While leaving Charleston's harbour, I got my morning smile :). Over the VHF radio, one boat's captain was calling another: "Mahjong Mahjong Mahjong...." Had to smile at that boat's name! Mahjong is a game that I enjoy playing, and who but another mahjong player(s) would give their boat that name? I resisted the urge to pick up the VHF: "break break break …. need a fourth?"
The passage from Charleston to the nearest inlet that afforded a safe entrance - Little River Inlet - would take anywhere from 16-19 hours to complete. Typically our practice has been to plan our arrivals for daylight, and determine our departure time from that. A 2pm departure from Charleston would have us arriving at Little River Inlet in the early morning. That was plan A. Captain Gil however just didn't have it in him to wait until 2pm, when the winds appeared so favourable. We left at 8am instead.
square rigger in Charleston harbour
HUGE light beacon / navigational aid
in Charleston harbour
The wind and waves were gentle, but it had been over a year since we had done any ocean passaging, and I found my body wasn't happy with the motion. The ginger snaps came out and I was chowing down on them. It helped. We were struck by the number of jellyfish in the water - thousands of them. They're all shaped like mushrooms.
thousands of these jellyfish
weather buoy
(note how calm the sea state is)
one of many shrimp boats
The sun set and the moon came out. Then the skies clouded over. We arrived at Little River Inlet in the blackness of night. With Gil carefully watching the chartplotter and depth sounder, and myself at the bow with a flashlight trying to find the buoys, Serenada inched forward. Some dredging equipment in the channel provided a little drama, but we found our way in and anchored in Calabash Creek. We had been here with Jorge & Kim during our southbound passage in 2013. It was nearly 2am and it wasn't long before we were out. ZZzzzzz......
No comments:
Post a Comment