Day 81, Year 10: Passage to FL, Day 1–Sailing, Sailing . . .
Date: Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Weather: Overcast, High in the 40’s F, NNE Wind 15-20
Latitude: 33 26.630 N
Longitude: 079 00.977 W
Location: Sailing ~5 Miles Off the South Carolina Coast
Miles Traveled: 40.8 Nautical Miles
And we are off . . . sailing, sailing over the waters blue-green. It was a bit of a rocky start for Lee and Lynda as they woke up to a boat with no power. The problem seemed to be the new inverter, but after reading the manual, they discovered a reset switch which put them back in business. Friends Roger and Jane Bonner came to see us off and Windbird and Sea Turtle pulled out of the marina at about 10:30 am. At 5 pm we are south of Murrells Inlet, but won’t reach the Georgetown inlet area until after dark. We are less than 5 miles offshore, so we can see the shore. Sometime tomorrow we will pass Charleston, SC, then Savannah, GA, and hopefully reach Cumberland Island on Thursday morning. Sailing at its best is not fast, but we are making great progress. The NNE winds are pushing us along on fairly calm seas. A downwind sail is always a little wishy, washy, and we are going a little faster than needed in order to reach our destination in the early morning hours on Thursday. But the wind is not predicted to be as strong tomorrow, so it will probably all even out. I am just thrilled that the conditions were good for sailing today and that we are not totally freezing to death. Mid-afternoon we turned on the Mr. Heater propane stove in the main cabin and the heat is rising to the cockpit. It is now almost 70 degrees downstairs and probably near 60 degrees here in the cockpit. It is definitely polar fleece weather, but not really freezing cold. This is good.
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| 141230 Day 81 Little River, USA–Passage to Florida, Day 1 |
