The long route north

We left Fernandina Beach on Saturday, April 7 and worked our way to the northwest end of Cumberland Island on the ICW.   Cumberland Island is one of our favorite spots so it was hard not to stop to sight see especially with the ponies visible along the shore.   We anchored for the night near the St. Andrews Inlet and went out into the ocean headed for Beaufort, NC on Easter Sunday around 7 am.   We figured this was about a 50 hour trip, depending on the wind and waves.   When we are offshore, we take 3-hour shifts at the helm.   We had winds varying between 15-23 on the port quarter and a 6' following sea.   I don't know who coined the term "Fair winds and a following sea" but for the most part a following sea is not fun.  Although most of the time it felt like we were surfing the waves, the drop off from a  6' wave tended to rock the boat from side to side, making cooking and sleeping a little challenging.   We were flying along between 7-8 knots but definitely holding carefully on to the handrails as we moved around in the boat.  At 3:30 am on Monday morning, Ann was at the helm and we were near the sea buoys off of Charleston when we heard a very loud BANG and the boom separated from the gooseneck attachment and the mast.   For the non-sailors, the mast is the big vertical stick in the sky and the boom is the big horizontal aluminum piece that controls the bottom edge of the sail.   We had 18 knots of wind at the time and the boom was secured off to starboard with the preventer.   It didn't feel like and the wind did not indicate a jibe and the only thing we can figure is that the rivets holding gooseneck attachment to the boom failed under stress.   Maybe the rolling seas contributed to the failure but we have sailed in far more challenging seas than this without an issue.   The real question is WHY, WHY, WHY does this stuff always happen out at sea in the middle of the night (not to mention on Ann's watch!)?   The loud bang woke Joe up and he put on a lifejacket, strapped himself to the port jackline and went out on deck in 6' seas to drop the sail and secure the boom.   Meanwhile, Ann reviewed man overboard drills and financial beneficiary status in her head.   Just another day on Short Walk.  

Without a mainsail, being at sea in 20 knots of wind and building seas is no picnic, so we turned into Charleston (taking the 6' waves on the beam for 2+ hours) and anchored just off the ICW to access the damage.   Of course, we initially assumed the worse and were looking into buying a new boom (cha-ching!) but talking with good friends on Big Run, we realized the boom can most likely be repaired (the boom is much longer than the sail and can be trimmed and re-riveted).   We decided not to attempt repairs along the way but will research this back in Rock Hall.   Therefore, we are staying on the calmer waters of the ICW all the way from Charleston to Norfolk.   We can still use the jib to sail when it makes sense but the boom is now lashed to the deck of the boat and we curse at it daily as we stub our toes on the way to the bow.  

The good news is, we got to skip the section of the ICW that goes through Georgia which is gorgeous but VERY tedious.   We re-entered the ICW quite a bit below our original destination of Beaufort but cruising for the past couple years has definitely taught us to slow down and enjoy the journey.   What happens, happens.   No one got hurt and it is easily repairable.   Not necessarily in the budget but who drafted that stupid budget anyway?  FYI, this event had nothing to do with our decision to sell the boat.  

We hope to be back to Rock Hall by the end of April or early May.