We were up early again for a planned departure from Bald Head Island. A hint of dawn and a few dock lights were enough to let us see from our window that the weather had improved. It was cold though, and we each had to dig out our sweats before facing our outdoor tasks. We followed the 6:00 a.m. ferry out of the harbor. In what we thought was a good omen, its name was Sans Souci ... "No Worries." We exited the narrow channel right down the middle. Even the swirling eddy at the juncture with the Cape Fear River proved to be a nonfactor.
I was cleaning up docklines on the stern and saw the Bald Head Island welcome sign that I had missed on the way in. The sun rose slowly over a high cloud bank and had not fully appeared until we were in the Atlantic and traveling along Frying Pan Shoal. Once we cleared the tip of the shoal and set our waypoint across Onslow Bay just outside Beaufort/Morehead City, the seas got rough. Crossroads was fine and plowed right through the waves. I can't say that the waves were any larger than we'd faced before, but the fact that I wasn't mentally prepared for them made the ride seem much more uncomfortable. Spray was flying over the pilot house giving us a fresh coating of salt and our windshield wipers were getting a workout. I went downstairs to catch a snooze and found that to be challenging. With the big pitches not only would our anchor rise from its pinned position on deck, but so would I while lying spread eagle across the bed. I was flying. It reminded me of the anti-gravity training simulators seen on TV. It was all OK though as we had plenty of ventilation so no queasiness on this trip. While I was downstairs Barry even took the clapper out of our ship's bell to keep it from continuously ringing on its own. After three hours of uncomfortable travel, the waves finally began to calm down to levels predicted. All that was left was to clean up the mess that results from not stowing your tools properly before departure. (In Barry's defense, these tools have been stored on the top bunk for 359 days and have never gone flying before. It was just a matter of time. LOL)
We finally reached the entrance the Beaufort Inlet and began to encounter a few other boats. Even the large dredge on the edge of the channel looked good in the setting sun. It is from the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company and we wondered if we had seen him before. No doubt that Radio Island was a sight to behold with its white sand dunes, birds, and breaking wave complete with horse's mane.
A quick turn led us into Taylor Creek and our destination anchorage. Being late to the party, we found all the prime spots were already taken. We claimed a little area for ourselves back by the saltmarsh and dropped the hook just as the final orange of the day was fading. The biggest thing we noticed while out on deck was that it was COLD. We pulled out the blanket and called it an early night.
Neither Barry nor I have been to Beaufort before, so we'll spend a couple nights here and explore. We're also hoping the temperature will rise another 10-15 degrees.
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