What a day....

Woke up to bright sunshine this morning - and cold! BRRRRR! But an interesting day on the water. First, the couple on the brand new Catalina 355 I 'raced' against yesterday in Bogue Sound - they put their boat aground, fortunately at low tide. Tried to pull them out but Gypsy Wind isn't strong enough for that job. I expect they floated off within an hour or two. The woman on board admitted to it being her fault, she was at the helm - and was singing 'Oh what a beautiful morning' when it happened. Now if that isn't just asking for trouble!

Just another sunset...

Later on, saw more dolphins, then still more again, plus some pelicans, seagulls and two deer, all in the same area. Busy little waterfront it was!
Today was a long sail into Wrightsville Beach, just over 50 miles. I was lucky with current, it was in my favour almost the entire day, which is rare, so I made good time. That, and with some wind to help out, saw us booming along at over 7 knots on a couple of occasions. Then, I managed to come to each of the bridges as they were about to open, so no bridge delays. 

I'm telling you, after a day like today, I'm scared to head back out - I'm going to have to pay for all this good luck today. And wouldn't you know it - the next section of the ICW is....Cape FEAR!

Gypsy Wind in Oriental

Live Fire Warning at Camp Lejeune
However, all was quiet on the ICW frontlines today - whew!

Tomorrow I'll be spending some time with two Canadian friends here at Seapath Marina, Tony and Dominique. We're starting the day with some Tim Hortons (it's a Canadian thing!), then Dominique is going to sew the zippers that are coming loose on the bimini, while Tony and I go spend money at West Marine. After that - well, we'll likely drink some wine and have dinner....and watch the sun go down after a mid to high 60s day.
Life is good.