Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Florida to North Carolina

Suzy, Radeen and Nina on Island Spirit....
I love when a plan works out as planned. We identified our Bahamas exit while at the Jib Room on anchor in Marsh Harbor. We planned 4 legs. #1 Green Turtle to Fort Pierce, Florida. #2 Fort Pierce to Charleston, SC. Then #3 Charleston to Beaufort NC. Then #4 into the ICW and north to the Chesapeake Bay.

Well....that is exactly what we did, just as planned. Lucky for us, we had the weather windows to make the legs, and we also studied the legs and the weather to make sure we were making the best runs at the best times. Sure enough, we did, and we feel very lucky. We are now on the ICW north of Beaufort anchored out on Bonner Bay. Tomorrow we will run 50+ miles into the Pungo Canal and on north. If all goes as planned, we will be in Portsmouth VA in a week, then onto the Chesapeake Bay and home to Rock Hall, MD completing year #3 of our Bahamas explorations.

We are having fun running with our boat buddy IP38 MOONDANCE, Bob and Nina who are very positive and lively friends. We also are now running with IP37 CAY PARAISIO, Dave and Suzy who are just as fun and lively so we have a fleet of IPs running north. What a great life out here cruising and exploring. Everyone is experiencing the same challenges and new discoveries of travel. It is a great way to travel, explore and live. We count our blessing of good health and a positive attitude every day.

Here are some photos of the days from Florida to North Caroline....

Gulf Stream Sailing on watch off Florida running north

Set the whisker pole sailing dead down wind

Refueling 100 miles offshore

Good bye Florida, on to Georgia and South Carolina

Blue Water Sailing in the Gulf Stream

Sunset offshore

A WELCOME SIGHT, these are the range lights the guild you into Charleston Inlet
You drive towards the lower light. When they line up vertically, you are in the channel.

IP38 Moondance watches a container ship pass by off Charelston Maritime Center

While in Charelston, we tore apart the motor and brushes on the autopilot

Our B&G Autopilot torn apart....not a good thing

Sunset offshore heading north

Sunrise offshore heading north

A beautiful reflection out the galley port hole window

Cape Lookout as seen at sunrise

Sunrise at anchor in Cape Lookout, a beautiful view

Beaufort NC shrimp boat working the bottom

Beaufort NC, maritime center

Boat buddies, Nina IP38 Moondance and Dave IP37 Cay Paraiso

Snacks at our cocktail party

Boat Buddies, Bob IP38 Moondance, Suzy IP37 Cay Paraisio

Radeen with boat buddy Nina

Hayden with boat buddy Bob of IP38 Moondance

Check this warning my nav system warned me of while offshore! WOW
Follow our SPOT maps
 Remember.....You can follow our passages and our trip using this near realtime SPOT map. When we are out of Internet connection, or when we are moving the boat, we place a pin location onto this map.

To see our trip, drop down the HISTORY button and select as many days or weeks or ALL and then click GO. Then zoom the map out to see the trip.

3 comments:

Mike said...

Welcome to NC. C. Lookout is THE place to be - it's our version of the Caribe! However, since y'all already be heading North....good-bye from NC! Glad y'all have had such an enjoyable adventure; have truly enjoyed following your blog!

Dixey Behnken said...

Glad to keep following you guys, since we arrived home on Sunday! Getting ready to go to Kenya with Lukas on 22 May and then to Tanzania, 5 June; and to Amsterdam on 9 June to see my son, Brandon, for a week, along with Lukas! Julie is having Lukas' wife, Katherine, and grandbaby in Sarasota, while Lukas and I travel.
See: www.mullychildrensfamily.com; for a glimpse of the life documentary that Lukas is shooting of Dr Charles Mulli.

GregK said...

Sorry we missed you both this time. It was getting to be a tradition. Besides... the Doodles need a new photo shoot.

I wonder how one prepares and exercises caution against falling rocket parts.