Virginia for Hurricane season

 Sun May 29th 2022 (130 nm) - Arrived at Southport NC. Quaint little town with a very southern flair. We were presented with a perfect weather window so left the next morning.

Tue May 31st 2022 (110 nm) - Arrived in Beaufort NC for our final stop before Virginia. Shortly after arrival and after checking the weather forecast, we realized we needed to set sail asap to catch a good weather window to Virginia or wait up to a week for the next one. Decided to leave without spending the night. Stopped by the marina restaurant, gobbled down a blackened Mahi sandwich and fries (oh yeah!) and then jumped on board to start the last long passage for the season around Hatteras to Hampton, Virginia.

No green flash! Does it exist?

Water water everywhere…….

Thu Jun 2nd 2022 (230 nm) - Oooooo, first hurricane of the season down south. We needed to hustle, don’t want to be caught with our pants down, so to speak! Forecast was for bad weather to arrive in a couple of days so we needed to giddy-up. Motor sailed with very little sail, as we were nursing a cracked part holding up the mast, what a pain as the wind was perfect for Muti to show her sailing ability using her big code 0. Met a South African couple on a catamaran via VHF radio.; they were making the same trip within a couple of miles of us. What a pleasant chat, we share such a similar life history. Hopefully we will see them in person someday. Arrived at Salt Ponds Marina in Hampton VA after a very quiet day and 2 nights on the water (little wind and no waves)! Gerda says “the best EVER!”, not even a hint of sea sickness.  Our 3 hours  on, 3 hours off night schedule isn’t bad once we are in the rhythm; the first night always sucks as we are on the same sleep pattern biorhythms. 

Our instruments keep us hooked to our surroundings; we’ll have to break out the sextant one day. AIS (automatic identification system) and radar take the stress out of night watch as we can see approaching ships on our screen even if we can’t eyeball them yet. It’s gives us useful info like speed of approaching ship, their course and whether we should get out of their way! 

Fri Jun 3rd 2022 - Settled in at Salt Ponds for the summer, what a great shakedown cruise it’s been, will go back to Austin for a while and also do some sailing in Chesapeake Bay. Anyone want to join us for best in the world crab cakes in Annapolis? And then later in the year, after hurricane season ends, we will once again head south to do this all over again! Want to join us? 🤗

Rob: Gerda has been my rockstar through the first six months of our sailing experience.  It astonishes me she still embraces our adventure being so susceptible to seasickness when the conditions are arduous. Man, that looks really awful, and there is no getting off Muti when you are out in the ocean days from a port. If it was me I would have bailed! Thanks Hon! (Gerda: ❤️)