We got up at sun up and scurried to the bathrooms to take the last shower we were going to enjoy for the next 8-12 days. This in itself was a weird feeling - cleaning ourselves meant using wet towels, and other products to help us keep the smelly germs from growing too much. After a rally meeting from 8:30 -9:30 AM we went back to Kikuyu and started getting it ready to leave the dock. We left at 10:00 AM and headed for the bridge that separates the bay from the ocean. This is the same bridge we had crossed when we went around the Delmarva peninsula. Only this time, we were heading southbound into the immensity of the Atlantic.

We were all excited to be able to make a clean exit and started sailed reaching a speed of 8.2 knots (closed to 8 miles/per hour which is pretty fast for a boat our size) as we passed the boats getting ready to form the line up for the race which started at noon. Most of the boats racing were fairly big. Kikuyu is one of the smallest in the fleet and so everyone else looked pretty big. But Kikuyu was ready to make the trip again. As I had mentioned in the blog, the previous owner took her south in the Caribbean 1500 rally in 2005 where she and the crew performed very well getting 2nd place in its class. Though we are not racing (we are in the cruising group) our goal is to get there on time for the final celebrations, not be last and, hopefully, keep up the boat's reputation as a fast cruising boat.

As the day progressed, the wind soon calm down as it has been predicted and we started motor sailing. The ocean was beautifully blue and we enjoyed a day starting to know each other and get our routines down. We motored for the next 24 hours as there was no wind.