^th and anchoring just below Vilano bridge at 10:15. I spent an hour trying to resurrect our phone SIM from the Autumn, then we caught a water taxi ashore to book in at the airport, get a new Sim and some provisions before getting back on board, very tired at 17:30. A quiet evening was had.

Twister!

We had hoped to spend at least some of Sunday catching up with our local friends, the Gaults, but strong winds were forecast, with a local tornado warning. The winds arrived in the afternoon with a violent frontal passage and a tornado crossed the harbour though, fortunately, not us. Monday and Tuesday looked good for further progress, with a hiatus of a few days after, so we picked up on Monday morning and headed for Charleston. The wind was W’ly F5, which I hoped would give us a good speed with low swell as we were staying within 20 – 30 miles of the coast. We were disappointed as, with the water being only 10 – 15 metres deep, it kicked up an unpleasant short, steep sea. The speed was good but the motion wasn’t. The wind increased to F6 after dark and I put the 3^rd reef in before Elsie’s night watch which was as well. The wind continued increasing and she had F8 for a while. Of course, it dropped and veered in the morning but we managed to sail up to the fairway buoy before starting the long motor, against the current, up to our anchorage opposite the City marina. Having arrived and tidied up, we had another long look at the weather. The forecast had changed and it now looked good(ish) for the next few days with following F3-4 winds. The only problem was in the small print which warned of gusts of up to F7.

After the experiences of the night before, we agreed that this was not a forecast for single watch-keeper night sailing but we worked out a series of day hops. So, on the18th, we picked up anchor at 0700 and motored, against the tide, for 2 hours back to the entrance, passing the isolated anchorage we should have stopped in the day before. Today, the wind behaved and we had a fine goose winged run 45 miles up the coast to Winyah bay, on the approaches to Georgetown. We motor-sailed 3 miles in, naturally against the tide, and anchored in a slightly lumpy spot. Another early start on the 19^th, catching slack water – hurrah – and another goose – winged run up to the little river inlet. There was an anchorage marked just inside the breakwater but the depths we found were less than charted. There was another, 2 miles further on, just across the Inland Coastal Waterway which gave a promise of more shelter from the wind. Another 30 minutes of motoring, look both ways crossing the ICW, into the creek and… slide to a halt. Less water than charted again and, this time, we grounded in soft mud with another foot for the tide to fall. One option was to launch the dinghy, run out anchors, wait for the rising tide and warp ourselves off. The other was to do what the locals do. At the boat show, last October, I had taken out towage insurance with BoatUS for just such an eventuality. A quick phone call and 30 minutes later a large RIB with twin 250 horse outboards arrived. A good briefing from its skipper, towing bridle attached and rescue was underway. He quickly turned us round but it took a further 30 minutes of him sawing back and forth to free and tow us the 5 metres back to deep water, and a further 15 minutes took us back to our original anchorage. This time, I accepted that we would be closer to the marked channel than ideal and dropped the hook 2 hours later than planned.

We had one more day of good sailing weather. The wind was veering to the North but would assist us along this next bit of coast to Cape Fear. Here there is a 30 mile shallow reef extending out to the South East and we were electing to take an inland short cut from Southport to Wilmimgton. Elsie had found us a nice (cheap) marina halfway along this route but it has a shallow entrance and strong cross currents. Sitting with my planning tools, I calculated that, departing at first light, we needed to average 6.5 knots along the coast to catch the tidal streams along the Cape Fear river, so up at 6 and away at 06:40. Unfortunately the wind had veered more than forecast and, instead of it being on the beam, we were close hauled and could only make 5.5 knots in the choppy sea, so the engine was re-started and we motor sailed along, hitting the channel 5 minutes before my target of 11:00. Down with the sails and a 14 mile motor, with following current (and a large container ship), up to Carolina Beach State Park marina. This was a friendly little place, with power (first time we had plugged in for a year) and water (Ruby got a much needed wash-down) included. With a washing machine available at $1 per load it was also time to catch up on laundry so Saturday was a busy day of cleaning. After this we made like the locals and ‘hiked’ along a ‘trail’ through the park.

You've seen house boats; this is a shed boat

A further job for Sunday was end-for-ending the anchor chain. We have had this one in almost constant use for 18 months and the working end is starting to show signs of wear, so I wanted to turn it round and use the other end. When in Conception Island at the start of the month, there were free mooring balls available, crystal clear water and clean sand to lay the chain on and I considered doing the job there but procrastinated. Now, we lowered the anchor onto the pontoon and the chain into the water, swapped ends and started to haul it back in. UGH! I was expecting a bit of mud but this was awful and we had to wash it off, one foot at a time, taking twice as long as the rest of the job. Once finished, we had a final trip to the supermarket and left, just before 3, to make 11 miles further through the cut to poise ourselves for the last leg to Beaufort, whether in- or off-shore. The inshore route would take us 2 days along the ICW, with many bridges and few good anchorages; off shore, although we could do it in one, long, day the forecast was not good with strong Easterlies. We anchored at Wrightsville beach for the night and rose at 7 expecting to motor up to abeam Jacksonville. Looking again at the forecast, it now showed very strong winds for Monday night / Tuesday morning. There was only one suitable anchorage at half distance and this is owned by the military, who reserve the right to kick visitors out at short notice. While we were havering, an un-forecast rain shower arrived and we decided that, as we were well ahead of schedule, to stay in our nice, comfortable spot and have an easy day.

That day was followed by another, as Tuesday morning was, indeed, foul and we saw a possible window for sailing across Onslow Bay on Wednesday. Up at first light and on our way by 0710 in light airs – no matter, we would rather motor in open waters than up the ICW. Two other yachts followed up the mile or so down to the entrance and we thought that we might have a little flotilla but they both turned inland heading for the ditch whether North- or South-bound we could not tell. We had rigged a mainsail preventer to port and the pole to starboard and, by 10:00 the SSW’ly wind had picked up enough for us to goose wing with full sail. It then, conveniently, backed sufficiently for us to broad reach and we made good progress across the bay arriving at the entrance to Moorehead at 17:00 with just a short motor to anchor near Fort Macon. There are strong currents on the section of ICW up to the Neuse river and, with an ebb tide in the morning, there was no point in starting early so we filled Thursday morning with preparations for laying up, including dropping the genoa and tidying away lots of lines etc. We picked up at 14:00 and headed up, motoring. The current was initially with us but, for most of the way, we had about a knot against us, which was a disappointment even though we knew that tides in Pamlico sound are more influenced by wind and rain than the moon.

We arrived at Oriental at 17:45 and headed to the Harbour Marina, where we were, very generously, being lent a berth by fellow OCC members, Don and Dierdre Wogamon. The following morning I headed into town to meet some of the people who would be looking after Ruby and various bits of her over the next few months. First stop was Seacoast Marine electronics where Peter reckoned that he should be able to assist with our VHF, plotter and wind indicator. Next to the boat yard to meet Alan the owner, Dan the fabricator, Travis, the rigger and, of course Tammy who runs the whole operation. Got a very positive response from all and picked a parking spot for Ruby. Then to Inner Banks sails, to discuss sundry canvas work, including a new bimini cover. Finally to Hodges street sails to arrange for repairs to the genoa and a wash for the chute. The latter called round to collect the sails and promised a report in a day or two. Saturday morning, we had a lie-in then a wander round to the farmers’ market (a little underwhelming) and a good browse round the local chandlery before returning to Ruby and further chores. Disappointment in the afternoon as Hodges Street Sails returned ours as they were too big for their loft but delight in chatting with the owners, Laura and Gil: definitely ‘our sort of people’.

Oriental has a dragon theme!

Post box

Dragon's egg

Warning sign

Lawn dragon
















Sunday morning was spent on further cleaning and tidying then a walk in the afternoon took us to Mildred Street, to meet the OCC Port Officers, Ann and Nev. Again, lovely people and we congratulated ourselves on having chosen this place to leave Ruby. As previously mentioned, the tides here are driven by the wind and a check on Monday morning showed that Southerly winds were forecast for later. We had been planning to move round to Sailcraft Service the following day, to lift out on Wednesday but, as we were tight on entry depth anyway, decided to go early. This was a good decision, as we showed a clearance of 10 cm in places and, by Tuesday, the water level was 20 cm lower, staying that way or worse for the rest of the week. We were expecting to raft up, in the water, for a couple of days but were ushered into the boatlift and hauled straight out. There now followed a hectic couple of days: cleaning, sorting, chasing various people to ensure jobs were going to be done and decisions to be made, including to replace the jib furler and a bit of socialising in the evenings: a great put-luck supper at Ann and Nev’s and the cruisers equivalent of a cocktail party at the gazebo on the dock. We had decided, for laundry more than anything, to spend Thursday night ashore and, once again Ann and Nev came up trumps letting us stay at theirs and giving me a lift to collect our hire car.

Ruby on the hard

Finally, on Friday 4^th May, it was time to close Ruby up wish her a tearful farewell and drive off for our next adventure: 5 months of travelling round the U.K., pet sitting in other peoples’ houses.