The perfect storm... and the perfect sail

Where were you during the nor'easter of 2011 ? We will always remember where we were. L'ORIENT was quite literally stuck in the mud. Our anchor was stuck fast in Smith Creek and we couldn't maneuver the boat to pull it out in the 40 knot winds and freezing rain. So we hunkered down for the whole day. Oh yeah, did I mention it was cold ? Like wind chill below 10 degrees cold.

Despite wearing 5 shirts and 3 pants it wasn't completely unpleasant. We streamed movies (stolen wifi signal again) and drank chardonnay. We kept the boat above freezing by running the generator and heaters periodically.

The next day, with the wind down to a manageable  15 knots we "manned up" and pulled the anchor out. We sailed further south to Mobjack Bay and then on to Hampton. Kirstin had the boat doing 8.3 knots in a brisk 20 knot winds and a beam reach. We arrived in Hampton dodging large warships and continually buzzed by fighter jets. A lot of military hardware here protecting the Chesapeake.

Anyway, Tom is doing some visits for work this week and Kirstin is finishing the boat provisioning and attending the Caribbean 1500 seminars. Glad we're here but a bit tired. We enjoyed the perfect sunset pictured above.......(it was about 40 degrees when I took this picture so I'm surprised my hands weren't shaking). More to come...including pictures of our arrival in Hampton!