It's a thing. Maybe the recent storms delayed a lot of them and now they have to get it done before Thanksgiving.

www.cruisingworld.com/how-to-plan-your-sail-south/ September 11, 2019

"How to Plan Your Sail South
With good preparation, a little patience and a solid plan, the sail south down the East Coast of the US for the winter can be the best part of the trip."

Practicing Patience

"Every November, the southbound routes from the East Coast are furrowed with sailboat wakes as cruisers abandon the rapidly approaching icy winter weather and set sail for the tropics. Some head for Florida, others for the Bahamas, and still others for the Caribbean. Some crews prefer to buddy-boat their way, some like to join rallies, and others prefer to sail by themselves. In more than three decades of sailing other people’s yachts (and lately my own boat) south in the fall, if there is one piece of advice I’d give anyone contemplating this voyage it would be: Throw away your calendar. The weather is what it is, and your schedule matters not a whit."

It's a thing. Maybe the recent storms delayed a lot of them and now they have to get it done before Thanksgiving.

Got a 46 foot ketch rig stuck on a cypress stump across from our Pier here in Hyde County on the ICW. Bread and butter for Tow Boat USA out of River Forest Boatyard in Belhaven this time of year. Word to the wise...pay attention for the WHOLE RIDE through the ditch. It's real easy to get caught up. It's dark now and they JUST pulled em out. No word on damage. Personally I'd rather be off shore.

They wait until November 1 to start heading south because most insurance companies say they must stay north of Norfolk until November 1, due to likelihood of hurricanes dropping off then.

I wish they would ALL go off shore. They (The power boats) go down the Elizabeth River at a speed that draws the biggest possible wake only to have to stop and wait for the bridge to open. Makes for exciting fishing in the river.

They wait until November 1 to start heading south because most insurance companies say they must stay north of Norfolk until November 1, due to likelihood of hurricanes dropping off then.

I'd like to see how that's worded in the policy.

It's a thing. Maybe the recent storms delayed a lot of them and now they have to get it done before Thanksgiving.

www.cruisingworld.com/how-to-plan-your-sail-south/ September 11, 2019

"How to Plan Your Sail South
With good preparation, a little patience and a solid plan, the sail south down the East Coast of the US for the winter can be the best part of the trip."

Practicing Patience

"Every November, the southbound routes from the East Coast are furrowed with sailboat wakes as cruisers abandon the rapidly approaching icy winter weather and set sail for the tropics. Some head for Florida, others for the Bahamas, and still others for the Caribbean. Some crews prefer to buddy-boat their way, some like to join rallies, and others prefer to sail by themselves. In more than three decades of sailing other people’s yachts (and lately my own boat) south in the fall, if there is one piece of advice I’d give anyone contemplating this voyage it would be: Throw away your calendar. The weather is what it is, and your schedule matters not a whit."

I noticed the same large number of sailboats on Saturday and Sunday. I talked with a buddy who knows the sailing world, and he told me the same thing about rallies. They wait until November 1 to start heading south because most insurance companies say they must stay north of Norfolk until November 1, due to likelihood of hurricanes dropping off then.