We made it out into the ocean! The swells grew larger and farther spaced as the water changed in color and our hearts warmed with anticipation!
I slowly gained my confidence back, realizing that while the forecast called for strong winds, the forecast was wrong. We raised the jib back up and began our journey along at 7 knots moving ourselves in a southerly direction.
About 4 miles off shore, we had many guests join us on our trip: Dragonflies!
The first one we noticed landed on our lifelines, the second on the weather station pole. We thought they were lost, but then we looked to the mainsail and saw them swarming around it, flying in and out of the air behind the leech. I'm not sure why they were 4 miles off shore, but I bet they were glad to find a place to rest!
As the day drew on, we neared the border of Virginia and North Carolina. We were very excited but also rather tired. I had a feeling the winds would build so we decided to put up the storm sails for the night while we hove to.
Maddie thought I was being paranoid wanting to put up the trisail in 12 knots of wind, but she was a good sport and helped me run the sheets to it. By sunset, the winds had built to 20 knots and we were comfortably hove to and ready for our first night on the ocean!
