36:42.4N 74:30.4W  Sunday… Another day of final, final preparations.  A little more provisioning, ready more gear, shift gear below to "rig for sea", and figuring out how to get pictures loaded into the blog using my relatively new Apple Mac (the latter turned into a 4 hour project by itself, due to the size restrictions of Mailasail!).  Football games at a sports bar came in play, and dinner at "Chick's" in Virginia Beach (and another crew photo!)…great learnings from Dave about Uber, Waze, and Venmo, which we used continuously.  At night David and I visited Jess, the lovely wife of my Godson Josh (his dad was my roommate on the Thomas Jefferson, SSBN 618), who is now the Commanding Officer of VFA-11, the "Red Rippers", an F-18 squadron on the carrier Teddy Roosevelt.  Josh was involved in training in Nevada, but Jess, Will, and Nora were home to say "hi"…each in their own way.    Monday… we Cast off all lines at 0530,  leaving Little Creek under cover of darkness, much like the local Navy Seals frequently do for training.  As the sun was rising, we were leaving the Bay, with Ralph and Dave on watch…don't the look lovely?  But…shiver me timbers…a few hours later we discovered a stow-a-way … a pirate no less, with a Spanish accent (pictured below), and a singing parrot (the grandkids all love this guy…Vicki discovered him in Annapolis and stowed him aboard)…push his paw and he sings, and, of course, THIS CREW could not resist having him sing over, and over ….just like the grandkids!!  The seas were rolling, but tempered at 3-4 feet, with winds at 18-20 knots, and blue sky…relatively benign conditions for this crew and boat…and we are relieved about that.  At 1900 we entered the Gulf Stream, heading 120 degrees, as sea water temperature already increased about 6 degrees to 70 deg F…it should increase even more before long. The Gulf Stream is a fast moving "river in the ocean", traveling at about 3-5 knots from the Southwest to the Northeast, and it is frequently the bearer of violent waves, which is why we delayed our start….so instead of 30 foot waves, we presently expect no more tat 8-10 foot waves.   So the captain is monitoring conditions at the Nav Station as his able crew carries on at the helm.  Importantly, we have now already had two of Vicki's prepared passage meals….chili for lunch, and beef stew for dinner, with ice cream for dessert….we are not suffering!  Cap is "the man" in the galley and we all really appreciate it….yet Rich and Ralph are fully engaged as well!  Now if we can just catch some fish tomorrow on the other side of the Gulf Stream!  Captain Mike.