Return Voyage - The Home Stretch and Beyond

Having heard the jib tear last night was a low moment. Now, at 0700, the winds were 6 knots from the northeast. I wish I could use the jib. Instead, I was sailing with the staysail and main. Due to the wind direction, I will have to over-shoot Hatteras a little, allowing me to tack and round the corner to the head north. Funny, but I'm hoping for more wind.

The sky was starting to clear from last nights storms. Once I round Cape Hatteras, it should be a nice day.

Post storm morning sky... looking back

I haven't had any sleep since yesterday afternoon. Rounding Cape Hatteras brings me closer to the shipping lanes. All three capes, Cape Fear, Cape Lookout, and Cape Hatteras have shoals extending out a long way from what you see on maps. I could save miles by skirting along on the skinny (shallow) water. And after sailing in the Gulf of Mexico you would think I would do that. I was happy to finally sail in deep water again, I planned a route that compromised. I'm sailing just beyond the the shallow shoals, but about 10-15 miles closer to shore than the deep water where the ships travel. Even so, I am not close enough to land to see... land. This route should give me some relative peace with little other boating traffic.

It was almost 9am when I approached Cape Hatteras. For me, it was a feeling of relief. From here, it would be 24-30 hours to the Chesapeake. Once I round the cape, I would be on the home stretch. No land was in sight, but in the distance I could make out the abandoned lighthouse that marked Diamond Shoal; Cape Hatteras. The old lighthouse was replaced by a single red buoy. A sign of the times. With the reliance upon GPS, it was considered highly unlikely that a ship would come close enough to the shoal to risk grounding.

Approaching Cape Hatteras

It was about 15 minutes later when I actually rounded the cape. From these pictures you can see the weather is clearing.

Diamond Shoal Lighthouse

In the picture of Diamond Shoal Lighthouse, you can see the new navigation marker on the far right edge of the photo. The age of romance and lighthouses is over. We are technical now... what a shame! We have relegated these goliath structures, created for making our coasts safer and for saving lives, to exist as museum pieces.

NOAA weather radio is still calling for a chance of thunderstorms along my route tonight. I'm certain, they will be over land and will not have an effect on the voyage; much like the thunderstorms around Cape Fear.

The winds remained light (8-10 knots) for the entire day. I think I was still nervous from the previous night. I was sailing with the staysail, because the jib had at least a small tear. I haven't even looked at it yet. I did shake one reef out of the mainsail. It still had one reef in it. With one reef, the mainsail is smaller, but never seems to affect the boat's performance.

When evening came and the sun set, I had a beautiful starry sky. I was also able to watch the lightning to the west. It was a beautiful night.

When the sun rose, I welcomed the warmth. Last night was beautiful, but quite chilly for me. Those six weeks in Florida must have thinned my blood. I knew that, by the end of the day, I would be on the Chesapeake. Still sailing with just a reefed mainsail and staysail in light winds, I was able to make good progress. The benefit of using just the staysail, is that I can point relatively close to the wind for a cruising boat. I knew I was somewhere along the outer banks in North Carolina. I could make out the top of a lighthouse, but the land there is so flat, I had no chance of sighting land.

By sunset, the offshore leg of the voyage was rapidly coming to an end. I first sighted land about an hour ago. Tall condos and hotels along the shoreline. I was approaching Virginia Beach.

Virginia Beach sunset as I approached the entrance to the Chesapeake

Now, I had to negotiate the shipping channels leading into the Chesapeake. The channel I needed was on the north side. So, I had to cross the entrance and the main shipping channels. I planned a route that took me to the mid-channel marker. I did this for two reasons. First, I had to cross the shipping lanes at 90 degrees; minimizing my exposure to fast moving ships. Secondly, that buoy has an active radar reflector. So, when my radar hits it, the buoy will periodically send a Morse Code "A" back, which is impossible to miss on the radar screen. From there, I would at least be in the traffic lane going the same direction as I. So, with no ships coming, I picked a course that took me 45 degrees to the traffic. This would get me to the far side of the shipping lane. If a ship came, there was room and deep enough water for me to temporarily move out of the channel.

Once on the Chesapeake and out of the shipping channel, I hoved to to take a nap. A 30-40 minute power nap does wonders to re-charge your energy levels.

I sailed through the night and into the next morning without encountering any ships at all. This was surprising to me. Being so close to the entrance, I expected a lot of ships.

The Chesapeake Bay also has it's own style of lighthouse. This is Windmill Point Lighthouse, about halfway up the Chesapeake. This would be my last full day of sailing on the Chesapeake. You can see how calm it was. I tried to unfurl the jib. This would be the first time I saw the jib since I heard it tear. It was much worst than expected. I just furled the jib back again; knowing I was not going to get to go any faster.

Windmill Point Lighthouse

That same evening. I caught the Royal Caribbean cruise ship heading south. "Grandeur of the Sea" was taking a few thousand people on their own adventure as mine was coming to a close.

Royal Caribbean's "Grandeur of the Sea" headed south

The next morning about 6am I was motoring under the Bay Bridge. I had driven over the bridge many times; from just north of Annapolis to Kent Island. This was my first transit under the bridge.

At 10am, I had reached my destination; Worton Creek Marina. It's a little north of Baltimore, on the east side of the Chesapeake.

Grace drove down from Baldwinsville, by herself, to come pick me up. While I was setting new personal best records on the boat, Grace quietly accomplished her own personal best: longest solo  single-day drive.

We cleaned up the boat that day and the next before driving back home.