This is the trip we tried to do in the fall with Austin. We had turned around after exiting the inlet as it was rough and too upwind to sail. We were now doing it in reverse. It was predicted to be about a 12 hour journey.
We left Wrightsville in the dark at 4 am. The goal was to get to the Beaufort inlet before the tide change at 4 pm. That way the current would be with us getting into the inlet.
The Wrightsville inlet (Masonboro inlet) was well marked. Some of the cans were not lighted but we were able to spotlight them and the chart track was good. We waited until light to put up the sails as it was a bit rocky. There was not much wind initially and we motor sailed until the wind picked up.
At that point, we were able to sail over 6 knots and we made it to the inlet around 3 pm. The channel is a little confusing in there but we made our way to Taylor Creek. On our way in, we passed Cape Lookout. It is on my list for perhaps a fall trip. The beach and dunes are beautiful.
The Beaufort anchorage was very crowded. Some of our old friends were there ; Greg and Ann from Halekai and Laci and Mike on Russamee. We texted with them to say hello and wish them safe travels. We opted to dock at Beaufort City Docks. David did a fine job pulling into a slip there. Two very competent dockhands helped us into the tight space. We met Perry and Cathy at Mezcalito for dinner, went for a short walk and headed to bed.
We planned to leave around 6 am with the slack tide. The slips behind us were empty so we felt like we had lots of space to turn. We are planning to try and go 50 miles a day. We are on the final 250 miles of our trip.