After making it into Hampton in the middle of the night on Tuesday the 6th, we woke up at 0800 on the fuel dock to steady rain and howling wind as the Nor’easter pounded the coast. After another hearty breakfast prepared by Jaime, we fueled up and moved the boat to a slip.

My dad and Bob Fernald were already in town and had rented a car which was a great help. We spent Wednesday and Thursday cleaning, doing laundry, chasing down the on-order new fridge, and provisioning. There was also a fair bit of reveling with the crew and crews of the 55 other boats that were preparing to leave for the VI together as part of the Salty Dawg Rally.

The fridge was delayed of course, but finally arrived at noon on Thursday. We picked it up and a tech came at 1300 and installed it right the first time with great speed! Amazing when things work out! A final provisioning followed, Jaime moved into the hotel, and dad and Bob moved on to the boat.

We then attended the final passage briefing. Some of the “slower” boats had already left earlier in the day, but most of the fleet was to leave the following day (Friday the 9th). Weather guru Chris Parker indicated that it looked like a 10-15 day positive weather window at least with calm weather in store for Saturday – when most boats would be crossing the gulf stream.

After final drinks and dinner ashore with Jaime at the hotel, we headed back to the boat and fell in with view to leaving the dock at 0700 the following morning.