Circumnavigation (of Carrot and Horse Islands)

I went down to Beaufort, North Carolina with my boat (Sea Pearl 21) and met up with a friend for a nice sail.  (Photos) There are a couple of islands (Carrot Island and Horse Island) that protect Beaufort from the Atlantic Ocean surging through the inlet.  Beyond the barrier islands are the infamous Cape Lookout Shoals (the 'graveyard of the Atlantic' because of the number of shipwrecks).  Our objective was to circumnavigate these islands.  The islands are part of a wildlife refuge and have wild ponies wandering about on shore.  We managed the trip in just over 4 hours which gave us a 2 knot average speed.  I blame all the tacking as otherwise the boat was fairly flying most of the time over 6kts.  Also, this was my first experience with significant currents.  

On the first part of the trip (counter-clockwise, to the west from the Taylor Creek Boat Ramp) we sailed away from the dock on mizzen only, rounded up and unfurled the main, then zipped down Taylor Creek, passing lots of vacation homes and docked mega-yachts to the north and moored  sailboats to the south.  Then we fairly flew to the southeast at speeds of 6.8-7.4 kts. Hull speed is about 6.2 kts, so we must have been pushed by a current of about 2 kts.  We overshot trying to follow the navigation aids and ended up in rough waters in the shipping lanes at the inlet.  Although the Sea Peal handled the 2 foot waves in this area well, it unfortunately coincided with current and wind against us.  After turning back north came the tacking battle, against the current.  At the time the GPS said we were doing 2.5-3.5 kts.  We made a quick lunch stop on Shackleford island (a barrier island, part of Cape Hatteras National Seashore).  From there we could see the current coming from the NE, right against the shore such that we had to set out an anchor (normally the boat will stay beached fairly well).  Sailing off the beach, we then continued tacking for another couple hours, this time with full sails, making a bit better boat speed. about 5 kts.  

Comparing the our actual route with the chart and the satellite photo, clearly the satellite photos win.  Frequently the paper chart and the GPS would show us over marsh and we could see the water depth was sufficient.  Next time I'll take the SE leg further east and avoid trying to follow the navigation markers that got us way down in the shipping channel!  

The only scary moment was coming back into Taylor Creek we had both sails full out and moving directly down wind.  I shifted weight in the boat and my friend momentarily found he could not change course due to the force on the sails and the rudder, which was very stiff.  We did round up and rolled up the mainsail, and heavily reefed the mizzen in preparation for docking.  After that the boat speed fell to around 2 kts and the helm returned to normal.  We coasted like this and rounded up gently to the dock at the boat ramp.

The weather was gorgeous and the water was warm. Plenty of wind and no rowing. Lots of birds standing in the water to warn us when to tack.  Even a pony or two was in view.  In the end we had a nice meal overlooking Taylor Creek as the sun was beginning to set on a great day on the water.