Voyage 2005-2006: Chapter 3

Well, we are ready! The 'kids' are settled with Chris, Christina, and Collin in Vienna. Even Sammy Jane is staying home during this cruise. Ann and Bob have all of the bright work bright; the oil made clean, and all systems checked and double checked. At 0800 on 30 December 2005, Jule III and her crew are ready to head for Florida and the Bahamas. Dave Domenic (aka Dead ball Dave [fellow boccie player and neighbor]) and his daughter came by to say goodbye. Also, local Doug (the winner of his class for the parade of lights in Carolina Beach) helped us push off Jule III.

We haven't mastered the entrance to Carolina Beach yet. Though we have not run aground, it always is a bit dicey. Once we left Carolina Beach, we headed for Snow's Cut and met it with a foul current. However, once we arrived in the Cape Fear River, we flew down the river traveling as fast as 10 knots. We met the MV Southport and MV Fort Fisher ferries and gave them a big wave (another story). At 1030 we entered the Cape Fear inlet where we were met with very steep waves (wind and current oppose = not good). Not much fun for 10 minutes. At 1130, we left the channel and headed SW, not sure where we would end up.

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01 Jan 2006, Not everybody is happy going South, 32 11.489 N/ 079 12.050 W

Neptune is not being kind to Jule III. Ann is not being kind to Bob. Poor Bob. When we left the Cape Fear, we were promised by NOAA to have NW winds. Nope, out of the SW. Hmm, we are going SW. OK, we can do that as they are calling for only 2-3 foot seas. Hmm, they lied! Four to 6 foot seas on the nose for 24 hours is not good; Ann told me so. We had to motor at 3,000 RPM which really consumed the fuel. Jule III carries 40 gallons of diesel in her main tanks and another 35 gallons in portable tanks. We did a few 'in flight' refueling. Unfortunately, the boat was pitching so violently, the fuel was shooting out of the filler pipe. Yep, diesel all over the cockpit. Ann was not happy so Bob was not happy. As we approached our turn-off point for Beaufort SC, Ann said .. "why don't we go to Fernandina?". Wow, the waves were still shaking our brain, but she wanted to continue. All right! Oh yeah, we lost our windless cover to the incessant waves.

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01 Jan 2006, A Safe Harbor at Fernandina Beach, 30 40.330 N/ 081 27.940 W

Ann forgave Bob. Bob promised not go to windward anymore. Gentlemen don't go to windward. Ann will probably forget Bob's promise (in time). We celebrated the New Year by thanking Neptune for the calming seas. Now we could walk from berth to cockpit with minimal bruising. By 0800 on the third day, the wind and seas were abating and Fernandina was looking good. Ann noticed that the visibility was decreasing as we approached the inlet. By the time we got to the sea buoy, we could not see the sea buoy. Visibility was down to less than an eighth of a mile. Is this going to be trip from hell? Maybe we should not have pushed the Friday curse. Anyways, we entered St. Mary's inlet with fog and a foul current ( greater than 3 knots). Plus it started to rain. Are we having fun yet? Adventure or ordeal? The jury is still out.

After nearly two hours of hunting for buoys on the radar, the fog began to lift. The course was now easy to follow. The folks at the municipal marina found a slip for us (they were full due to the fog). Life is getting good. We met up with SV Maggie Rose (from NC Welcome Center) and enjoyed our chat. SY Moony is headed for Fort Pierce to try to get their engine fixed (head gasket?). There is a good weather window(so says NOAA) for Wednesday/Thursday to head to Fort Pierce on the outside. We'll see. Hope so! For now, we are going to enjoy Fernandina.

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