Port Royal for Fuel and Out Again

Around 3 AM the southerly wind picked up and the waves went to 4 feet plus. Foreign Affair broke through the waves and we rode the rocking horse for about 3 hours. We took some Bonine to knock off the queasiness. It worked. Things settled down shortly after the sun came up.

We passed the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island on our way to Port Royal. Marines recruited east of the Mississippi River get their initial training at Parris Island. The water tower at the base reads "We Make Marines" in big bold black letters.

Marine Corps Recruiting Depot Parris Island - We Make Marines

We arrived at the Port Royal Inlet just in time to catch last of the flood tide and rode it all the way to Port Royal.  There we took on fuel and immediately headed back out to continue our run south. As luck would have it, the tide changed to ebb shortly after departing Port Royal and we hit over 7 knots heading back out to sea. The total time in and out was 5 hours (2 1/2 in and 2 1/2 out).

We would not have stopped at Port Royal but continued on had the wind forecast been more favorable. We knew we didn't have enough fuel to reach St. Johns Inlet which was another 100 miles south and we didn't want to be tacking upwind when the forecast was for winds of 5 or less. So, we spent 5 hours to going in and out to refuel at Port Royal before continuing on our way.

By late afternoon the seas were as calm as we have seen in a long time. Waves were a foot or less and Foreign Affair was clipping through the water at greater than 6 knots, This continued all night. Again, we saw very few lights on the water and those we did see were at a great distance. Most of the time, the only lights we observed were the moon and stars. One particular star, appearing very bright in the sky roused our curiosity.  Thanks to Carla's star gazing app, we learned it was Sirius or the Dog Star. Again, the sky's lights provided a welcome glow on the waters as we plowed our way south.