Off Shore

Monday, 11-23-2015, 0630. NNE wind 10 knots. 60 degrees F. Ebb tide. Partly sunny.

Big day. Forecast is for NNE 12 – 17 knot wind in Port Royal Sound and near off shore, gusting to twenty. Perfect for a southerly run. On this strong ebb tide we should shoot out Port Royal guickly and run down to St. Catherines Sound, into Walburg Creek and be anchored before dark, a run of sixty-two miles.

What could go wrong?

We left Beaufort at sunrise, headed down the Beaufort River, rounded Spanish Point, and passed the entrance to Battery Creek and Parris Island to the west and Cane and Cat Islands to the east, blistering along at 7.0, sometimes 8.0 knots.

Passed Fort Freemont at Lands’ End to the east and Parris Island Spit to the west and spilled into Port Royal Sound doing 8.0 – 8.5 knots. Rounded Bay Point at the mouth of the inlet to enter the Atlantic, speed and wind picking up.

And that’s when we hit the wall.

A few words about passage making planning. These days there are all kind of on line apps linking one to the latest marine weather conditions and forecasts. Passsagemakng.com, PocketGrib.com. NOAAweather.com, Liveweather and Seatow just to name a few. One can safely sit at anchor the night before and plan a passage in the comfort of one’s cozy cabin while sipping a favorite libation and scratching one’s sand fly bites.

The National Weather Service (NWS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other agencies are on top of this weather stuff and generally get it pretty darn right.

There is a pattern to weather generally. High and low pressure systems move in and out, bringing changing winds, temperatures and reasonably predictable precipitation patterns. Current conditions are what is happening right now and forecasts are – well – forecasts, and subject to change at any moment.

Knowing current conditions is really helpful. In this modern era sea buoys are deployed at strategic locations and are equipped with the latest digital weather recorders. The mariner can go to Liveweather for example, click on a particular buoy and find out the current weather condition at that buoy at that precise time.

For today’s passage we are using the Grays Reef buoy, forty nautical miles SE of Savannah, GA at 31.40N, 80.87W. Today, as we motor joyfully along at 8.0 knots and begin to round Bay Point, Greys Reef was reporting wind was NNE 16 – 20, gusting to 23. Not bad if one is running down wind.

All systems go.

But Greys Reef is not where we are. We are headed SE and turning due E on a strong ebb tide, leaving an ocean inlet to merge into the mighty Atlantic. 

Running along at 8.0, sometimes 9.0 knots now with a twenty knot E wind right on our nose,  that wind transforms that strong ebb tide into standing waves, a wall of ten foot waves.

Rise up to the crest of one mighty monster then fall into the trough between it and the next one. 

Now we are in it. No turning back.

More fun, thrills and excitement than a bullet ride at the Staunton carnival in 1964 followed by a clandestine girlie show visit.

Needless to say that this was a rather trying experience. But slog on we did and after about an hour of bouncing along like a bucking bronco we turned SE then S so that the wind was on our stern, a little more comfortable although holding a downwind course, surfing along on ten foot waves, can be challenging.

We raced along just out of sight on land passed Hilton Head Island, Little Tybee, Wassaw and Ossabaw Sounds to make our entry into St. Catherines Sound and finally, finally into the tranquil and scenic Walburg Creek where we came to anchor at 31.668N, 81.18W in eight feet of calm water.

I looked at Emily and said, “What just happened?”

Early to bed. Good night all.