Yesterday was a day of contrasts. It started out rather well: great winds, caught a large bonito (released), autopilot working more often then not, etc. I coasted down the coast, maintaining a cellular connection so that I could say goodnight to Jessica once she completed studying. I next headed a little off shore, intending to gybe back toward the coast by sunrise, but was overcome some lousy weather. The forecast spoke of a "slight chance of rain, but what I encountered was torrential. It poured down in buckets and the winds whipped up to 25-30 knots. It was a pitch black night with overcast skies and no moon, so there really wasn't much warning of the pending change. Naturally my old enemy, the autopilot, chose this moment to crap out for the rest of the day, so I found myself extremely busy steering, reefing, heaving to, etc. After getting my butt kicked for the 6 hours preceding sunrise, and hearing a not-so-great forecast for Thursday, I opted to head to Charleston. Of course I arrived at the peak of the ebb tide, so the always-long transit seemed to take forever.
After hours of chilly rain, the sun emerged as I entered Charleston Harbor. I dropped the hook, stripped off my soaking wet clothing and jumped into the shower. I wolfed down a bowl of beans, hung up my wet items to dry and am now updating the blog. I can't wait to get some sleep, something I'm going to do right now. I'll make a decision about tomorrow some time later this evening after checking out the forecasts.
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