Sailing Terrapin

We left the Chesapeake in November 2016 and we were now headed back to Virginia after a great season in the Caribbean, essentially closing the loop of our route.

Baxter and I on Terrapin, along with Dan and Francine, spent a fun week in Charleston with Fred and Dorothy on Aviva. Fred had flown in to meet us and he rented a car so together the six of us found great restaurants and even took a trip to Costco to re-provision - we were living well!! With Dan and Francine back aboard Terrapin, we headed offshore. As soon as we were out of the marina, we turned off the motor and had a great sail east to the Gulf Stream and made the turn north past Frying Pan Shoals towards Cape Hatteras.

The squalls loomed each morning and evening but nothing too terrible. We even had dolphins who decided to lead the way one morning. It was a mother and her calf and they stayed and danced on the bow of Terrapin for almost 30 minutes. We were all so excited to see them and watched as they went under and around the boat and then came back on the next wave.

As we continued to sail around Cape Hatteras, we expected 20 knots sustained with gusts up to 35 knots on a broad reach. We were ready to reef as necessary but as the hours passed, it seemed that the forecast was optimistic and we ended up motoring through most of the evening. With the sunrise the next morning, came thunderstorms at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Baxter throttled back and we watched the radar as the biggest cells moved up the coast and we headed into the bay.

Unfortunately, even with the storms passing, the wind never picked up and we motored all the way to the familiar slips at Bluewater Yachting Center. It was great to be back in the Chesapeake!