We cast off our lines from Northwest Creek Marina yesterday, and anchored in Upper Broad Creek (less than a mile away!) for the night. The Triangle Sailing Club has a trip planned to Cape Lookout this weekend, and we decided to do the trip with Breeze, Blue Dolphin and Waterbug.
Down the ICW through Core Creek (which is being dredged), past Beaufort, to pick our way gingerly behind Shackleford Banks. This area is shallow and changeable, and the currents, set up by the tides, can run swiftly. We get our CQR to set.
We load the dinghy - Angie on the back seat, Adrian in the middle, rowing, and Kristina and Luke sharing the front seat - and go to shore after breakfast. The wild Shackleford ponies are done with breakfast, too, and pass between us and the water. We walk the half mile over the dunes to the ocean side, passing some areas of native vegetation that have been fenced off from the horses; here, researchers are determining which species of grasses are favored by the ponies.
As we walk over the dunes to the sound side, we meet up with the ponies again. This herd had one black stallion, four bay mares and a foal. Kristina and Luke are so near that they could have reached out and touched this pony. The ponies were not afraid, but were wary, and kept an arm's length from us.
Canto, Blue Dolphin and Breeze sail out the Beaufort-Morehead City inlet into the Atlantic Ocean and north the 6 miles to Cape Lookout. Along the way we troll for fish, but only catch one smallish Spanish mackeral. We see dolphins and sea turtles, though, and go ashore to play along the shore.
On Friday Chuck and Pat tow us (in our dingy) to the Cape Lookout lighthouse. The lighthouse is now automated, but the previous lighthouse keeper's residence is a visitor's center and is staffed by volunteers who sign on for a 3 month stay. Carol, one of the volunteers tells us about the history of the lighthouse: it is 163 feet high, was built in 1859, and the diamond markings not only distinguish it from other area lighthouses, but also point out compass directions (the black diamonds are N and S; the white are E and W.)
The wind is steady at 15-20 knots, gusting to 25, and the seas in the Atlantic are 5-7 feet. Along with Blue Dolphin and several other sailboats, we decide to spend today anchored in Cape Lookout bight and so we spend a relaxed and lazy day playing Monopoly, reading, napping and listening to Prairie Home Companion. We have plenty of power; with this wind, our wind generator puts out more than enough to keep up with our energy requirements. Tomorrow we will head back to the bustle of Beaufort.