We Are Off - Finally!



Larry, Sherry, Dennis and Bob ready and waiting to go!  

 Well the big day has finally arrived! After another delay, it is now Friday and the Start time is 10 AM. Since we are not in the competition group, we will get there when we get there!

We are heading out to sea. I am not sure what weather situations we will meet out there, but the Rally team feels it is time to go. It looks like some high winds on the way out and then we should hit a long stretch of not much wind. It's a hurry up and wait situation. Go fast, then stall. Like the freeway in the rush hour!

Ideally, you leave on the backside of a low pressure system to take advantage of the counter-clockwise air flow. And also to get out before the next low pressure system moves in - and it will! That would cause another delay. However, Tropical Storm Sean has created some uncertainty in the winds. It should be north of our path, but we are expecting up to 10 foot waves on top of the swells.

I can guarantee that NO ONE here wants another delay. Not only is it expensive, boring and frustrating, it is eating up our time in the islands! This year we planned to give ourselves more time once we were there. Now we are watching those extra days disappear before our very eyes.

Here we are waving goodbye to Hampton on the beach at Fort Monroe. Unfortunately, we did not leave the day after this was taken!

Still Waiting to Depart!

Here it is Tuesday evening and we are playing cards in the cockpit. There is no reason to be scurrying about as we have now been delayed until 9 AM Thursday. It is hard to believe there is a big gale off the coast because we have had two of the most beautiful days: blue sky, no clouds, warm sunshine and mild breeze. These would have been perfect sailing days, but …

For the sake of safety, the Rally team does not want to send us all out to meet up with rough weather. The Gulf Stream is challenging enough without facing an oncoming storm! The reports suggest the seas are 15 feet with gale winds. And the gale is not moving out to sea as fast as they originally thought. We will have more details at Wednesday afternoon Skipper’s Meeting.

In the meantime, I am finding it very frustrating trying to get online to work and blog. Even my Droid 2 hot spot is not allowing me to get on the Internet! No one is having any luck with connections. So much for adding the WiFi equipment! The access here is sub par. We can connect with the boat hot spot and my cell phone hot spot intermittently. And, of course, it stops right before you have a chance to save your work!

Today Bob gave us a wonderful tour of the Fort Monroe area. The Fort had been in existence and continuously occupied since 1823. President Obama recently signed a bill to establish the facility as a national park so the Army has moved out and the tourists have enjoyed the open grounds. The Casemate Museum in the fort has the cell of captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis. We also saw the Quarters of Robert E. Lee, who was stationed there from 1831 to 1834.

The Old Point Comfort Lighthouse has been in continuous operation since 1802. Mile Post Zero is located there. From this site, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad measured distances westward along its 664.9 miles of track to Cincinnati, Ohio.

I am not a history buff; Dennis is. I do have to say it was one of the most interesting museum tours I have taken. I am sure this was because Col. Bob (Retired) has lived the life and is an amazing source of stories and experiences. He shared the many details of the military life displayed in the museum.

Tomorrow we may visit the Maritime Museum or the Air and Space Museum since we have to do something until the 3 PM Skipper’s Meeting.

It's a No-Go!

Bob suggesting that Pixie will cook dinner!

The weather has us in a 48 hour holding pattern. It looks like departure will be on Wednesday at noon. That is, if the gale between here and Bermuda diminishes like they are suggesting. The whole scenario seems like a replay of last year!

This gives us extra time to fine tune everything - and spend more money at West Marine! Tonight we are having dinner at Pixie and Bob's house. It will be a nice change from eating in restaurants. I don't want to dip into the ship's stores yet as we need the provisions on board for the passage.

Today was a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky and very little wind. It looked like a perfect day to sail. However, the storm off the coast is having everyone one alert!

Is the Weather Going to Cooperate?

Glad we are snuggled in between the big ones!

Our scheduled departure for the Rally is Monday, November 7th at Noon. Right now it is looking like the weather will permit an on-time departure. As I write this on Friday night, the wind is gusting to over 45 knots and we are tugging on the dock lines. Fortunately we are tucked in between two huge power boats so one on them is blocking some of the force. We had to take down the Rally flags as they were pounding in the wind.

The forecast for Cape Hatteras and the open water is not pretty. The winds have been very strong and the waves very high. There have been flood warnings on the rivers off the Chesapeake Bay due to the surge of the ocean coming into the bay. There is a low pressure system creating this wind. It is supposed to be moving out tomorrow and a high moving in. High pressure systems are good as they bring pleasant weather. Hopefully by Monday, all will be right with the world!

I can feel the boat straining on its lines and we are moving around in our slip and rocking some. And I am not looking forward to the long walk up to the head tonight! It rained on and off during the night and all day today. We still have a lot of deck prep to do before heading out so we need the weather to settle down. I guess these are the joys of fall sailing.

This scan from the noaa.gov weather site shows why we are having the winds. They are predicting great weather - but not much wind - for Monday and Tuesday. So it may be a slow ride this year!

Catching Up with the Rally



Love a great sunrise!

After the ice delay in Tracy's Landing, MD, we had a lovely sail on Monday. The wind was perfect for sailing south to the Solomon's Island area where we docked for the night. As we went ashore and walked into town for dinner, we joined the neighborhood kids doing their Trick or Treating. Since we didn't really go to the door anywhere, we tried to convince the kids that we were dressed up as sailors and that maybe they could share their candy. No luck! Smart kids!

Our second day of sailing took us down the west side of the Chesapeake Bay where we anchored in Fishing Bay near Deltaville. It was a wonderful anchorage with many other south-bound sailboats joining us. Apparently it is a favorite spot during warm weather and is often very crowded. Since there was not a great deal of wind on Tuesday, we did some motor sailing to get into the anchorage before sunset as it is a very tricky channel in and out. The Bay was full of sailboats heading to warmer climates. You see, for most of us, the insurance policy states that you can't go too far south before November 1. You could tell it was, indeed, November 1 on the Chesapeake Bay!

We look small next to the
huge super yachts! 

Wednesday was a short day of sailing so we allowed ourselves to sleep in. Usually we are up before sunrise and ready to raise the anchor as soon as possible. It is amazing how quickly our body clocks adjust to "up with sun, down with the sun." After a day of doing very little compared to our schedules on land, we are wiped out. I guess it is the sun and wind and the constant motion, trying to keep your body in balance.

Again it was a day of motor sailing with light winds. We probably should have put up the gennaker, but it is neatly stowed and ready for the crossing. We pulled into Bluewater Yachting Center and was Med-moored (stern in) at the dock by 3:45 PM. Stern in docking is a challenge and I have only done it a couple of times.

Gwenn and Perry Smith with Dennis

Gwenn and Perry headed to the outer banks for the rest of their vacation and to celebrate Gwenn's birthday. Pixie and Bob joined us and we went to dinner at Marker 20. Davis Murray and his Barefoot Davis Band was playing for the Caribbean 1500 Rally event. You can download Davis' rendition of Dead Man's Chest at: http://barefootdavis.net/media/mp3/dead-mans-grave.mp3?link=1. Check out the YouTube video: http://barefootdavis.net/fr_latestnews.cfm. He is a fun guy living the lifestyle many guys envy!