We did make an early start of it on Tuesday, getting underway at 5:30 guided by the Moon, and we cleared Fort Sumpter by 6:20, which was making good time, all thanks to the receding tide. The winds were light, so we were forced to go under power for the first bit, but the afternoon found us under full sail with the spinnaker flying. Nightfall found us heading up the coast towards Cape Fear.
All was going as planned, and we rounded the Cape in the early morning hours on Wednesday. And then at 4:25 am, while we were about 40 miles off of Cape Fear, Bob shouted out "We've lost the spinnaker!"
The halyard attaching the spinnaker to the mast had parted, and we were dragging the spinnaker in the water at about 6 knots. We managed to haul it back on board, and set the jib in its place. We continued on our way.
The winds were good, but not always in the exact direction we were looking for, but we had a great sail throughout the day. We had thought to sail to Ocracoke Inlet, but we making such headway that we would have gotten to the inlet at midnight instead of Thursday morning, and we had no desire to tackle a strange channel in the dark, so we opted to head to Beaufort, NC instead. We thought we would overnight there, and then see what we might decide in the morning. However the decision was taken from us when, at around 8 PM, the main boom snapped. We had been under power, and getting ready to take down the sail when an errant gust took the sail and snapped the boom. We scrambled to secure the sail as best we could do that the helm could have a clear view of the channel. We tied up at the city docks here, and tomorrow we will look for a good marina to dock the boat for the next month or so.
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