Beaufort NC to Charleston SC

[Wade]

Hi, Been a while since I've been here. Weather permitting I'll be sailing my 36 ft Junk rigged schooner from Oriental NC to Charleston SC the last week of April/First week of May. I hope to go offshore from Beaufort and stay out to Charleston. I know about Masonboro Inlet but would prefer staying offshore if conditions are favorable. I'm looking for local knowledge of passing southbound through Frying Pan Shoals Slue or going outside the Slue.    Thanks   Wade

[w00dy]

Hi Wade

Wondering how your trip went. We cruised through both of those areas though it has been a few years since then. Your boat sounds interesting. Is she a Colvin design or something else?

[Bubba the Pirate]

I crewed with Wade. The boat is an Allied Princess re-rigged as a junk schooner.

Great trip but I'll tell Wade know he has a inquiry on Sailfar. :-)

[w00dy]

Thanks Bubba. Did you write a blog post about that trip/boat? Can't remember reading about it.

[Wade]

Hi Woody,  Thanks for asking about the trip. We had a great run. We missed our offshore window from Beaufort thanks to some sneaky barnacles on the prop. But a few days run inside to Wrightsville and then outside at Cape Fear gave us a 26 hr offshore run to Charleston.  The boat is a 36 Allied Princess. Her Junk rig designed by Tad Roberts.  She is Aux powered with a 10 kw electric motor. Maybe not your normal Sailfar boat but when we began getting overpowered by 20-25 knot winds on a beam reach with 6 ft seas I believe she fulfilled the simple side of the equation quite well when I was able to reef both sails in under a minute without changing course, waking my crew or venturing on deck. Bubba the Pirate was invaluable crew and has written about the trip on his blog. I was able to find very little info about southbound travel through Frying Pan Slue so unless conditions had been ideal we would have come in at Masonboro Inlet. I expect to be making this trip almost yearly so maybe next year.  PS I cannot praise the junk rig enough.