Saturday, November 4, 2023

T minus 36 hours

T - 36 hours


Wednesday 1st - Saturday 4th Nov 2023


Pete, Simon and Dave arrived safely at Raleigh Durham International Airport on Wednesday evening. After a quick stop at a local pub, we drove back the boat and were settled aboard shortly after midnight.


The last couple of days we’ve been mixing up boat preparations and a little exploring. We had an excellent dinner out at the Tight Lines Brew Pub and met up with some of the friends that I have made since being here. The following morning we hit the local breakfast place and then took the dinghy over the intracoastal waterway to Atlantic Beach and visited Fort Macon and the State Park. This was the second visit for me, but it was a beautiful day and I enjoyed visiting again. Today we finished provisioning, refilled a propane tank and topped up our fuel and water tanks. Dave went out for 6 mile run later this afternoon whilst the rest of us hung around the boat. Neither Simon or I are feeling very well, having picked up some sort of cold like bug. Hopefully that passes soon.


We have a firm departure time of early Monday morning. We have toyed with the idea of leaving the marina tomorrow in the morning and motoring over to Beaufort, anchoring there and visiting town, before we head off the next day. An alternative would be to stay here until we leave offshore, and take an Uber over to Beaufort. Not sure which way we’ll go on that!


Anyway, it looks like we have a good mild weather window to cross the Gulf Stream, with very light winds (much motoring!), then an upwind beat for the second half of the trip. We’ll see!I think this will be our last post before departure, but you can follow along on our tracking page.


https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Cotinga/


Mike



Dave, Simon, Pete near the waterfront in Morehead City


Pete hanging out in the main cabin


Pete up on deck


Crew training was too much for Simon!


White Ibis - as we walk through Fort Macon State Park


Fort Macon


2 comments:

  1. Good luck with departure tomorrow. May the wind be at your back (AFTER you cross the Gulf Stream)
    & Wishing you smooth sailing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like youre almost there! I've been following severaltimes a day.. at times i thought you were standing still, but you are so close now! Glad to see that!

    ReplyDelete