Arrived in Hampton

Yesterday, the 28th, we left Deltaville after paying our bill! Yikes! Anyway, we had a good mostly motor with one hour of sailing down the rest of the Chesapeake Bay to Hampton, which is just across the river from Norfolk and the start of the ICW (Intercoastal waterway). It was still warm from the front that had passed, the clouds broke and the sun shown, and the Bay was fairly calm with strong breezes from the SW, thus the need to motor a great deal of the day. As we got closer to Norfolk, we caught glimpses of very large ships- one a warship. On the VHF radio came a broadcast warning ships to stay clear of the Missouri by 500 yards or they could be fired on! That was an ominous warning!

We are staying at the Hampton City Marina for 2 nights with one free night coupon that Joe got at the Annapolis Boat Show. After arriving, we had dinner on the boat and took a short walk around town, trying to find the interesting parts of town- cobblestone streets, quaint shops, restored homes, etc. Just as we got to that area, rain showers started and we headed back to the boat. Joe found the Science Museum and IMAX to explore and I will head back to town and probably over to Hampton University Museum tomorrow. The museum holds a large collection of African and American Indian art and numerous sailors have mentioned it as worth seeing.

The Caribbean 1500 leaves from this port on Monday, so there are about 70 sailboats at marinas in town participating. They will leave from the Chesapeake to sail directly to Tortola, about a 10 day crossing. There are some huge sailboats(60-70 feet) that we passed as we came into the harbor. All weekend there are events- dinners, seminars, etc for this annual trek. We met a couple in early July at Put-in-Bay that are going and we will try to look them up while here.

One last note- Josh is on his way to Suriname, South America, with a group of doctors from Johns Hopkins. Suriname is in the north, bordering Brazil and the ocean, and the smallest country in SA. He gave us a call last night from Curacao, where he was getting on a plane for their last leg. He reported that he worked from 7pm to 2am Wed night, showered at the hospital, and went directly to the airport for a 6am flight. He fell asleep as soon as he got on the plane to Miami and didn't wake up until after landing. What a schedule! The group will travel by helicopter into several different villages to provide medical care while there. Josh is the only first year resident in the group. What a great experience that should be!

Joy