Rally Fun

Baxter, Kala and I have worked very hard this year to get Terrapin ready to set sail.  We are currently "staged" at Bluewater Yachting Center in Hampton, VA with 120 other sail boats of various models, ages, lengths, and speeds who all belong to the Salty Dawg Rally.  The Rally will leave from VA and head east-southeast towards Bermuda and then south straight to the British Virgin Islands.  The passage could take anywhere from  8-12 days offshore, depending on wind, weather, boat and crew.  We are very fortunate enough to have two friends, Luis & Katie, joining us for the trip.  The only thing better than going on the journey is sharing it with great people.

We are looking forward to leaving around Wed, 11/5/13 (weather and Gulf Stream conditions dependent) and sailing the 1,350 miles south to the beautiful waters of the Caribbean and the adventure of the unknown.  Until that departure date, we are still checking off to-do's and getting the boat ready for the long passage.  In addition to projects that keep us busy, the organizers of the SDR have seminars that cover every sailing topic, yoga sessions, happy hours (no, not just for drinking, but so we can all get to know each other and put faces with boat names) daily weather briefings, shuttles to local stores, and so much more.  We have met sailors from Belgium, Sweden, Australia, and everywhere around the globe.  AND, it is SO awesome that Logan and Gillian on Stella Blue are here too!!

The only issue we currently face is internet access is s…..l…….o…….w with 119 other people skyping, downloading, and taking up bandwidth.  So, I am not sure how often we will be able to dinghy to downtown Hampton to Jammin' Joe's coffee shop for internet access.  With that - if you would like to follow the entire fleet of Salty Dawgs, click here.

Weather Briefing Q&A

Celebrating Halloween with Pumpkin Ale (brewed in Hampton, VA) with Logan & Gillian

The city of Hampton sponsored a Dark n' Stormy Happy Hour for the Salty Dawg Rally, bringing cases of Gosslings Dark Rum and Ginger Beer.

Terra watches over our cockpit at night.

The planned route

We anchored out for a few nights in Norfolk. Very scenic

Headed to Blue Water!!!

Our friends Anna and Haken on Unicorn anchored behind us.
 

We got more trick or treaters at the boat than we ever did in Salt Lake.

A sea of masts at the marina