Friday, November 2nd

On our final full day of seminars, we learn about managing emergencies at sea, including a demonstration involving the deployment of a six-person life raft in the outdoor pool of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  We also learn about customs procedures for our departure from Hampton and our arrival in Tortola.

Another seminar involves a presentation on the communication protocol using single sideband (SSB) radio.  Every day at 7 AM and again at 7 PM, each Caribbean 1500 boat will tune to a designated SSB frequency to report location and any concerns or emergencies. At 1 PM daily, there will be a chat on the SSB radio for women only. In addition, we will be receiving daily weather forecasts from the World Cruising Club via e mail using the SSB radio.  We have also contracted privately with our own weather router, Chris Parker, to provide daily weather updates via SSB e mail. 

During a weather briefing, we learn that a cold front is expected to move offshore on Tuesday.  Instead of a Sunday noon start, the World Cruising Club is now recommending a rolling start on Saturday afternoon. 11/3.  A Saturday departure will permit us to cross the Gulf Stream in relatively calm conditions before  passage of the front on Tuesday. This early departure will allow for an additional margin of safety in crossing the Stream in advance of an approaching cold front. Shortly after this announcement, we applied our Scopalamine patches behind our ear as a preventive measure to guard against seasickness. 

Our evening social gathering tonight involves appetizers at the Hampton Yacht Club.  Mia, our Scandinavian hostess from the World Cruising Club is the manager of this event.  Everybody is chatting about the suggested early departure on Saturday. We will join most of the other boats in leaving Hampton sometime on Saturday afternoon.

[caption id="attachment_3865" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="An early morning view of Hampton University campus from Cutter Loose"][/caption]