October 16. We were up and underway from the Provision Company’s dock at 0630. We had planned a 0700 departure but the dogs were evidently eager to get going so they made the morning walk a record setter for speed.

Once underway we motored out the Cape Fear inlet that we had come in the day before. It’s about 67 miles from the Cape Fear Inlet to the inlet at Winyah Bay.

The winds were supposed to be from the north at 10 to 15 knots. Of course what we got was 6 or 7 knots at best so we were forced to motor sail the entire way. There was barely enough wind to keep the sail full in the smallish following seas. I even had to unveil the “Boathook of Speed”, patent pending, in an effort to keep the sail from getting the opportunity to flog closed as the boat rolled. The “Boathook of Speed”, patent pending, actually did the trick and was just enough to keep us moving along nicely. All you racers out there should keep an eye out for more of the Veranda Racing product line.

About 20 miles from Winyah Bay we had an amazing experience. I was on the foredeck and noticed a pair of fins slicing towards the boat. In an instant we were literally surrounded by dolphins. Christy grabbed a camera while I got the other one. Between us we snapped over 400 pictures, thank god for digital cameras. The dolphins put on a spectacular show that lasted a full hour as they played and competed with each other for space at our bow. There were even a couple of mothers with their babies. They were so close for so long you actually hear them “speaking” to each other, or us, I’m not sure. We were doing over 7 knots and they moved with us effortlessly and blasted ahead whenever they wanted.















Words fail me; let’s hope the pictures do the experience some justice.

We got to the Winyah Bay inlet and found out that this inlet is no joke. We had an easy time of it but the potential for a disastrous transit was very obvious. There’s a submerged jetty on either side extending out well over a mile from shore. The inlet is exceptionally wide allowing potentially large rollers to make your time between the jetties very uncomfortable to say the least.

In Jersey, you’re through the Manasquan inlet in 2 rollers, you’re through the Barnegat Inlet in 2 minutes, here you could be in a tough spot for better than half an hour.

Once inside the inlet we went far enough up the bay until we got cell phone coverage so Christy could check in with people. Once that was done we pulled off to the side and dropped the hook for the night.

This morning’s stop was the anchorage at Georgetown, SC. It was only an hour away from our anchorage last night. We wanted to stop just short of Georgetown as the anchorage in Georgetown is so small that we needed time for other boats to head out before we came in and snagged a prime spot, actually any spot.

We’ll be here for a few days as we’re only a day out of Charleston so we can finally slow down a bit. We’ve ended up with a week to spare so it’ll be nice to enjoy it.