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 4th 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.
