We left Tuesday, October 2, about noon. Tricky, because the boat was aground at our dock. But we got her out of her slip and turned around and motored down the Bay – zero wind. It rained really hard just off the Thomas Point Lighthouse – a good way to clean off the boat! South of the light, we turned in to anchor just inside the Rhode River. Very comfortable and cozy.
The final work before leaving was to get and load the chain. Yes, it came and yes it was the right size and it’s beautiful – all 300 feet of it.
We laid it out on the dock to mark it every 20 feet – we had to use zip ties because it was too wet to use paint. Then the chain was loaded onto the boat.
The final items were put onboard – our fresh food and clothes – and our daughter and her puppy “Crew” came to see us off.
Aren’t they both so gorgeous? We miss Grant and Amy and Crew already.
Then we slipped the lines:
Posed for a picture:
Gave a rum toast to King Neptune:
And left our creek. Here is the Bay Bridge – in the mist and rain, 
and the Thomas Point Light – both behind us now.
Since we anchored a bit early, we spent some time stowing stuff that was loaded, but had no place to go. After a couple of hours, here is what my husband’s area looks like – this is the quarter berth, which has become his man cave.
And here is my area:
JUST KIDDING. He obviously brought a lot more boat essentials than I did. We look forward to a drier and productive day tomorrow. Fun so far.
WEDNESDAY – We left with first light:
Not much traffic on the Bay, but here’s one big girl that passed us, headed upbound:
Very light southerlies today, so a motor boat ride, but no waves either. The sun came out and it was warm and lovely. Now we are in a quiet cove in Solomons Island and were able to get an internet connection. We will try for a long day tomorrow, but so far the winds are not cooperating. Still, it’s been just beautiful and we are very happy with the boat so far.
So thanks to all of you who helped us get ready; thanks to all who gifted us with wine and other goodies, and thanks to my colleagues who very generously gave me the camera that is taking these pictures – a retirement gift. I love it.
SAIL MOTU ITI 
Yea Ha! It has to be exciting to finally be underway. Have fun, Sail safe, keep the blog coming.
Wow! You guys are putting down some miles! We hope the breeze comes around for you. The boat looks great, all those quarter berth items will slowly melt their way into storage.. Glad the wifi booster works!
So glad to see you finally under way! So exciting and keep us posted. We’re anxious for our ‘vicarious’ Bahamas trip! Sandy
So glad to hear you are under way!! Keep the posts coming so we can have our vicarious Bahamas trip, reading about yours. Glad you have the camera so we can see what we are missing :^) Sandy
Now the real fun begins, keep it real and take care of each other!
love ur blog try to keep those pictures of warm weather coming.
Fair winds and following seas!
This is great!!! We had the honow of meeting Amelia and Grant the beginning of this year! So excited to follow you on your trip!!
Stephanie
Amy and Grant have been a huge help to us on our trip; I hope our blog can be one tenth as interesting and fun.
Hey Guys, glad I got the link to you from you daughters site. My Wife and I went from Petoskey to New Smyrna in our Catalina 30 back in 2009/10. taking a year off to do it. i have it all on my you tube channel if you need any info, since it has been awhile since you’ve done it.
I will be following from behind my desk this winter,
Dean Bachelor
blowinganddrifting on you tube or just google it
and bachelorvalley.blogspot.com
Great stuff; thanks.