We left Fort Pierce early Monday with a plan to head to either Cape Fear, NC or Winyah Bay/Georgetown, SC. We had originally planned to go to Brunswick, GA but our weather routing software suggested the trip to Brunswick would take a day and a half and our arrival would be at night. We looked at destinations that were farther up the coast and decided on Cape Fear if we could or Winyah Bay if we were traveling more slowly than expected. We entered the Gulf Stream off of Cape Canaveral and really started to move. We motor-sailed because the winds were too light for sailing only. The seas in the Gulf Stream were 2-3 ft (not bad) but with a confused (waves every which way) wind chop on top. By Monday evening the wind unexpectedly picked up so we turned the engine off. Then we double-reefed the main. At times we were moving at 10 knots. The wind moved around to the north and we started bashing into the waves. The wind and waves on the nose slowed us down. We furled the sails and started the engine. The conditions were even worse on Tuesday (yesterday) so we decided to head for the nearer destination, Winyah Bay. The waves diminished some after we exited the Gulf Stream last night but we were still slamming over waves occasionally. The noise the boat makes after cresting a wave and crashing down is LOUD, especially inside the cabin where one of us is trying to sleep. George gave up trying to sleep in the salon and finally burrowed a space for himself through the stuff we have stored on the aft berth. The crashing noise was definitely less in the aft berth and the snug space helped keep us from rolling around the bed when the boat rocks back and forth.
Once we arrived at Winyah Bay we had another 10 miles of motoring up the bay before reaching Georgetown, our planned destination. Our timing was terrible, though. We fought a maximum ebb current all the way and had the rev the engine up to 2200 rpms just to get the boat moving over 3 knots (we normally motor at 1800 rpms for better fuel economy. A south wind started blowing over 20 knots and the wind against the south-flowing current created quite a chop. The dock hands here at Harborwalk Marina were amazing at helping us get to the fuel dock and then tied up at our dock. We are looking forward to spending a few days here in historic Georgetown before moving on.
Sunrise as we exited Fort Pierce Inlet.
Our comfortable cave (on the left) for sleeping during the passage. All of the stuff piled on the right helps keep us snug. The cabin isn’t always this messy. We clean it out when we have guests and tend to dump things here when we are on a passage.
Big waves in Winyah Bay from strong wind against a strong current.
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