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urban areas as we approached Myrtle Beach and (further north) =
Wilmington.  It was interesting to wait for swing bridges of differing =
types.  I would be running the motor in reverse, stern to wind and =
current (thankfully in the same direction most of the time) and having =
to be constantly attending to the boat moving around.  At the same time =
I would watch the big Hatteras sport fishing boats just sitting there, =
hardly moving and needing only an occasional adjustment with their twin =
screws to keep in place in the channel-the difference 20,000 pounds and =
big props make.

Tuesday evening we made it to Wrightsville Beach, above Cape Fear.  The =
next morning we set out from Masonboro Inlet to sail outside to Beaufort =
Inlet just below Cape Hatteras (about 50 miles).  The morning was very =
light and we set full sail.  Three other keel boats went out with us and =
motor sailed away to the horizon.  Later, as the wind came up we slowly =
reeled them in and by early afternoon had left them behind.  The Navy =
was conducting live fire tests, shelling the Marines at Camp Lejune.  =
They were closing the ICW for a period of time that day, so we were glad =
to be outside.  We were about 20 miles off shore and at least 10 miles =
from the warship.  They were using their five inch guns and we could =
hear/feel the pounding from them even 10 miles or more away.  It made me =
wonder what the impact is of a full battleship salvo with their 16 inch =
guns; that must be overwhelming to be close to that kind of firing.

Winds were from the SE and again, came up enough to put in the second =
reef.  We had a tense moment out in the Beaufort channel with a Coast =
Guard cutter that we couldn't figure out what they were doing and a tug =
with a very large barge tow.  The channel is quite narrow and as we got =
on the north side of it, I realized that we were only a mile and a half =
from the lee shore beach and the water was going to shoal quickly.  The =
waves were getting noticeably steeper.  We put the motor down and headed =
up and dropped sail before the situation deteriorated.  It was a bit of =
a roller coaster ride into the, now, steep swells.  With all sails down =
safely we motored in and bid goodbye to the Atlantic.

The next three days were spent motoring into N to NE winds with cool, =
cloudy and rainy weather.  The boat definitely doesn't like to motor =
into the wind and chop.  The motor would cavitate easily and we were =
able to make only 4.5 to 5 kts sometimes.  Up the Neuse River, the =
Pamlico River, the Pongo River and the Alligator River.  On the third =
day the wind clocked to the NE enough to allow us to sail that morning =
across Albamarle Sound, our last big body of water in that section.  We =
made it into the Norfolk/Hampton area Saturday evening where we had to =
seek shelter in Hampton Harbor because of an arriving NE gale coming =
through for the next three days.  We left the boat the next day and =
drove home to the Washington, DC area.  A week later we came back and =
successfully sailed Fitness Resource to her home port of Galesville, MD.

Some thoughts:
*	I am not sure I am a blue water sailor.  I never relaxed or slept well =
while off shore.  But maybe this is just a familiarity issue.  I had =
never been that far off shore (40 miles) before and am uncertain about =
the boat's capabilities.  Being a beach cat sailor, I am hyper sensitive =
to tipping over.
*	The boat is WIDE (25').  One really has to get used to this, while =
maneuvering in anything but open areas.
*	The cockpit needs some baffles on the drains.  In any active sea =
state, water continually sloshes (even squirts with some pressure) up =
and keeps the cockpit floor thoroughly wet.
*	The boat, as we had it loaded, is very wet when going fast.  I naively =
thought about sailing off shore at 15+ kts, doing 300 mile days.  I now =
think that 10 to 12 kts is a fine speed off shore for a fully loaded =
boat.
*	The tradewinds are not as benign as I thought.  We sailed in the =
remains of the trade winds going up the FL coast.  The real trade winds =
run 15 to 25 kts or more and the seas must build quite large as they run =
across the ocean unimpeded.  I think after my limited experience with =
the remains of these winds that they must be quite intimidating.  =
Wonderful for large, heavy, slow square riggers, but daunting for =
modern, fast sailboats.
*	The large, open cockpit is nice, but one must be careful crossing it =
and moving around in it in a seaway; always have a hand hold while =
walking.  I called it the "simian safety walk".
*	The reefing station is 2/3 of the way back to the rear of the boom and =
consists of the clew/leech reef line clutch, the outhaul clutch, the =
Cunningham clutch and a winch.  This set up did the job, but it seemed =
unnecessarily dangerous to be standing on the motor cover, tethered onto =
the boom, swinging around with the boom as the boat yaws downwind in the =
following seas while trying to crank the winch in a coordination with =
the halyard being dropped.  Then one has to winch tight the Cunningham =
which was been secured to its new loop on the luff of the main.  It's a =
job for 3 to 4 people.  There has to be a safer, simpler way.  The =
safest place, if one is outside of the cockpit, is just in front of it =
on the main beam, by the mast step.  This is mid point on the boat and =
the motion is much smaller and you have more to hold on to.
*	The motor (40 hp Suzuki 3 cylinder with fuel injection), while =
wonderful for this delivery trip (we motored a total of 5 =BD days =
overall; sometimes for 12 hours straight) it is too large and heavy and =
puts too much strain on the designed lift systems.  It was very quiet, =
unnoticeable at idle, and not very noisy in the hulls, probably due as =
much to the central pod location as to the motor.  The steerable motor =
works pretty well and the central motor cover is nice to climb on when =
we needed to get to the boom (see comment above), but twin motors would =
give more control.  There is no way to turn this boat in its length, =
which you can do with the twin motors.  Smaller, dual motors, also =
wouldn't stress the lift systems as much.  This motor has a 20" shaft, =
but could use a 25" shaft to limit cavitation.
*	There is an impressive amount of room on the boat down below.  The =
saloon held six of us very comfortably.  The galley is well arranged and =
the bunks are comfortable and large.  One just has to get used to the =
low headroom in the main beam queen size bunks.

David Nees