We came into Hampton on Sunday afternoon and took a slip at Hampton Yacht Club. This is a great spot – they have an active racing program, as well as lots of slips for their members. They were extremely welcoming and we’ve been able to use their dining room and bar, which always seems to be busy.

We jumped into passage preparations almost immediately, with lots of helpful sessions including regular weather briefings. Of course the discussion is always “when are we going to be able to leave and what will the weather be like?” Our nominal departure date was November 1, and in fact a few boats did leave, but will probably encounter nasty conditions around the Gulf Stream (ironic, since it’s calm and warm here right now). We are currently planning to leave either Tuesday afternoon (November 4) or the morning of November 5.

Meanwhile there is plenty to do, with last minute jobs on the boat, as well as provisioning, making sure everything is safely stowed, and preparing places where people can sleep without piles of spare parts landing on top of them. The Salty Dawgs are a very social group, and have held several events at a local brew pub. I snuck one of my boat stickers onto their wall, so if you ever visit Bull Island Brewery, do look for it! We also attended an impromptu rum tasting on a neighboring boat.

Hampton isn’t the most scenic place, but the area around the docks is quite interesting, and Hampton University (an HBCU) is just across the river. They’ve been having huge tides here, and there’s been quite a lot of flooding, including in the dry sail area at the Yacht Club. You’d think they’d know by now…… There was a Viper regatta, and it was fun to watch some of the dockside action.

So, now we are ready to go, and can’t wait to set sail for Antigua!