Hurricane Sandy as seen from our hotel room at Knapps Narrows Inn. The wonderful people here set aside several rooms to get those who were aboard their boats off the vessels and into safe quarters. By 10:00AM the winds were so strong Tuesday that we left the Omarsea and set up shop in room 205. After several trips to make sure we had all the trappings for a good hurricane party we settled right in and as you can see watching movies on the laptop was a one of the highlights for the children. Jean made sure as always that there were snack and goodies to make the time pass pleasantly.
Some of you may not know it but we do not own a TV. We choose instead to use the laptops for movies. Some old favorites we have with us. Redbox is also one of our favorite haunts when a new feature comes out. The kids think being this close together while watching is normal. It's very fun for Jean and I to watch. Notice Juli is always in the center for prime watching. (She plans ahead).
The blue sail cover is the Omaresa as seen from the Hotel. Winds were whipping well over 70mph in this picture. Despite the high winds the seas were calm and there was no storm surge to speak of. Just in case Jean parked the car over in the community Park's lot as it is one of the highest locations on the Island. The water rose very high but stopped within about 12" of reaching the Hotel parking lot. We were so luck as there was no real damage to the house, boat or car.
These are our friends Megan and Brian from the boatyard. They came down to see us off on Sunday morning. Thanks guys! We are going to miss all you great folks there at Knapps Narrows.
Julianna settled right in with a good book as we sailed south down the bay on Sunday. It was a fast day with good winds and following seas toward evening. You would never know it by the picture but Juli takes several days to overcome her seasickness. Yet she was the first to suggest going offshore when it came to a vote by the crew. We were at sea on her birthday (November 13th) Ben baked her a cake, Steve made her a card, I made dinner and a dozen or so dolphin rode the bow wake of the boat sending their own silent birthday wishes.
Steve was on watch one afternoon. He has his game development notebook with him. Both he and Ben write down their ideas in these books. They go over their notes and make suggestions to each other . It is a very creative process and though they often get a bit serious about the ideas that come up it is a lot of fun to watch them in action.
After a stop in Mobjack Bay, VA we got underway early Monday morning and passed this Frigate on her way back from duty at sea. She passed very close to us with a large wake. We were able to see the faces of the sailors at the rail, waving as they passed us. Within an hour of us passing the frigate we exited the Chesapeake Bay on our way South. Passing through the bay bridge tunnel channel we toasted our departure with candy. Spirits were very high that evening despite the horrible weather that was lurking not twelve hours away.
The next morning dawned beautiful and brisk with a ten knot breeze out of the NE. The weather models predicted fairly calm seas and a perfect window for our passage around Hatteras. Yet the weather maps proved to be inaccurate that day and the next as a Full Gale slammed into us as we rounded the Northern corner of Cape Hatteras. Seas built to twelve feet and remained breaking surf for the next two days a we struggled to round the corner and sail into Beaufort, NC to escape the tempest. Our passage lured us over what can only be a shipwreck. The depths went from 130' to 25 quickly and a giant wave grabbed the boat and surfed us safely over the shallow and back into deep waters. It happened so fast that Juli and I looked at each other for confirmation that it had actually happened. We are pleased to have Hatteras behind us and look forward to smoother sailing to the South.
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