Monday April 18

We are outside (on the Atlantic vs the Intracoastal) en route to Beaufort North Carolina. The seas are calm with no wind to sail at this point. It is predicted to pick up to 15 knots this afternoon from the south, which will be a welcome change from what we experienced after St. Augustine.
Chas arrived safely last Wednesday, and we had another unexpected guest for dinner that night. Jim Jordan (Myassis Dragon) was in Jacksonville on business and took the time to drive to St. Augustine to party with us for a few hours. We had a great time catching up.

Chas enjoying my now famous lettuce wedge

Thursday morning we departed St. Augustine and enjoyed a full day of calm seas and light winds. We alternated sailing and motor sailing, but at least the sails were up! Chas started his watch at 2:00 a.m. Friday morning with comfortable conditions, but around 5:00 a.m., the wind began blowing directly on our nose, from the north, at a steady 15-20 knots. And it continued to blow all day long, burying Tessa's bow and throwing walls of saltwater against our "picture window" and clear down the decks. The strength of the water forced it's way into any crack, crevise, or weak point and leaks sprung up everywhere down below. The crew decided to duck in at Charleston instead of our original destination of Southport, which would have entailed a second overnighter. We had had enough abuse!

OMG, did we make a good call! Saturday, violent storms and winds buffetted Charleston, as well as much of the Midsouth and Mideast. 25-30 knot winds sent waves surging across the bay, crashing broadside to all the boats tied up along the MegaDock at Charleston City Marina. We put out extra bumpers and then ran down the dock assisting others and loaning out spare bumpers. Once it appeared as though Tessa was protected, we left the marina to meet up with Chas' girlfriend Kerry and friend Wac to visit West Marine (of course) and downtown Charleston.

Our party was interrupted by a call from the marina, saying that several boats were sustaining damage and that we should return as soon as possible.

The first thing I saw as I scurried down the dock was splinters of dock wood. Our mega-fender had split right down the middle, and another bumper line had worn through so that the bumper was uselessly floating under the dock. Tessa's rub rail had ground against the dock until dock neighbors and marina dockhands managed to replace the bumpers. She will need some repairs, but she'll be fine!

As quickly and fiercly the storm came upon us, it left us with totally calm conditions for a Sunday morning departure. Calm, but unfortunately no wind for sailing. So we have been running the faithful Perkins for over 24 hours. We are hoping for the wind to pick up and maybe just maybe come from a favorable direction for a change. Looking forward to a stop in Beaufort before sunset tonight if all goes as planned.

sleeping after a long hard shift

Tomorrow we will lose our crew/entertainment, Chas, as his leave is up. I hope the positives of this journey outweigh the negatives so that he will join us again. Even though we discovered his entire bunk and duffel bag (and all his clothes) filled with saltwater Friday night, his phone and wallet did dry out, so maybe he won't hold that against Mother Ocean for too long!