Century Club: Rebekah B

Spent 90 minutes SH  practice on J#9 w/Robert. The main halyard doesn't run right on that boat. Definitely not taking it out for SH again. Would be in trouble if I had to get it down quickly myself for a downwind docking. I was too scared to shove off so let Robert take his turn first, but then I got some practice just tacking and jibing around in front of DSC, and then I took the last turn and got the jib down myself , had to go back up because I forgot to make sure the bowline was ready, then set my stern line up as well and went and did a surprisingly easy upwind dock, and held both lines as I got off so it actually went the way I meant it to. 
Then we hopped over to Akimbo for Harish to get some practice time in for his instructors exam. We anchored, reefed, hove to, and just sailed for a while. Got back in right around sundown. (About 3 hrs)

Took a J out for a brisk sail out past ft mchenry and caught up about my trip. Wind died down rather than picking up after the fort, and that combined with the easterly angle made a real bridge run unrealistic. Also, I've never experienced this sailing before (probably because I'm used to being dehydrated in the heat or avoiding liquids while on watch off shore) but in the cold I developed a pretty urgent need to pee that forced me to ask to head back an hour before I wanted. :-( That really really pissed me off. I don't want that happening again. 

Holy moley today was peak ICW. I think we will go outside tomorrow. We started the day with a swing bridge and 3 MILES of something called "The Rock Pile". The name says it all. Thankfully a nice Endeavor 42 came out right before us (another Aquamap user!) so we followed him most of the way to Georgetown. (I know it was an Endeavor 42 because some guy sitting on his deck in Myrtle Beach radioed him to compliment the boat and get the make and year. It was awesome.) We went through another dozen or so bridges (at least 3 swing bridges) and the last one (Ocean Highway Bridge just outside Georgetown) pinged the antenna! This one wasn't even supposed to be iffy but it was for sure not higher than 63ft. However, we did come in at high tide so that certainly contributed. Of course there wasn't a measurment board to check on this one before we went under. The good part about coming in at high tide is that the very very worrying deep red "channel" into Georgetown harbor was closer to 9-10 ft than 6, so hurrah. Next high tide is 4:30 am so we plan to leave early. There was a very scenic bit of winding river through a forest with actually reasonably deep water for a while this afternoon so that was really lovely. We also saw a sun dog, and a pack of sea gulls who were following us like dogs begging for scraps. They kept swooping and hovering beind us and cawing. 

Went on the outside through Onslow Bay about 70 miles. I like going on the outside sooooooo much better than the ICW. There were dolphins and hardly any waves or wind, though we did get the jib out towards the end which was nice. Managed to snag the fuel dock for overnight at sea path marina. (VERY nice showers!) And Zach and Lindsey picked me up and took me to dinner with her parents which was extra awesome.