We departed Hilton Head Island early one Monday morning. It was a great stop over, but we needed to push on to Florida where we would settle down in our temporary home for the next 6 months.
The trip started like the previous sails since we left Oriental, NC. Winds in our face and a little lumpy on the Atlantic Ocean. But we did have a few short periods of just sailing. No engine noise, just the sound of the wind and waves being left in our wake. We would set up 3 hour watch shifts at night so each of us would either get the sunset or the sunrise. It makes sailing so much nicer when you have at least one other person to watch the boat. It's easier to get some rest when you don't have to worry about something going wrong and you not knowing about it until your boat starts taking on water or your autopilot has turned you in the wrong direction for the last few hours.
We sailed South about 30-60 miles from land. This was the best place we could find for any winds, and it also allowed us to not worry too much about fishing boats in the middle of the night. We'd much rather deal with the large cargo ships that have AIS and professional lookouts instead of the fishing vessels that may not have AIS. It just helps us rest a little easier at night.
We did sail through a pretty good thunderstorm on the way down. Luckily the winds weren't too bad, only around 23-30 kts. But, it did bring some good rain. Sophia had to get down from her bench in the cockpit and go inside to a much drier bed. Oh, the troubles of a boat dog.
After three days and two nights at sea we finally pulled into the Fort Pierce inlet and motored down the ICW to our new home near Stuart. We'll be based out of here until we set off 01 January 2019. We can't wait.
The trip started like the previous sails since we left Oriental, NC. Winds in our face and a little lumpy on the Atlantic Ocean. But we did have a few short periods of just sailing. No engine noise, just the sound of the wind and waves being left in our wake. We would set up 3 hour watch shifts at night so each of us would either get the sunset or the sunrise. It makes sailing so much nicer when you have at least one other person to watch the boat. It's easier to get some rest when you don't have to worry about something going wrong and you not knowing about it until your boat starts taking on water or your autopilot has turned you in the wrong direction for the last few hours.
We sailed South about 30-60 miles from land. This was the best place we could find for any winds, and it also allowed us to not worry too much about fishing boats in the middle of the night. We'd much rather deal with the large cargo ships that have AIS and professional lookouts instead of the fishing vessels that may not have AIS. It just helps us rest a little easier at night.
We did sail through a pretty good thunderstorm on the way down. Luckily the winds weren't too bad, only around 23-30 kts. But, it did bring some good rain. Sophia had to get down from her bench in the cockpit and go inside to a much drier bed. Oh, the troubles of a boat dog.
After three days and two nights at sea we finally pulled into the Fort Pierce inlet and motored down the ICW to our new home near Stuart. We'll be based out of here until we set off 01 January 2019. We can't wait.