Not a lot happening on Sojourn while offshore. Just napping, reading and snacking.
We decided to sail another day/night on the outside, hoping to get down to Fernandina, FLorida. This will save several days or possibly even a week as opposed to the same trip on the ICW.
Oh, it has not been all smooth sailing, though. We did have almost an entire day of winds stronger than forecast. All safe though.
Really the only photos were sharing are of sunrises and sunsets. Quite beautiful.
We decided to do a little hop off shore while the weather is good so may not be in contact for a day or two. You can always track our satellite tracker and choose 24 hrs for the past day’s positions. Tracker
Back to this morning...beautiful scenery as we got underway with What If.
The section of the waterway between Onslow Beach and Wrightsville Beach is pleasant.
A bit more traffic today but nothing terrible. All the boats were very nice and courteous, giving us slow passes so as not to hit us with too much wake.
More bridges to contend with....
Wrightsville Beach marinas have some fancy boats!!
And just like that, time to head out the Masonboro Inlet for a little offshore run with What If!
Cathy snapped this nice photo of Sojourn!
And I snapped one of What If…unfortunately, the sun angle wasn’t very good, but you get the idea!
Up at daybreak - slow slog down the Intercoastal Waterway. Not a lot of traffic, strangely, for a Friday. It is chilly but otherwise a beautiful day. This barge hailed us a couple of times to make sure we were going to stay out of his way...yes, no problem!
Lots of quiet scenery...
Always fun to approach Beaufort, NC and the shipping yard there.
Late in the day, our first (of many) bridges....this one only opens on the "top of the hour" so timing is important if you don't want to hover in the channel for long periods. (Ed and Cathy on What if going thru).
And close by, we anchored for a quiet night in Mile Hammock, a nice little easy anchorage with several other boats.
Short day motoring down the waterway…we anchored near What If just along the Intercoastal Waterway.
Lots of traffic but that died down closer to sunset. Always fun to watch all the different vessels going by. Lots of huge ones this year!
More of the same for the next few days! Pretty sunset…
We threw the lines this morning!
With Ed and Cathy. Looks like we will stay in the Intercoastal waterway for a few days… offshore looks a little uncomfortable so we’re taking the easy but slow route.
We are at the boat....but not going to move in the next several days. The winds from a non-hurricane northerly system are battering us at the dock. It would be NO FUN to be out there in these conditions.
One last project we had was replacing the trampolines at the bow of the boat. We had ordered them about a month ago and they finally arrived. Taking off the old tramp. Seems odd/scary/wrong - to have that open hole up there!
Duane made quick work of installing the new tramp using Dyneema line. He just got one side done before wind and rain made it less-than-comfortable. This is the only side that had an actual tear. The other side can be done any time.
Ed and Cathy treated us to a nice pot of chili for supper - and a game of Hearts afterward. So easy to slide right back into the groove!
But overnight the winds howled from the north, blowing lots of water into our little cove. The dock is under water - we may just kick back with a good book today!
(If you're wondering, we've never seen so much north wind - over the past couple of months it's been relentless. I think we went whole years without seeing high water like this!!)
Sister visits are always so much fun. We went for a little hike on one of the state park trails at Jordan Lake. (The boys are back there behind our heads in the photo).
Beautiful fall day. Just the right temp for a walk in the woods.
We stopped by the quirky venue "The Plant" in Pittsboro.
Rafe treated us to some beverages at the Fair Game Brewing Co.
Just lots of conversation and visiting.....and a trip to the local Mexican restaurant for a yummy meal. Southbound soon!
Visiting with my sis and her hubby. Out for a walk in the neighborhood, crossed paths with one of our neighbors. Beautiful day.
Their house is built like a tank!
Time is fleeting, we’ll be southbound soon!
At the Asheboro Airport, we have a compass rose that pilots use to align their magnetic compass in their aircraft. Here is a view of it from Google Earth -
But contrary to what it looks like above, the actual paint on the tarmac is pretty sad....
Compasses were much more important in the days before GPS....but it's still an FAA requirement that all certified aircraft have an old-fashioned mechanical compass in the airplane.
The ladies flying group -The 99’s volunteer to paint compass roses at airports around the country. If you want to see the history of the 99's (Amelia Earhart was the first president), see here .
They made prior arrangements with us to come paint ours! The City did their part - resurveying the cardinal points (they move with time!!) and painting over the old emblem with black paint. The ladies congregated early in the morning and got to work.
A very long day....we provided them drinks and lunch....
Beautiful and functional!
Last post about paving, I promise!
The contractor finished up the connection to the state road. It involved stopping traffic to allow the equipment room to maneuver.
The long awaited paving day was finally here! Beautiful fall weather.
Not a lot to say so I’ll just show some photos.
Very pleased with the result! They will come back tomorrow to do the final connection to the state road.
