Something told the wild geese
It was time to go,
Though the fields lay golden
Something whispered, “snow.”Leaves were green and stirring,
Berries, luster-glossed,
But beneath warm feathers
Something cautioned, “frost.”All the sagging orchards
Steamed with amber spice,
But each wild breast stiffened
At remembered ice.Something told the wild geese
– Rachel Field
It was time to fly,
Summer sun was on their wings,
Winter in their cry.
And like the wild geese, Windara is flying south once more, embarking on our third season of this crazy cruising life.
With seven weeks of bad weather every weekend, I was beginning to wonder if we’d ever get our window. So when a longer window appeared mid-week, we took the days off in hopes of a longer run and were super appreciative to have our friend Adam join us – especially given the short-notice invitation.
I had a detailed final prep list, and between wrapping up the solar installation and the things that could only be done last-minute, we were scrambling to get everything done right up until we cast off the lines. As we slipped away just after sunset, so too did my stress.
Transiting the East River is always a magical experience, and with a near-full moon, it was even more so. This time we were spared the mess of commercial and recreational vessels that we encountered on our summer return trip, and it was a relatively easy trip.
The original forecast called for LOTS of motoring, but we were lucky enough to have two gorgeous days of sailing on a beat in roughly 12-15kts of breeze. While we weren’t breaking any speed records, Windara moved right along. Late on the second day, the wind faded and we had to fire up the iron genny and conditions were calm until just before we got to Hatteras.
As we approached Hatteras, the breeze kicked back up to where it had been, and the wind-driven waves opposed the ocean swell which was just starting to stand up on the shoals. It made for some sloppy conditions for a while, but nothing dangerous, and we breathed a sigh of relief to leave Hatteras in our wake once more. Just past Hatteras, we encountered one of the noted magnetic anomalies, but Chris hand-steered to the moon until it cleared. The wind faded back again and stayed down except for a few short periods where it was right on the nose.
Our night watches were so brightly lit by the moon that turned full on our last night out that we could barely see the stars. The moonlight shimmering liquid silver on the surface of the water was enchantingly beautiful and thoroughly mesmerizing.
At 0600 on Sunday morning, Chris woke me as we were entering the Cape Fear River Inlet so we’d be prepared to drop anchor once we got in. We were excited to test out our new headsets for anchoring, and while our hand signals have worked well for us for years, it’s nice to be able to communicate more nuanced information without either yelling or running back and forth between the cockpit and the bow.
We dropped the hook by Bald Head Island and had celebratory pancakes while we waited to head into the marina. Once we were settled on the dock at Safe Harbor South Harbor Village Marina just past Southport, we broke out the amazing Ron Zacapa XO rum our friend gave us as a sendoff gift – a fitting and well-deserved celebration of our longest passage to date. We grabbed lunch and ice cream in town, had dinner at the restaurant next to the marina, and crashed hard.
Our time in Southport was mostly uneventful – we spent a day giving Windara a good bath and getting things put away and mostly worked otherwise. We had warm weather when we first arrived, but mid week, temps dropped into the low 30s overnight! The big “excitement” for the week came when our dock neighbor hit us as they left the dock. The only visible damage to our boat was a tear in our Lifesling bag (we’re going to have her checked out to make sure there was no structural damage) – unfortunately for them they sustained damage to their bimini canvas and frame, and they ended up delaying their departure by a day to deal with everything. They were incredibly apologetic and we ended up inviting them over for sundowners. We met another couple who also work and caught up with them for dinner and drinks a couple times too.
I’m proud of myself for this trip. When we first started cruising, I was terrified of offshore passages and standing night watches. When we left last year, I was worried about running strictly offshore. This year, I was excited to cast off the lines and put some miles under our keel.
Some stats
- New Rochelle, NY –> Southport, NC
- Nautical miles traveled: 545
- Hours under way: 84.5
- Days sailed: 2
- Days motoring: 1.5
- Gallons of fuel burned: 75
- Wildlife spotted: sea turtle, bottlenose dolphins, Atlantic spotted dolphins, bald eagle, pelicans
