We departed Bermuda, headed for Hampton, Virginia, on June 23, 2026. Stephanie and Sean kept their watches and again made a long journey so much better. Our first day-plus was motoring on flat-calm water. The decision to leave when we did came down to: go now and motor for a couple days or be stuck in Bermuda for at least two more weeks due to very heavy weather. Everyone on the Homeward Bound Salty Dawg rally opted to go now and we know from the Dawgs who stayed in Bermuda waiting for a weather-window to depart for the Azores, that it was indeed heavy weather for two weeks, with boats dragging here and there. So, though sorry to not have had more time in Bermuda, we made the right call. Five days, 21 hours and 20 minutes later we dropped the hook in downtown Hampton, right in front of the beautiful Hampton University campus.
Of course, the passage was not without drama. As we neared the treacherous coast of Cape Hatteras we were inundated with horrific black fly vampires by the hundreds. Twenty or more miles offshore! No idea how they fly so far but they do, accompanied by a lot of green stinkbugs and a huge rhinoceros beetle (ok, maybe he had been on-board since the tropics???) We also ran into a massive thunderstorm just before we arrived at the mouth of the Chesapeake, forcing us to turn around in the middle of the night and motor due south along the coast for a couple of hours waiting for it to pass. It put on quite a lightning show as it went by and made the sea state rather unpleasant. But pass it finally did. Then, crossing over the tunnel part of the 17 mile long bridge into the Chesapeake, a huge cargo ship politely asked us to GTFO of his way and suggested we stay outside the channel or risk getting caught between him and another, inbound ship. Seemed like solid advice to me! We then took a couple days to recover, re-provision and make a Costco run where we finally bought the electric scooters we’ve been dreaming of for months. Free advice: always wear shoes, not sandals or flip flops when riding a scooter. Trust me.
We rented a car and toured the Yorktown battlefield and Colonial Williamsburg before Steph and Sean abandoned us. Something about resuming their own life and that we would be ok on our own… So we visited Virginia Beach and nearly froze to death! But John got a nice new sweatshirt out of the trip! It was windy and around 70° yet there were people on the beach in swimsuits and bikinis! Interesting place though and fun people watching. We finally bought the 25hp Yamaha outboard we’d been looking to get and toured nearby Fort Monroe. This fort has seen many reincarnations from the era of cannons in a massive brick and stone fort, to huge rifled anti-ship guns in reinforced concrete bunkers, to missile batteries. It is now decommissioned and you can rent the former quarters as your home or business. President Lincoln stayed here, Jefferson Davis was confined here after the Civil War, it is the site of the first landing of black African slaves into the United States in 1619 and where escaped slaves first sought refuge-and were protected-during the Civil War.
Another week, another car and we toured Jamestown (not much to see other than the spot where the first permanent settlement in America once stood), the Virginia Air and Space museum and visited Theresa’s brother, Carlo, in Richmond before sailing up to Yorktown for America 250 events. Carlo and family also came and stayed on the boat with us in Yorktown. The night prior to Carlo coming down, we had another one of those monster storms while on anchor. We ended up having to take a huge mooring ball as we could not get the anchor to hold in the 40kt wind and strong river current. Touring the tall ships, navy ships, and waterfront was fun and it was capped with a lovely fireworks show.
Leaving Yorktown it took three days to (mostly) motor up to Annapolis where we left the boat for a week to visit John’s folks in Michigan (and see some doctors). Spent lots of time watching the MI critters too. We found very little wind in the Chesapeake and despite it being quite hot, Annapolis is a very happening place. Loads of old seafaring history and tall ships passing everywhere due to all the America 250 events up and down the coast. It was nice to see the patriotic displays absolutely everywhere we went. Encouraging to see people celebrate America for a change.
John was fascinated by the assortment of lighthouses in the Chesapeake, interesting to read the stories about each one and how many times they were rebuilt or moved due to ice or erosion. The Ghost Fleet of Mallows Bay is a strange tale. Over 100 wooden steamships were rushed into production during WWI. However, the war ended before they were finished and it was determined they were already obsolete. So they were towed into this shallow area of the Chesapeake and set ablaze to make it easier to recover and reuse the metal bits. You can swim around the grounded hulks as it is now a nature reserve. We passed a similar place where they did this on the Potomac a couple weeks later. And then a very special daughter got engaged! Theresa spent a few hours colluding with Scott on a magical spot for the proposal. Congrats to Paige and Scott!
Having heard the 4th of July festivities in Washingon, DC, were going to be HUGE along with the largest fireworks show ever, there was no doubt in our minds we were taking our boat there. Indeed it was!!! Even if the weather almost got the better of it, and of us. Motoring up the Potomac River was interesting, seeing its immense size where it dumps into the Chesapeake. We found these worthy of noting; the 1950’s radio antennae that secretly stole Soviet military radio signals as they bounced off the moon; passing George Washington’s home at Mount Vernon; then Fort Washington (who knew?) and finally the dreaded low bridges. How low? Well, the Woodrow Wilson Memorial bridge is only a couple feet higher than we are so it had to be timed for mid to low water. John turned white as we went under it, and Theresa stood at the bow to help navigate us between the low hanging navigation lights. Certainly, a little unnerving. We arrived several days early to ensure a spot in the very small anchorage of the Washington Channel, next to Fort McNair. It was amazing to see the expansive development that has happened all over the capital area in the last decade. Gorgeous (and higher end) hotels, marinas, restaurants and office complexes have sprouted everywhere. People actually stay in the city as there are a fair amount of activities to be had. We put 80 miles on our scooters while seeing the sights and finding air conditioned places to watch the World Cup games. We discovered that you can no longer get close to the White House as the permanent perimeter has been vastly expanded due to all the attempts on the president’s life. Sad to see. Ryan, a young man that went to school with Paige and Alex, lives in DC and joined us for dinner and an outdoor World Cup viewing party. Interestingly, one morning as we were cruising around in our dinghy, we noticed anti-drone cameras set up on Fort McNair. I asked the police officer guarding that particular area where the missiles were to take out such drones, but he declined to answer and told us to move along.
We took in the annual PBS concert live in front of the US Capitol and were befriended by a bar owner who treated us to some very special bourbon during a World Cup game. On July 3 and 4 they closed the events on the Mall during mid-day as the heat index hit 116°! That also led us to buy a portable AC unit for our cabin. In addition to all the activities on the mall for America 250, we were able to watch two days of air show flights. All kinds of war machines flew over us, including the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, and the new Air Force One. On the 4th, another massive storm hit, earlier than expected, as we were doing laundry in the marina. Rushing to get back to the boat as fast as we could (maybe 5 minutes) we found FKL and all the other boats in our anchorage had drug anchor badly. We had apparently hit a glancing blow on a trawler who we had befriended over the last few days. Luckily, he and the others were aboard their vessels and able to motor away from the sea wall. FKL was almost up against the seawall, fortunately a police RIB situated himself between us and the wall. The officer later told us he had decided it was too nice a boat to let it hit the wall and get destroyed! Muchas gracias, señor! Needless to say, we stayed aboard the remainder of the night and thoroughly enjoyed the extraordinary fireworks happening all around us. Every event was delayed a little over an hour due to thunderstorm activity. However, the show went off without a hitch. The main event (Capital Mall) was in front of us, with the Navy Yard fireworks behind us and locals setting off great stuff from the park along the sea wall.
FKL only suffered a scratch, a broken man-overboard pole (easily fixed, if a bit shorter) and deep humiliation. The other boat had similar minor and repairable damage which we covered. A very close call. Too close.
On the way back to Hampton a few days later, we were about to enter the Chesapeake from the Potomac when a massive squall formed above us. We turned around and tried to head back upriver to avoid the brunt of the storm, but still got caught in 35kts of wind in front of us and then, five minutes later, it switched to 38kts behind us with white-out rain in the mid-afternoon. An hour later it was over and we carried on. Crazy weather in these parts.
