We had a great sailing night. More of the same conditions - Wind 20kts off the beam with seas 10 -12 fee and steady 7 knots of boatspeed. It is exciting being at the helm and hearing the big waves rush up behind you in the dark. At 6:00 am we used the sat phone to get a weather update and to check in with our weather coordinator. The NE wind that has been helping us along these past few days, is now doing us a disservice. The weather forecast for Cape Hatteras calls for gale force winds from the North. When these winds encounter the warm gulf stream, flowing at 4 kts in the opposite direction it will build very steep, 20' waves and make for a nasty environment. At Diamond Shoals, the Gulf stream comes in close to land, and the shallow water extends well off shore, so there is no escaping the conditions. And, the Gulf Stream is 80 miles wide, so its not practical to cut across it either. With the NE wind forecast expected to last two full days, and some of our crew members who are feeling some fatigue and the effects of what my father would call "lumpy seas", I decided the better course of action for all concerned would be to backtrack a bit to Norfolk and take the IntraCoastal waterway, which provides a slower, but protected inland route. 
At present we are in the mouth of the Chesapeake - still with a 20kt breeze and sizeable seas. This is one of the busiest commercial east coast ports, so we are dodging tankers and container ships that are coming and going to Norfolk and Newport News (glad we are doing this in the daylight).We'll be inshore for the next couple of days with lots of cell and Internet access - so everyone will be able to check in regularly.
- david
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