Offshore Beaufort to Brunswick

Sunset the night before we departed Beaufort, SC

Beaufort SC to Brunswick GA via offshore is a 104 nm trip. Traveling at 5-6 nm / hr, this can take some time. The real challenge on a leg like this one is not the coastal sailing, it is the tides at both inlets. Tides on the Georgia Coast are 7 to 8 feet and the current associated with these tides can run at 2-3 knots.

So a sailboat that motors at 5-6 knots will need to run with the current, adding this extra speed as opposed to running against the current. Considering two ocean inlets 70+ miles apart and figuring out the time and distances for exiting one inlet on the out flowing tide and making the next inlet on the inflowing tide can be a fun (and lengthy!) discussion.

iPad and Navionics, we use this for tides, currents and backup nav

Radeen is really good at these calculations. We use our iPad with Navionics software for currents and a piece of paper and pencil and we go at it. We find the max current at each inlet and run a route on the computer for assistance, and then we calculate our speed and time of arrival for each point.

With the anchor up at 4 pm, we were able to run the tide out to sea by sunset, then sail the 70 miles of sea overnight and make the next inlet at 8:30 am for the inflowing tide. We arrived Brunswick GA as scheduled and docked around 11 am. We were tired from only sleeping 2-4 hours while offshore, so we took a long afternoon nap. Offshore sailing takes days to get into a rhythm, and so with a short run of only one night, you never really get into a good sleep pattern. Imagine driving all night till 11 am the NEXT day, and then finding your way around a strange town and parking your car in an unfamiliar parking garage. This will give you a clue as to what we just accomplished!

Here are some photos of the area...

Horse Drawn Carriage Rides at Beaufort, SC

Spanish Moss on the harbor trees

Island Packet friends:
Larry & Gerry IP37 Galileo, Hayden & Radeen with
Marjorie and Jeff, IP45 Far Niente

Cruising Island Packet Friends,
Sam and Carolyn of IP-485 Malaka II
connected with us in Beaufort for breakfast and a long walk.

Sunset as we exited Port Royal Sound for sea

One of the last sea buoys leaving Port Royal Sound near Hilton Head

Set course for Southwest down the Georgia Coast

Our NIGHT view with a moon - very bright! Notice the red instruments.

Daybreak, sunrise 8 miles off St. Simons Sound, GA

Commercial Shipping outbound as we enter the tight inlet motor sailing

Pelicans greeted us at Green #15....thank you

Sidney Lanier Bridge, 185 feet of clearance
as we approach Brunswick, GA

Now, we are in Brunswick, GA which has been our destination since departing Rock Hall on Sept 27th. We will secure the boat here (during hurricane season!) and fly out of Atlanta to Phoenix AZ for a family wedding. We are very excited to visit our family.....can't wait....