Yesterday’s trip down the lower Chesapeake could easily have been described as an easy, relaxing sail. Today has been much more serious sailing.

The forecasts have been spot on, with winds from the north at 20 to 30 knots, and we have been making excellent speeds through waves that have sometimes been quite lumpy.

Right now, Cape Lookout is abeam, the wind is straight out of the north at 20 knots, and we are making almost 8 knots over ground. Our last navigation hazard is Cape Fear and it’s of flying shoals about 80 miles ahead. We are expecting the winds to pick up again tomorrow morning, and we should be pulling into Brunswick in about 36 hours.

These short passages are tough. We never quite get into the rhythm of watch standing, so they are in some ways more tiring than much longer ocean passages. Other than that, the boat is doing great, and everything looks good.