On the afternoon of Thursday, November 9, we sailed out the Hampton Roads inlet into the Atlantic Ocean, headed again towards Bermuda and the eastern Caribbean. As we motor-sailed past the US Navy base, the submarines, aircraft carriers, and battleships were bathed in the rosy glow of sunset. We had spent the night before at the Portsmouth Boating Center, stowing everything below and tightening all straps, inspecting sails and rigging. It was a fine day, with a westerly breeze, with a good forecast of a south-westerly wind the next day, after a low-pressure system had moved out to sea. We had an uneventful first night out and headed south-east.