Cape Lookout, NC

Our next destination was going to be Beaufort, NC but I happened to be reading a fabulous blog (Dirona, these folks are amazing!) and they mentioned they had stopped in a beautiful, sheltered anchorage called Cape Lookout, just 7 miles or so east of Beaufort. We hadn’t anchored since leaving the Bahamas so we thought we’d give it a go. (And we're so very happy that we did, thank you Jennifer & James!)

Southern Star underway

We left Charleston early Monday morning, heading out with Southern Star. It should have been about a 30-hour trip but we had some head winds with choppy head seas and it ended up taking about 32. Unfortunately, even with half a patch and my bracelet, the first 12 hours were queasy. Conditions improved continuously over the passage and it was calm and lovely by the time we arrived. I shared a night shift with Jo and we had a great time chatting away on the radio – it went by so quickly!

As the sun came up I was treated to a gorgeous sunrise. Then I check behind to take a look at Southern Star and whoa – there were some storm clouds on the horizon!

Sunrise

Southern Star under the clouds

Luckily, all those clouds dissipated and we never saw any rain. As we approached land and got within cell range we were so happy to get word that Giddy Up and Sunday Morning had changed plans and they were on their way to join us, arriving the next day. And another mini-Nordhavn gathering is born!!

We had a quiet evening the day we arrived aboard Southern Star. They hosted dinner and treated us to an amazing Australian barbeque. OMG, we eat so very well! We also got bit by a bug of sorts, one which I’m mildly obsessing over I might say… Jo & Robbie taught us their favorite game, 500. Oh my, I’m not really a game person but I’m already completely hooked. I’ve even managed to download an app to work on my strategy. J

Cape Lookout Lighthouse, several pics because it was so pretty!

Views from the Lighthouse

The anchorage is part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore Park. It’s large, very well protected and beautiful. It’s home to an amazing number of animals, several species of birds nest here, loggerhead turtles nest on the beaches, and there are wild ponies inhabiting some of the islands as well. I was stunned to see a seal playing in the water when we anchored!

Giddy Up and Sunday morning arrived the next afternoon and we had a bird's eye view of their arrival from the lighthouse.

Giddy Up and Sunday Morning rounding the bend, arriving to the anchorage

Gorgeous boats in the anchorage J

Welcome, Jim!

That afternoon we went on a tour of the area in two dingies. We were hoping to see the wild ponies. Not only did we see them on land, but we rounded a corner and spotted something in the water… We went to investigate and found swimming ponies!

Anne & Tracy

Cruise w/ massage, lucky lady! :)

Gull

Horses on Shackleford Island

What's in the water over there?

Swimming ponies

On Wednesday we all went in to Beaufort. We had no idea it would be such a circuitous route, taking us about 2 hours as picked our way through the shallows and shoaling to get there. It was a much quicker return once we had the track on our GPS. We enjoyed walking the main street, checking out shops and had a nice lunch.

Van, Tracy, Jim & Anne

On the way we passed Wind Horse, Steve Dashew’s prototype FPH boat. She’s very impressive and we lucked out and got to chat with the new owner as well.

Views from our day trip to Beaufort:

 Wind Horse

Blazing out of the anchorage under a dramatic sky

So picturesque 

 Interesting bird houses

 Kiddie sailing school

Our days at Cape Lookout went by in a blur of fabulous company and fine food. We had dinner parties on Blossom and Giddy Up. And if you’ve heard the rumor that Anne makes the best chili on the planet, I’m here to confirm that the rumor is absolutely true! 

It’s a party!

A walk on the beach, ocean/bay side

Loggerhead turtle tracks, covered by tire tread :/

The dunes, home to several species of sea birds

4 Nordies in the anchorage

When we first arrived, we had the anchorage pretty much to ourselves. But we awoke Saturday morning to find that we were in the most happening place around! It was 4^th of July weekend and everyone was anchored out and on the beach. It was a gorgeous day and fun to watch everyone enjoying it.

Blossom in the center of the action

All too quickly, our time together at Cape Lookout was over as Giddy Up and Sunday Morning headed out a day ahead of us to their next destination. We were sad to say good-bye but happy for the friendships forged! We have our fingers crossed that we’ll be seeing everyone again further north next year. 

Robbie brought out his drone out and took some magnificent footage of the 55s heading out.

  

It was a beautiful exit and looked like synchronized boating!

Our last night in the anchorage, Jo & Robbie treated us to another fabulous Australian Barbeque and a game of 500 on the fly bridge. Life doesn’t get much better!

Barbeque & Chef :)

500 and a view

And then, Sunday morning we were off to anchor outside Oriental, NC. I’ll leave that adventure for our next blog entry…

Boat Business:

• Whole lotta drag. Blossom struggled quite a bit on our way to Cape Lookout. Given the numbers (increased engine load, increased fuel burn and increased shaft temperature) we suspected a dirty bum. Martin dove down and found we had a very dirty prop so he gave it a clean. We were back to normal cruise when we left, so problem solved. We picked up a lot of critters in Charleston!
• Exercise the wing. The wing prop also had lots of small barnacles so he gave it a clean and then we drove around our anchor circle and bore down on the anchor a bit to work the wing engine/shaft/prop.
• 20k gen. The gen is being a little temperamental. It’s been hot and humid so we’ve been running the gen pretty much 24/7. If it gets a spike in load the breaker will pop and it seems to be weakening, popping more and more frequently. We can control it with power management (shutting off a couple systems) but we’ll need to replace that breaker when we reach AYB.
• The leak in the air conditioning system seems to be solved. Martin reports that we haven't lost any pressure in the water loop since he recharged it last week.