Anchored in Cape Lookout Bight--Thank God!

The wind was below 5 knots and the sea was calm when we started the latest leg of our journey, pulling up anchor at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening.  We entered the lower Chesapeake and the winds picked up to 12-14 knots, and we sailed down the channel and out into the Northern Atlantic.  The skies were clear but clouded up over the night.  The wind was sometimes too light to sail and we had to motor over the next 24 hours, all through Wednesday.  Around midnight, we started encountering bad weather.  I stood watch for about an hour, but the wind was alternating from southwest to northeast and we were in danger of jibing, so I had to wake Peter up.  Making little progress in the storm, we heaved to around 2 a.m. this morning to get some rest, but the howling of the wind and the pitching and yawing of the boat was not restful, so within a half an hour we were underway again.  Torrential rain poured, and the following wind blew it into the pilot house, so there was no escaping the weather, especially for poor Peter, who was on deck the whole night.  He suffered the most, but I was unable to sleep the whole night either.  The wind settled in from the north at 20-30 knots, with frequent gusts up to 36.  The 6 to 8 foot waves were pummeling the hull. Visibility was down to zero, even when lightning sparked the clouds a ghostly white.

I took watch before dawn.  I saw a shooting star in the part of the sky that was clear.  (It doesn't take much to brighten things up when it's basically a dark and stormy night.)  Peter changed out of his wet clothes and collapsed on one of the seats in the pilot house.  The wind had died down to 13 knots, but the waves were still 2 to 4 feet with short intervals.

Peter sleeping in the pilot house after a rough night

At 7 a.m., our spirits were rescued by dophins, dozens of dolphins converging on the bow, arcing out of the water and practicing synchronized swimming.  Despite the drenched decks, I went up to the bow to watch them.  They stayed to play for about half an hour.

Dolphins to the rescue

Dolphins under the anchor

Then the wind picked up again to 20 knots after the lull, and we motored around Cape Lookout and into the bight where, along with a few other boats heading south, we found some refuge from the storm.  The boat is not rocking, but the wind has been howling all day, which always makes me feel anxious.  It is supposed to last through the night, and more rain is on the way.

Tomorrow should be better.  (Photos later because the connection is not strong enough for uploading.)