Newport welcome

Well, the last two days have been rather hectic! Our arrival in Newport was, in itself, quite a spectacle, as thunder rolled and forked lightning flashed around us. But we were on a mission to end our epic adventure in style, flying a full spinnaker and main in 17 knot gusts through the narrow entrance past the fort. An exiting tanker and overtaking gin palace didn't matter - we just went for it and, once over the line, doused the spinnaker and dropped the mainsail soon after, in perfect order. Twenty two days, two hours and 48 minutes. Job done!
We moseyed down the bay to the Newport Yacht Club, following a huge RIB, with James, the Race Director and Norm, the Commodore of NEwport Yacht Club on board, which had met us at the entrance, where we received a cannon salute and tied up. Due to Customs regulations, nobody was allowed contact with us until they arrived. However, we didn't have to wait too long and they kindly invited us to do all the paperwork in the clubhouse. It was so funny seeing Grace and Richard having to be given permission to hug by the Homeland Security ! Everything was in order so we were then immediately whisked to the bar and imbibed copious drinks -it was impossible to spend any money yourself. The welcome was so tremendous. After a suitable period of rehydration we went out for huge steaks, collapsed into real beds and slept for about 10 hours - fab!

Trev