FL to CT - Day 30
Columbia, NC to Coinjock, NC
It had calmed down during the night... at about 0200 there was not a bit of wind and flat calm... woke up at 0530 to the wind gusting over 20 knots... it was now out of the NE as it was forecast. Did my usual morning routine, checked the engines and was ready to depart at 0630... Lily and Susan were not yet ready and I had to coax them to get up and get ready to go. An hour later everyone was ready and I went out pull the anchor.
I flipped the switch to turn on the hydraulic pump and hit the button to raise the anchor... NOTHING HAPPENED... flipped switch off and back on... still nothing... off to the engine room to see what was up. I found two broken belts for the pump laying in the bilge... Killed the engines and broke out the tools... I had spare belts so it was just a little time to install the two new belts... well an hour of time... back at to the bow at 0830 to raise the anchor... with the wind and the muddy chain took about 15 minutes to bring the anchor up... 0845 underway.
We had to cross the Albemarle Sound this morning and it was going to be a rough crossing... NE winds 25 knots with higher gusts that produced a steady 3-4 seas with a few bigger rogue waves... the pilothouse windows were getting plummeted with spray... 2 hours before we reached smoother water... poor Lily got seasick... felt so bad for her... :( After the rough ride we were ready to stop early and called Coinjock Marina to reserve a space.
We arrived to Coinjock and were secure at the dock at 1345
N36°20.999', W075°56.881'. We traveled today for 5 hours covering 33.0 nautical miles averaging 6.6 knots. The marina is expecting a full dock tonight and packed us in tight... boat behind us about a foot away... :)