Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Where Wise Men Fear to Tread

Last night based on the weather report, we decided the winds would be right to round Cape Fear. This would require us to go through a slue in Frying Pan Shoals, part of the notorious Graveyard of the Atlantic. We could not resist the lure.

We topped off fuel before leaving Little River, just in case we had to motor more than we anticipated, and we got underway. The winds were with us early on, and we made good speed. We meet up with another sailboat, the Tioga, heading to Moorehead City. We wish them a safe voyage.

We made the slue at about 15:30. The shoals are very unassuming, and therein lies the danger. There is no indication on the surface of what lies beneath, until you veer off the slue, and watch you depth fall off too quickly. We held the course and saw the other side of the shoals safely.

The rest of the afternoon was a nice easy sail to the Wrightsville Beach Inlet. The inlet itself, however, proved to be one final challenge of the day. The current and the swells made handling the helm something of a wrestling match, and things were not well marked on the charts. We had to search out the navigation aids in the dark of night. Patience and caution got us to a good anchorage, however, and tomorrow we will leave the boat at a local marina.. Today was our last day of sailing on this trip.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a true adventure! C.