Ft Pierce to Brunswick, GA

Note: This Post is out of order. I thought I had posted it yesterday after we arrived in Brunswick, GA. Chalk it up to sleep deprivation. Or old age. 

We left Ft. Pierce at around noon on Easter Sunday, heading for Brunswick, GA. As I mentioned in my last post, we had hoped to get as far as possible but the timing between weather windows didn’t allow us to get as far as Cape Fear. This was our first overnight passage since George’s illness and surgery. The winds were fairly light and mostly behind us so we did a lot of motoring. We both agreed that the light conditions and shorter distance were probably a good thing since George is still recovering. He is feeling good but doesn’t want to risk a hernia if he can avoid it. 

We were happy to have a full moon for our trip. The first night, after George went to bed, the sun had set, the moon wasn’t yet up and the sky was very dark, I had the thought, “I have to do this for the next five hours?”  “Really??”  Then, after I queued up my podcasts, kindle and snacks, the five hours didn’t seem so bad. 

We were passed by four cruise ships leaving Port Canaveral on Sunday evening.  The Coast Guard made announcements throughout the day on Monday warning mariners to avoid a restricted area around Cape Canaveral due to a launch. We were well past the area but looked for the launch all afternoon and evening. Apparently we were too far away to see it. George just looked online and learned that a Space X missile launched just before 5 pm. 

We did see pods of dolphins several times, although they didn’t come to play with us. Last night we had enough wind to sail for most of my watch but not so much wind to kick up a lot of waves. It was some of the easiest offshore sailing that we have had. Before the moon rose I watched the bioluminescence in the water off of the stern of the boat. Some were as big as dinner plates. I might actually learn to enjoy night watches if they were all like this. 

We approached Brunswick shortly before dawn this morning. The current was with us and we had to slow down so that we didn’t get to the marina before it opened. 

We don’t know how long we will be here. It looks as if there is more winter weather coming to the East coast and we have to work around it. As usual, we are considering a few different options and we will be flexible. 

Sunrise at Brunswick

Shrimp  boats, Brunswick, GA