OFFSHORE ADVENTURE!

The Admiral "Off Watch" 

  If there is one thing I’ve learned while sailing with Diane is that she absolutely retains the woman’s prerogative to change my mind…on a moment’s notice! After a nice, short day’s cruise to Oriental, NC we had time to take in the sights of this cruiser’s mecca, including a wonderful wine bar (yea, you know where this is going!). Us guys, who had made a requisite trip to (yup!) to West Marine, got to the bar and discovered our happy First Mates had decided that we would all do a relatively short offshore daylight run from Oriental/Moorhead City to Wrightsville Beach near Wilmington, NC, a run of just under 80nm!  Since Admiral Diane had been emphatic about remaining on the ICW at least for a while, I was more than a bit surprised. Still, with awesome weather predicted for the day, it was the perfect opportunity to cut a few miles off the trip. All three boats planned a 0600 (UGH!) departure and at least two crews called it a fairly early night (the crew of Veritas wanted to paint the town red, but on a Thursday night, the best they could do was pink!).

"Peaceful Easy Feeling" at sunrise

  Right at 0600 (or close!), we got underway for sea just as the eastern sky began to lighten. As we closed the sea buoy the sun crested the horizon. That brilliant crimson globe quickly turned yellow as the sun slowly rose in the sky, a sight I’ve seen literally hundreds of times during my years in the Navy...and will never get tired of! We were quickly able to shut down our engine and, for the first time in the trip, actually sail! As we proceeded in a straight line toward our destination, the temperature climbed to the 70’s, the highest of the trip and I have to say it was sooooo nice to finally shed our jackets and woolies and substitute shorts and T-shirts!

Magic entering Wrightsville Beach

After a 10 hour run, we anchored in Wrightsville Beach, a quaint seaside village just east of Wilmington. We will spend 3 days at anchor here enjoying the warm weather before we continue our trek southward. So far we’ve had no major breakdowns and the weather seems to be cooperating! Next big stop will be in Myrtle Beach, SC and then on to Charleston. Life is good and getting better!!