Today was a perfect day (although it did start early at 0430). We weighed anchor in the dark at 0500 and boy was it dark! Serenada and CS'ta Time stole quietly away however shortly after leaving the anchorage in Taylor Creek, Beaufort, N.C., we realized we were not alone. A very large and I mean very large, pleasure yacht was leaving at the same time. We moved to starboard to allow him to pass and as he was thanking us for doing so, he informed us that he had night vision (by instrument) and we could follow him out of Beaufort Inlet. As our night vision (by human) was far inferior, we gladly accepted. It was like having a personal pilot, certainly lessened my stress level.

After about an hour we were out of the inlet and into the Atlantic Ocean. Hard to believe the ocean was going to be less stressful than doing the secure route of the ICW. Out there we had no depth issues, no buoys and the sky was the limit for our masts. We had an awesome sunrise at 0730. Pictures do not do it justice.

Sunrise outside of Beaufort, N.C.

Shortly after breakfast we discovered we had further help in going south. A pod of dolphins decided to give us an escort. They danced and played around the boat (really liking the bow area) for about half an hour. Jorge got some great videos.

Dolphins on the way to Masonboro Inlet, N.C.

Later in the morning we heard Warship 94 on the radio. They were conducting "live ammunition gunnery practices". Oh how charming! Luckily for us they were aiming at the beach, unfortunately for ICW travellers, it was shut down for a period of time. If it's not crab pots we have to watch for it's warships!

The rest of the day was uneventful. The trip was wonderful. We had blue skies instead of overcast, warm temperatures, light winds, 2 foot waves and maybe 2 foot swells. We were able to motor sail until lunch time but then the wind really died and what was left came directly over the stern. One could not have asked for a better day. The guide book said the outside route was 73 nm while the inside route was 70 nm. We had the anchor set by 1650 in Masonboro Inlet, N.C.

We hosted happy hour shortly afterwards on CS'ta Time. Diana and Gilbert joined us as did Michel and Caroline (a French-Canadian couple who we first met in Elizabeth City) who also set sail offshore from Beaufort today. Vince and Marianne (the power boat people) were also in the anchorage, unfortunately they had a previously scheduled engagement so were unable to join us for happy hour.

It is going to be an early night, pooped from getting up so early but thrilled with our second Atlantic experience. Not sure exactly what we'll do tomorrow other than sleep in!