All the weather apps agreed!!

2019 March 27

by Greg & Lyn

Weather…probably the most talked about topic among cruisers. What’s the forecast…when’s the wind going to change directions…when’s the wind going to lay down? What weather apps do you use? When are you thinking about heading out?

The weather through the winter and spring changes often and sometimes in unexpected ways. Soooo you read all the apps, talk it over with other cruisers and listen to forecasters, then you decide on the day and plan your route, then you raise the anchor and head out…with places to bailout if it’s needed.

We left St Augustine Fl Friday with light winds from the west, forecast to go north the next morning but stay light until evening then go east then south to southwest and pick up to 10 to 14. A great forecast to head straight for Beaufort NC!

So we did!

But the weather didn’t – do what the forecasts all agreed.

Friday afternoon was great. But that evening, instead of going light north, it went north, but strong – 20+ kts with stronger gusts. And the seas went to 6-8 ft instead of the 2-3 ft predicted. It was a wild ride Friday night!

Sat morning was more of the same and we were starting to doubt the entire forecast. Just to give us some options, we tacked over and closed the coast around Charleston SC. As we approached about 30 miles off the coast, the winds started to clock to the west and abate somewhat. Over the next couple of hours, the winds dropped to 10-12 and shifted all the way around to the east. So we followed the wind and ended up sailing parallel to the coast in great conditions.

But the wind continued to slowly die. By Sunday morning at dawn, the sea was an eerie glassy calm. No ripples, no waves, nothing. Even the sea turtles were floating on the surface sunning themselves!

As we worked our way up the coast, we decided to transit the Frying Pan Slue, a shortcut through Frying Pan shoals saving a bunch of miles rounding Cape Fear. It’s a little weird to find a marked channel 10 miles offshore.

We came in the Beaufort NC inlet on Monday around noon…it might not have been a weather window we would have chosen if the forecast had been correct but we learned once again that we have a boat that can handle it…if we can!!

Now we’ll wait in Beaufort for another front to pass by with winds howling at 30 to 40 knots…that WAS in the forecast!!

St Augustine Lighthouse

Parasailing off the coast.

In company with Sails Call the first day and night…they were headed to SC.

Sails Call in the glow of the sunset

Rough seas the next day can be seen outside and the canvas got covered in saltwater! But good books demand attention.

Sunset on the second day

Sunrise the third day the water was like glass!

Another boat heading south.

A good time to refuel while underway with the jugs on deck while the seas are flat calm.

Yep…she does do windows!! 😀 Getting enough salt off the front window so we could see through them!

Reading…we do lots of reading on a passage.

Stayed flat calm the whole day and half the last night. Then the south wind gradually filled in. So gradually that the swell picked up before the wind was strong enough to sail.

Calm enough for a few projects

It was so calm that we went through Frying Pan Slue..a marked channel through Frying Pan shoals out from Cape Fear. We went days without seeing but a couple of other vessels but shared the slue this big guy!