Day 185, Year 10: Slow Go with a Late Day Ray of Hope
Date: Monday, April 13, 2015
Weather: Overcast, Then Partly Sunny, Mid-70’s F, Winds NE to E to SE 15
Latitude: 32 28,730 N
Longitude: 079 55.918 W
Location: ~10 Miles Off the South Carolina Coast Near Edisto Island
Miles Traveled: 141 nm
Last evening and overnight the N winds persisted, sometimes up to 22 knots, always coming straight at us and slowing us way down. Around midnight it was a ride ‘em cowboys adventure with SE winds and rain, but by the time Mark came back on watch at 1:30 am things were settling down and the wind was back to the NE, right on our nose. But at least it had stopped raining. This morning as we continued to sail to the NE, the NE winds persisted. And when we got to the Savannah area and turned a bit to the E, so did the wind. Again, the weather forecast changed from what we had researched yesterday. We should have had SE winds today, but not to be . . . until late this afternoon. All of a sudden some of the clouds cleared above to let the sun shine through and the wind turned to the SE. So that is the ray of hope. We are still motoring, motoring, motoring, and much of the time we have not been able to go faster than 4 knots. But the change in wind direction two hours ago seems like a little miracle. The wind is still a little in front of us, but for now we are making good time. If this keeps up, we might make Little River by tomorrow evening. If it doesn’t and we can’t make it all the way during the daylight hours tomorrow, we will have to duck into the Intracoastal. In that case, we will anchor for the night with the hope of going on to Little River on Wednesday . . . if the winds aren’t too ugly. Another cold front is coming off the coast and bringing more N winds. But for now, we’re going to enjoy the sunshine and fair winds and hope for the best.
