Beaufort, NC-Cambridge, MD

We left Beaufort Wednesday morning, following the tide out of the harbor. We raised the mainsail as we left the channel and it went up beautifully. The winds were relatively light so we left the engine on, motor-sailing in following seas after we rounded Cape Lookout later in the morning. At least we didn’t have those uncomfortable waves on the beam that we had going from Brunswick to Beaufort. 

Once we rounded Cape Hatteras just after sunset we were able to unfurl the jib and turn the engine off. The favorable current in addition to the favorable winds allowed us to move right along at eight knots. By the time we entered the Chesapeake Bay Thursday afternoon we were traveling dead downwind again so we had to furl the jib and turn the engine on. We were happy the timing allowed us to enter the bay during daylight hours and at a time when the ship traffic was manageable. That changed during my watch after George had gone to bed. Numerous ships were coming up the bay and down the bay. I couldn’t stray too far out of the channel due to crab pot buoys. I couldn’t see them after dark and definitely didn’t want to wrap a crab pot line around the propeller. Someone had told us that you can use the radar to spot the buoys but it didn’t work for us. The radar was picking up boats, channel markers, and even waves, but not the buoys. I tried using the spotlight but that didn’t work either. I ended up crossing my fingers and hoping I didn’t snag any of them. Between the ships and the crab pots my night watch in the Chesapeake Bay was definitely more stressful than it had been the night before in the Atlantic Ocean. Nevertheless, we were happy to be on the bay and closer to home. We were also delighted to hear and see loons on the water. 

By the time I woke up just before 6:00 am on Friday we were almost home. George did a great job pulling into our slip as the sun was rising just before 6:30. We traveled 330 nautical miles from Beaufort and a total of 3400 nautical miles since we left home last fall. 

The sail looks great. 

Sailing on the Atlantic between Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras. Photo by Daniela on Viaggio. 

Sun setting on the Chesapeake Bay.