We are terribly behind on our travel posts from this fall! I think part of the reason we’ve fallen so far behind that (at least for me!) the very idea of trying to catch up is so overwhelming that I struggle to even get started on a new post. Nevermind all the time it takes to go through all our photographs to select which ones to share. We always seem to start posting in places where we have limited internet, and it takes forever to get even one or two of the photos edited and uploaded. But enough with the excuses – today I will just start from today!
If you’ve been following our Garmin Tracker and/or our Instagram account, you will see that we have finally reached Hampton, Virginia, on the Southern end of the Chesapeake Bay. We are here to join with the other members of the Salty Dawg Rally and sail across the Atlantic to Antigua! There are about 100 boats all going together, leaving from either Newport, RI, or Hampton, VA, and sailing to either the Bahamas or Antigua (some are also making a quick stop in Bermuda). Our tentative departure date is Tuesday, November 1st (weather permitting), and the fleet will arrive sometime between November 10th (for the fast boats) and November 15th (for the slower boats), give or take a few days. Sailing as part of the rally means we have lots of support for the crossing, including (but definitely not limited to!) professional weather forecasts and routing assistance, constant monitoring and shore support from Salty Dawg volunteers, and just the simple fact of being one of many boats out on the ocean at the same time, so there are people there to help you if you need it. Two weeks on the ocean is a daunting idea, and joining the rally has made preparing for this crossing a lot less terrifying.
While nothing will be definite for another day or two, it looks like we will be heading out on, or slightly before, November 1st. If you want to follow us on our journey, you can follow the fleet on the Salty Dawg/PredictWind tracker map, available here (if you just want to see our boat, Innisfree, you can use this link). We are one of the smallest boats in the rally, and expect to be in the ‘slow boat’ group that brings up the back of the pack. So don’t be concerned if most of the boats have landed and we’re still out there – it’s not a race, and Antigua will still be waiting for us when we arrive! Also, if the tracker stops for any reason, please don’t worry! The shore support team will be watching us as well, checking in with us if the tracker stops, and helping us get any necessary assistance.
And now, since we have been remiss in sharing photos recently, here’s a pic from a few weeks ago, when we were sailing from Port Washington to Cape May. Let’s hope we get at least a few days on the crossing with equally calm seas!