Pamlico Sound

We decided to wander off the ICW in search of some sailing. Following the waterway through the Alligator River, with chances of spotting bears and gators was tempting, but we opted for a chance of turning the engines off and were beautifully rewarded. The Pamlico Sound is 20 miles wide and protected by the Outer Banks, a chain of barrier islands. A strong breeze can generate a dreadful chop on its shallow waters, but we timed our sailing with a weather window that offered us fair winds and flat water.

Our best morning so far was when we left Wysocking Bay, halfway through the Sound. The alarm woke us up at 5am to a dead calm moonlit morning, celestial bodies reflecting on the mirror-like water. We were the only souls in several miles. We weighed anchor (easily, for once) and got under way when it was still dark. There was a dose of tension when we took a shortcut through a shoal, but it wouldn’t have been a great morning without some challenges, would it?

Out of the bay there was a gentle breeze, so we pointed the bows south-west, raised the sails, shut the engines off, turned Otto the autopilot on, trimmed the sails, and enjoyed a delicious breakfast while the sun rose to warm up the cockpit and the boat slid peacefully through perfectly flat waters at six knots in just five knots of wind. The only sounds were the swoosh of the water flowing under the hulls, and the occasional humming of the autopilot.

Best of all… nothing broke that day! Can’t say the same for the previous or following days, though. After three legs off the ICW we rejoined it at the Neuse River and followed it to the town of Beaufort.