Day 14, Year 11: Passage to Little River, SC—We’re Here

Day 14, Year 11: Passage to Little River, SC—We’re Here
Date: Thursday, November 5, 2015
Weather: Overcast Turning Partly Sunny Late Afternoon, No Wind
Latitude: 33 51.733 N
Longitude: 078 38.290 W
Location: Lightkeepers Marina, Little River, SC
Total Miles Traveled: 780 Nautical Miles

We’re here in Little River and it feels like summer. The overnight passage from Beaufort compressed three days into one since we sailed night and day. If we had stayed in the Waterway, we would have motored in daylight hours only, anchoring at night. By midnight last night we were passing Carolina Beach which would have been our Friday night anchorage if we had stayed in the Intracoastal. Offshore overnight passages are certainly faster than doing day hops and we prefer passages when there is the light of the moon to guide us. But we didn’t have that last night. It was as black as pitch out there, requiring us to stick our heads out of the plastic cockpit enclosure to check the horizon for lights every 15 minutes. First you look out to port and then to starboard. If there is a light, you then have to keep a constant watch to see what kind of vessel it is and which way it is going. There weren’t many boats out there last night, at least not in our path, but you have to be vigilant just in case. And then in the wee hours of the morning, fog set in and stayed with us most of the way to Little River. The darkness and the fog weren’t major problems, but they certainly made the overnight passage a little more intense than normal. But we are here, safe and sound. Mission accomplished.

I always love entering the Little River inlet with its sand dunes, dune grass, and huge number of birds. Today it was pelicans. I have never seen so many pelicans all in one place. But as we traveled further toward Lightkeepers, we ran into civilization and the birds went away. We stopped to fill up with fuel before heading into Lightkeepers. I keep track of the hours sailing versus the hours motoring, and this trip we motored 80 per cent of the time. We took on 104 gallons of diesel and then headed the last couple of miles to Lightkeepers. Our friend, Lee Kaufman, was on the dock to catch our lines. They put us in the slip next to his boat, Sea Turtle, and I joked with Lee saying he only came to make sure we didn’t hit his boat on our way into the slip! Actually, he thought we were going to be across the dock from him, but the dock master made a change at the last minute. Thankfully it was near slack tide and we came in with no problem. And joking aside, we really appreciated Lee’s presence to help with the lines. It is always a relief to see someone on the dock to throw those lines to. So thank you, Lee.

It really is shorts weather here. Yippee! And a sheet is too much to sleep under. It is in the 70’s and humid, so it feels hot to us. And tomorrow is supposed to be warmer than today. So we will enjoy the warmth while we have it. Our able crew member, James, will be leaving us tomorrow. His mother lives in Raleigh and she is driving down to steal him away for a few days before he flies back to Boston. He has been a delight to have aboard and we very much appreciate all of his help. I’ve invited him to write a departing guest log for tomorrow night, so maybe we’ll hear his side of the story. We do hope he has enjoyed the trip as much as we have enjoyed having him with us. We celebrated our arrival by splurging and going out to dinner at the restaurant at the head of the harbor, Clark’s Seafood and Chop House. It is a little pricey, but we could walk there and we were able to sit outside overlooking all of Coquina Harbor while enjoying fantastic food. And I didn’t have to cook. Life is good.http://

151105 Day 14 Passage to SC–We’re Here