NC -25 miles in Getaway feasible?

I plan to sail 25 miles south from Morehead City,NC to Hammocks Beach State Park,NC. Parallel to Emerald Isle.

Have a 2013 Getaway and 30 years sailing experience, 2 years on cat. Already, sailed twice to Cape Lookout, once in 30knot winds.

Can I reasonably make 25-30 miles in 4-6 hours with 8-10 knots of breeze? Crew of 3 plus beach camping gear.
Other than weather and seas, what concerns would you have.


https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hammo ... 8?hl=en-US

I assume you mean in the ocean rather than in the sound? I'm not familiar with that exact area, but I don't see why not. Especially if you have some experience with a similar trip. If the conditions are wrong you just don't go, but the ocean is generally quite manageable on a 16-footer if you are experienced.

How are the swells in that area? One of the worst conditions is not having enough wind to stabilize the boat. I'd personally be looking for 10+ and not on a dead run.

The 4~6 hours part doesn't seem like a problem in 10+ but I don't know about 8. Last summer we sailed my 16 up from Rodanthe through Oregon Inlet and back down to Rodanthe in light winds and we made it in that time frame. That was about 30 miles including tacking, with the wind from the NE.

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I think it all really depends on wind direction. You would do OK on a close, beam, or broad reach, but on a dead run or an upwind course, I think you're going to have a tough time. Getaways are not exactly known for their upwind performance. Add to that a third person, a hundred or so pounds of gear, the extra distance for tacking upwind to your destination, and fairly light wind and I think you could be in for a pretty long trip. Same goes for a dead downwind course. The extra distance required to "tack" downwind is going to add a considerable length to your trip (if you have a spinnaker, that would certainly help). A straight line reach should be feasible though.

Another way to look at it, many of the larger distance races have legs that are between 70 and 100 miles. Roughly 2 to 3 times the distance you're looking to sail, but they race on boats that are probably 2 times faster or more than your getaway. Sometimes they complete the leg in 6 hours, sometimes it takes them into the night - all depends on the conditions.

I would give some consideration to what you will do if you don't make it all the way (either due to weather or a break down). Are there beaches along the way where you can stop? Would someone be able to access you if you need assistance?

sm

As SRM says, it depends on the wind..... and in your case, the sea conditions, tide/chop etc
I suggest you have a Plan B if the timing does not work when you are out on the water.

Last summer, in a moment of madness, I called my lovely wife and suggested we do the Port o' Call Long Distance Challenge.
(Go to Google maps, and look up Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and go to the 18 mile section of the river upstream of the rapids... so from the head of the rapids up to Port o' Call Marina) and back.
12.8 nautical miles upriver and another 12.8 back, as the seagull flies, (not counting tacking/gybing).

The weather forecast said 10 Knots from the NE, which is good wind and flat water, so on my H18SX with spin, I figured 1 hour up and 90 minutes back.

We probably left the dock an hour too late... which meant that 1/2 mile short of the turnaround at 5.30 pm, the wind started dying.
We made Port O' Call, turned, and 1/2 an hour later, with the sun going down, we started to drift... and I have no navigation lights. Yikes!
Move to Plan B...out with the paddles....and we paddled about 3 miles to Pinney's Point, when the NE breeze picked up again.

Sailing at night is very peaceful, and lucky I know the river well. We could see the other sailboats by their lights, so we managed to stay clear.
Just to be safe, I would take a picture with my waterproof camera, which meant the flash would fire, then the others could see me.
I now have a flashlight in my emergency pack.

Sailing back into the dock at 10.30 pm, we were surprised to see two keelboats heading upriver for the weekend.
They were just as surprised to see us coming in.
We were in bed in time to watch the last part of the 11 pm news.

It always helps to have a Plan B.

BTW, ours was the fastest time in 2015 for a cat, so we did win an Inter-Club award for our late night adventure.
Good luck with yours.

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I live within a mile of Hammocks Beach and sail Bogue sound regularly. I am curious as to why start at Morehead City and sail to Hammocks Beach? Cape Lookout National park is much closer, if you are starting from Morehead. If your goal is to camp at Hammocks why not start a little closer to it? It seems to me it would take a specific weather forecast to make it comfortably. The predominant wind direction is out of the southwest which would put you beating into the wind most of the way. If the wind picks up wave action increases to the point it may become difficult especially carrying camping gear. Years ago we had several catamarans that sailed from Wrightsville Beach to Masonboro Island @ 5 miles. We had someone in a power boat shuttle the camping gear to the Island for us. We had a great time Saturday and got situated nicely. During the night a front pushed thru and we woke to 25 knot winds. All but two of us chose to carry our catamarans over the dunes to the sound side. I had experience in heavy weather sailing and beach launching in surf so I was up for the challenge. It was a little sketchy getting thru the surf but after that in was a wild ride and we had a lot more fun than the ones carrying boats thru soft sand. If you have any questions about the area feel free to contact me.