We were up at 3am to finish departure prep. Even though I do as much as I can in advance, there are things we just can’t do ahead of time, and it always takes longer than we expect. As we prepped to leave, a squall blew through and we decided to wait it out. Once it blew through, leaving the dock wasn’t bad – the breeze settled nicely and we let the current kick out our stern and backed right out. First light started to appear as we reached the Cape Fear River.
The inlet was a little bouncy with wind against current, but it was nothing compared to some of the passages we’ve made. We had some chop all the way out to the Slough, but once we passed through, it settled right down. We sailed for about an hour, but with the wind fading, we opted to motor in hopes of making it into Cape Lookout before dark. The forecast called for mostly sunny skies, but it was cloudy almost all day and on the chilly side. The passage was uneventful, and in our off-watches we both nodded off on deck.
Between the time we took to wait out the squall and the time we spent sailing, we found ourselves racing sunset. We lost, but only by a few minutes. It was still light enough to see decently as we entered the anchorage – we could still clearly see the shore and navigate the shoals. In the fading light, depth perception was challenging, so I was glad that all three sets of charts were in agreement. When we got down to the anchorage, there was an improperly lit catamaran at anchor (they had some kind of light on deck, but not bright enough to be seen from a distance, and no masthead), and a houseboat that wasn’t lit at all, but there were no other surprises and we anchored easily. I love that we’re living under a lighthouse once again and I look forward to seeing our surroundings in the morning.
