Let's start at the very beginning

We left UK early in August and flew to Washington DC. Renting a car at the airport, we decided that a satellite GPS navigation system would be a good idea. ...the real reason was he just didn't trust my powers of navigation, not that he's wrong 'cos I would probably be admiring the view or trying to read the map upside down! It is bad enough to have a different traffic system, without trying to balance a map on the steering wheel! ....typical man, can't multi task....!..us women find it no problem to apply lipstick, comb our hair and change the CD whilst driving....

Actually, we had been tipped off that the marina was "in the Boonies" (after Daniel Boone who surveyed the places other surveyors can't reach....I thought that was Heineken..), and we turned of the main road into smaller and smaller roads, finally seeing a sign that the highway ends.......good stuff this GPS, we wouldn't have believed it otherwise. ...perhaps you would if you lived in the village I came from in the UK, grass growing up the middle of the road, wing mirrors touching both sides...etc

In fact, the title of this post is wrong... we did try to buy a boat in England, but the survey was not good, (in laymans terms it was a crock of sh*te) so we had a major re-think. The boat we chose in England was a great design, so we searched the internet for the same make and model. There were 9 worldwide, then 8, then 7. We would have panicked, but it went back up to 8. The boat in Virginia looked reasonable, and had a new engine (must remember to post a photograph of the engine, it could be printed and displayed next to the photos of the anorak!), he really has got to get out more... so we ended up here. This time the survey was good.

The previous owners were helpful in many ways, but sometimes quite economical with words as far as faults went. Disingenuous is a useful word sometimes. The funniest(?) part was their lifejackets which were passed on to us, but both of them had big punctures - comforting!...the word condemned was used by the manufacturers....nice one.

Anyway, two new toilets, 1 reconditioned alternator, 4 batteries and 100 metres of rope later not to mention new fridge, freezer and bits, we plan to leave here tomorrow, and to head out of Chesapeake Bay on Monday........provided hurricane Omar has dissipated..

One of the best aspects to travelling is meeting interesting people, and we've met a real gem in Spike so we suggest you log on to his website and check it out for yourselves.
http://www.spikehampson.com/index.html

The number of people who have been incredibly kind to us (and put up with our quaint English ways...)is staggeringly high. The staff at the marina deserve a special mention. So thanks to Ken and Karen, Charlie, Ken (Angel OD), Mikey, Wayne, Mike, Leo, Phil (Capn Birdseye) Christopher, Shadow, Eric (who I would offer a job to in the blink of an eye). Jim, Nedra and Kenzie for services to caffeine!...and trips to Wally's World (Walmart to the posh amongst you)

If things go according to plan, the next post will be from Bermuda.