{"id":10996,"date":"2026-08-07T10:26:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T16:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/syfrenchkissinglife.com\/?p=10996"},"modified":"2026-08-07T10:26:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T16:26:04","slug":"back-in-the-usa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/syfrenchkissinglife.com\/?p=10996","title":{"rendered":"Back in the USA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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