Waiting for good weather

In Hampton, Virginia for the next 24 to 48 hours.  There is a weather system that is generating large seas that is better to wait out.  The guys anchored last night, but went ashore last night to check out the town, shower, pick up last minute goods.  Had to inflate the dinghy and will restow later. 

The team cooked dinner.  Steve cooked fish on the grille, Rob made a salad, Ted cooked some veggies, and Bill did dishes.  Code enjoyed a tasty meal.  Hmmmm....

On our way: 6 May, 2011.

The WHY KNOT left Herrington Harbor at 9 pm.  A little earlier than expected to stay well ahead of a low pressure system in North Carolina.  Arrival in Bermuda is expected on Wednesday May 11.   Aethan ceremoniously started the boat engine for Dad.  Crew was excited, Code was anxious until the boat pulled out of the marina, then we all felt a sigh of relief!  The adventure begins!

Aethan and I sat on the dock watching the WHY KNOT disappear into the night.  Saying goodbye was really hard for Aethan!  It was hard for me, too, but also a relief.  Nothing more I can do at this point to organize, feed, pack, and plan.  They're off. 

Last few days of Preparation...

Spent a very long day today working out the kinks.  Stowed about 200 pounds of food, hoisted our brand new mainsail, and added LED lights to the mast. 

Tomorrow is more of the same - adding a reefing system to the main (basically a way to quickly reduce sail area exposed in times of storm), extra halyards (ropes that pull the sail up) and more squeezing big things into small places. 

Posted a bunch of new pics too...

 

Still spending like a drunken sailor!

I buy a lot of stuff at Bacon Sails in Annapolis.  It's like Home Depot for sailers.  They specialize in used sails with over 10,000 in stock at any given time. But in addition, they do a thriving business of used sailing equipment.  A lot of it is junk (read: old, outdated, rusty) but if you look hard enough, and on a daily basis like I do, you find gems galore. For example I found a brand new stainless water heater with the exact dimensions for our boat for about 70% off retail. As luck would have it, ours had broken recently and so ba bing- we're set. 

Well today I picked up a spare anchor for the Med - used during particularly bad storms or in tight quarters. I also bought 50' of bungy cord (You can never have enough) a sewing repair kit, anchor rode markers, a very nice one burner stove (for sailing in particularly rough seas, and finally another harness for one of the crew members coming along. (When crossing an ocean, smart sailers tie themselves to the boat using a harness and a system of 'jack'lines along the sides of the boat)

I think we're getting close, but I know that we're forgetting about 2 dozen critical items. Oh well, nothing says sailor like jury rigging a sail in 20 foot seas with a 40 knot howling gale blowing through the halyards. I wonder if MacGyver got his start as a sailer?

11 Days!

Wow- Time is flying by. We're leaving in a little over a week now. 

Time to think about food for 45 days, Water fills, sheets on beds!, passports, fuel fills. Did the sails arrive? Do we have enough spare anchor rode? What about the weather? Who has the seasickness tabs? Ack the dinghy engine can't be fixed- buy another now, or when we get there? on and on and on...