L'ORIENT arrives in Hampton- First leg of our Caribbean transit !!!

It was definitely a treat to get to Hampton on Halloween! The trick was that we had to come in past aircraft carriers and through the winding Hampton channel to reach the slip at Hampton Public Piers. It was comical to listen to the VHF radio on our way in- especially around the tight confines of the channel, where warships and pleasure boats must pass each other at close range. "Sailboat, sailboat, sailboat.....this is Warship 79.....do you intend to cross my bow ?" Considering that the warship is generally 1000X larger, the frightened pleasure boater would generally back off after a snarky exchange. 

Coming in we topped off the fuel tank to make sure we had enough diesel for the trip to BVI - our range right now on the boat is 900 miles under power. Hopefully the winds will be with us and we won't have to motor that much. Pictured above is L'ORIENT turning toward the fuel dock and our shore team (Kirstin's parents). Kirstin is still wearing 14 layers of clothes from our morning run (she made me say that so you don't think she's letting her looks go).......cold and windy again.

We've got some minor boat projects to complete, including hoisting Kirstin part of the way up the mast to replace a frayed flag halliard. Guess she'll find out whether I really liked my birthday present or not. 

The boys- our intrepid crew Bob Poole and Pat McAneny arrive on Saturday. We'll do some orientation to the boat and probably talk alot of trash about storms that weren't really as bad as we describe them and heroic sailing exploits that never really happened. 

Long range weather forecasts indicate that light wind is expected at the start of the regatta. Kind of bad news for L'ORIENT, which performs best in higher winds.