May 16-17, 2021 St Augustine to 5 Fathom Cut

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We pulled away from the marina dock at 6:20 AM to make the 7:00 AM opening of Bridge of Lions, which stood between us and the ocean.  After the bridge it was a short mile to the jetties and pass through the shoals leading to the ocean beyond.  Days of north easterly winds had built up a large ocean swell that crashed hard into the pass.  Second Star lifted her bow steeply with each huge roller coming right at us, then dropped gracefully showing us a close view of the next wave just ahead.   Three minutes ahead of us were several other boats also working their way through the breaking waves into the ocean.  We listened to a discussion on the radio between an experienced captain and his inexperienced friend on another boat as he coached them to stay calm and just (ahem) roll with it.  He was a very kind mentor. 

After clearing the jetties we continued motoring several miles out into the ocean.  The big rollers settled some as we got to deeper water.  Moving offshore a bit allowed us sea room to hoist sails and head north.  The wind was close on the bow, but eased more easterly allowing us to hold a course that nearly followed the Florida coastline.  As the morning turned into afternoon the wind clocked slightly to the south east with which we were able to add some east to what had been a due north course.  

When the sun went down we shifted from our daytime 2-hour watches to 3-hour stints to get a bit longer uninterrupted sleep.  No matter how well intended that was,  there was always something that came up to prevent a solid three hour sleep.

As forecast the wind dropped to a whisper.  We motored the 70 miles along the South Carolina coast. At times the seas were glassy with just the slightest swell.  We saw dolphin and big barnacle covered turtles who blinked at us in annoyance to have their sunbathing interrupted.
Night fell again and we motored on under brilliant stars and a quarter moon.  Our destination was 5 Fathom Cut, a winding inlet off the ocean leading to the ICW at Winyah Bay.  Running a remote cut off the ocean in the dark is not without risk.  We took it slow, Brent reading the chartplotter at the helm and Lois picking out landmarks with a spotlight.  Once we spotted the pass between the reefs we knew all would be fine.  Once inside the reefs we wandered the twisting channel through the marsh looking for an acceptable spot to drop anchor.  The third place we investigated had what we were looking for and the anchor went down at 1:40AM.

We slept deeply, riding on very still water.  In the light of the following morning we found the site we had chosen to be very secure and scenic.  

The 42 hour sail from St Augustine left us pretty tired, so we took an extra rest day and enjoyed watching shrimp boats pass by. 

Over breakfast we watch dolphin working the edge of the marsh and pelicans slamming into the waves to dive for fish.  


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