Heading to Charleston Oct 2010

   We are on our way to Charleston to stage the boat further south for our Bahamas trip this winter.  We'll leave the boat in Charleston while we enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas with the family at home. Then, after Xmas its back to the boat and on to the Bahamas.  Hopefully we can get a couple days of warm weather in early Jan to get south out of Charleston.
   It has been a crisp motor sail so far with a large High pressure system to the west and Low storm offshore giving us 15-25kt winds from the NW. We are heading for Beaufort tomorrow and will go offshore at least to Masonboro, then check the sea conditions and probably skip rounding Frying Pan Shoals, heading back into ICW.  Then back out to sea at Cape Fear River and on to Charleston. Forecast is for NW winds all week, so should be some good sailing.
   Will confirm the good sailing in couple days after we arrive.

Here's the confirmation:  the weather forecast did not hold up. Rather than NW winds all week, we had a wide variety.  First, after leaving Beaufort the winds were from the west (on the nose) all evening hours, finally shifting to north after 0200.  We were then able to sail to Masonboro, arriving at 0700. Unfortunately, the winds were now NE at 25-30 making entry into the narrow Masonboro Inlet a hazardous option.  We hove to for 2hrs hoping the wind would die down to the 15kts being announced on the weather radio. It did drop to 20-25, so after checking with TowBoatUS for any last minute local knowledge on shoaling, we went for the opening. It was "relatively" uneventful - a straight shot in with plenty of deep water. Lots of cross currernt and 2-3ft waves but no breakers.  We got into the inlet and promptly anchored for some welcome rest.
    The following afternoon we proceeded down the ICW to Cape Fear River for the next leg of the journey. Following a short pause while we sat aground at low tide near Carolina Beach, we were soon off and again on our way as soon as the tide came in a couple inches.  We anchored off Southport in the middle of the Cape Fear River. Holding was very tenuous with a bottom full of shells and 2-4kt reversing currents, but winds were only 5kts and no big waves, so no problems. The next morning when we left we found out our anchor chain had been held in place fouled on a block of asphalt (about 100lbs worth) which I knocked off the chain with a hammer.  We were then on our way to Charleston with a forecast of 5kt North winds.
  Again, not close on the wind forecast. After 6hrs of nice slow sailing in the 8-10kt NW winds, the winds came around to the Southwest for the rest of the day (on the nose).  The forecast was now for a shift to the north after midnight, but we saw only a shift to WNW about 0300 just as we needed to make our turn to the west to approach Charleston Channel, so again, winds on the nose.  We motored from 1500, Sat until arrival at 0800 Sun.  But, the winds were light (under 10kts) and waves under 1ft, so it was a comfortable, if long and noisy, transit. At least no repeat of the 30kt winds as we tried to enter the harbor.
   We rode (motored) into Charleston Harbor on a 2kt flooding current and proceeded to Tollers Marina. We are now securely tied up and starting the cleaning and preping to depart duties.  Overall a successful transit.