At last blue sky and sunshine! Temperature in the 80's.
We've made a very sudden change of plans. The wind would be against us going to Charleston this week, but it's perfect for going to Bermuda, so we're going to go directly to Bermuda from here. I made a rush phone call to Kathy to ask her not to send the mail to Charleston. Fortunately, she hadn't mailed it yet.
This was a busy day, getting ready to leave. I went to the post office and got the part we'd sent for. Sure glad it arrived before we left. The guys finished the carpeting and mounted the wind generator. Al painted the deck. I washed all the dirty clothes. Also changed our course. Phoned the National Weather Service. Everything looks perfect for our trip.
The boat might not be 100% ready, but she's ready enough.
Returned the rental car. The guy at the agency asked me if I "laaked" the car. I said, "I don't think I locked it, but here's the key." Turned out he wanted to know if I LIKED the car.
Ate supper and left about 8:30 p.m. The first part of the trip was fine. Roy and Lloyd were on watch. They took us through the Beaufort Inlet to the ocean. The guys raised the mainsail, mizzen, and headsail. We were also using the engine at low RPM's.
At ten, Butch and I went on watch. I had grabbed an hour's sleep, which was probably a mistake. I might have been more alert if I hadn't slept at all. I don't know. All I know is, my brain was in low gear, and I did everything wrong and ruined the trip for everyone.
I was trying to use a small-scale ocean chart that doesn't show any detail. That was a major mistake. With Butch at the wheel, I blundered into Cape Lookout Shoal, which is the Potato Patch of the Atlantic. In no time at all, we were in less than ten feet of water, and breakers were crashing over the side of the boat. Obviously, I should have immediately taken in the sails, turned the boat around, and returned to deeper water. Why something that obvious never crossed my mind, I'll never know. I did try to change course, but the sails started flopping around. Instead of lowering the sails, I returned to the old course. Once, I told Butch to stop, but apparently he didn't hear me, and I didn't repeat it. I even thought of pushing the throttle into neutral myself, but unfortunately, I didn't do it. I seemed to be paralyzed into inaction. And the water kept getting shallower and shallower. Inevitably, we went aground, BLAM. That woke everyone up in a hurry. Roy leaped out of bed, took the wheel and kept the boat going, but the keel was hitting bottom every few seconds, BLAM, BLAM, BLAM. At Roy's urging, I found the chart I should have been using in the first place and saw where we were and how to get out of it. After an eternity and many jolts that shook the whole boat, we were back in deep water. Of course, we had no alternative but to return to Beaufort. We tied to the first vacant dock we came to and fell asleep. By then, it was morning.
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