May Pictures
Our last night in Georgetown before heading North, hopefully to Beaufort, N.C.
A long day of motoring to Dotham Cut.
Just as we experienced on our way through in November, we had a very peaceful cut to traverse
Although we had very little wind with the tide, the cut still showed the forces of the water flowing from the deep sound to the shallow banks.
4.4 knots of current pushing us through the cut. You can imagine the scene if a strong wind opposed the current in this narrow cut.
End of day 1 of our return trip. Sunset at Black Point. A little melancholy.
The ever cheerful Amy keeps the boat's crew in good spirits.
The next day, again motoring, up the back of the Exumas to Highborne Cay, our planned departure point for Beaufort, N.C.
So calm and clear you could see a starfish 15 feet down in the water as we motored along.
Our reflections in the water from the bow pulpit.
Our bow wake
When I first saw this sight on the calm water, I thought I was seeing a helicopter instead of a boat.
Our first night, heading to the Gulf Stream across the top of the Berry Islands, we were continually dodging cruise ships or freighters going to and from Florida.
The next day we got to the Gulf Stream and roared along with the current.
As we left Bahamian waters our Bahamian courtesy flag was showing the effect of the winter's winds.
The end of day two in the Gulf Stream 60 miles off Florida. Seeing these clouds, Amy predicted an exciting night and she was certainly right.
We survived our night's light show and the next day we continued our wonderful sail north..
For almost 2 1/2 days we got a great 3+ knot push from the Gulf Stream.
This night's sky and sunset were much more comforting than the previous one.
Shortly after sunrise Amy had almost 30 minutes of escort from a bunch of porpoises.
The splashing is from the porpoise escort.
A bad forecast caused us to head into Charleston S.C. instead of continuing onto Beaufort. The pelicans were there to greet us.
Our crossing from the Bahamas was complete as we arrived at our waypoint, the Charleston ship channel.
Fort Sumter.
After an overnight sail to Beaufort, N.C. we entered the ICW for our trip behind Cape Hatteras to Norfolk, VA.
The 5 day trip from Beaufort to Norfolk is mostly a motor through pretty woodlands, rivers and land cuts (canals).
The crossing of Albermarle and Currituck Sounds can be nasty.
The ICW is great for bird watching. Besides egrets and herons there seem to be osprey nests on almost every day marker.
HOWEVER, this is an all too familiar sight on the ICW. All kinds of impatient motor craft crowding up at every bridge waiting for openings. The motor boat at the right saw the 10 boats in front of us waiting for the scheduled bridge opening some 15 minutes in the future and still felt compelled to push his way toward the front to gain maybe 3 minutes earlier access to the opening...it drives me crazy.
These antics don't seem to bother Milo. He loves the sunshine and calm waters of the ICW. Motoring on the ICW is the only time that he'll sit in the cockpit with us as we're underway.