Friday, November 17, 2006

Yesterday we stayed in the Beaufort Harbor to wait out the severe weather. After having the boat lines secured to the floating docks we watched the rain and wind storm approach in the afternoon. While in our cabin, we watched the anemometer as the wind increased to 48 knots!. The wind and rain was hollowing across our bimini. We could not even see across the harbor because of the sheets of driving rain. Even though we were surrounded by 50 foot plus yachts which provided some protection against the wind, our boat actually healed in the driving wind. The storm was very fast and within an hour it had past and our decks started drying up in the cool air. Gordon was watching the storm on his computer and predicted it would be a quick storm as indicated on the weather chart. We are staying over today and heading out to sea tomorrow for our next favorable weather window. We were planning to go to Charleston, SC but most likely we will make a run to Georgetown which is 70 miles north of Charleston. This will be a 28 hour run and we can approach the harbor in daylight. The distance to Charleston is too far to approach the harbor in daylight. Since we are so close to the Gulf Stream, we are watching the weather window closely. For our non sailing friends, the winds against the Gulf Stream current can produce huge uncomfortable confused seas. We are in a harbor with boats from all over the world including London and Australia! We captured some of the sites of the town below.

Some of the historic sites include this cemetery which includes the burial ground of confederate soldiers from the Civil War.












This house was close to a historical preservation site. It has a lovely Queen Ann's Lace frame around the porch.












Jabberwocky in Beaufort Town Dock. By the afternoon this dock was full of boats seeking safe refuge from the storm.