Yes, with the boat on the hard I have not posted in a bit but now we are planning for the coming year and a continuation of the voyage through life.  Oh God, is that too philosophical or what??  Well here is the news...

Eau de Vie is still in its cocoon for the winter and will not likely emerge until mid April.  This is because I pulled it earlier than I had wanted to because of Hurricane Sandy and there are now rows of boats behind her.  Plans for the year are coming together, although not along the originally hoped for path.  I had wanted to do the ARC Europe but the only 2 boats listed are a racing boat that is described as "Spartan inside to say the least" and the other whose captain extols his virtues in an email and asks for 350 Euro deposit with another 500 due on arrival at the boat but gets the first leg of the trip wrong by saying twice that it is to the Bahamas instead of Bermuda.  Be afraid, be very afraid.

It now looks like we will be able to participate in the Corinthian Spring Cruise in May as the alternative.  This will be followed in June by a cruise with the Little Ship Club on the River Lot in France.  Barbara is really excited about this, in particular the opportunity to see real Cave Paintings!  Here is the overview...

The River Lot has been chosen because of its:

• dramatic scenery
• magnificent prehistoric cave paintings
• lots of sight-seeing en route
• renowned for its wildlife, particularly birds
• swimming
• canoeing
• fishing
• delicious local food and wine.

DAY 1

Pick up boats in Douelle and make our way up-river to Cahors

DAY 2
Morning - Cahors market, the biggest and best in the area
Afternoon - explore Cahors - Valentre Bridge, Chemin de St Jacques de Compostelle, the old town, Cathedral, museums, secret gardens
Evening - wine-tasting followed by first rally meal, featuring local specialities

DAY 3
Up-river, exploring the riverside villages, all with beautiful scenery that get increasingly dramatic, including:
    Arcambal - a brewery, ancient mill, 14th century chateau
    Vers - well-known art gallery, remains of aqueduct, cascades
    St Gery - great for bird-watching
    Bouzies - tow paths carved into the limestone cliffs, canoeing in River Cele (tributary of Lot)

DAY 4
Continue up-river arriving at St Cirq Lapopie in the afternoon
It is one of the 'Plus Beaux Villages' and is perched spectacularly on top of the cliff overlooking the river, with stunning views
Pontoon party

DAY 5
Morning - visit caves of Pech Merle with prehistoric cave paintings - unlike the more famous ones at Lascaux you see the originals, some of them 25,000 years old
Afternoon - look round St Cirq Lapopie - lots of crafts and galleries as well as the amazing views

DAYS 6 and 7
Back down-river past Cahors and Douelle, to Luzech

DAY 8
Back up-river to Parnac - visit to vineyard
Then back to Douelle
Final rally meal in Douelle
Leave boats 9.00 am next morning

This makes the 4th sailing with our friends of the Little Ship Club and we have had such fun that I have decided to become a member.

We are looking forward to the year ahead

M/V Fairport C

Here is the route of the latest trip aboard M/V Fairport C, a Grand Banks 52.  We made the trip straight through in 67 hours.  Aboard  were John and Denise, the owners and the professional Captain, Andrea who is a friend of the owners.  Andrea is captain of a 72 footer which is now in Florida.  She is an excellent captain and knows boat systems inside and out.  We had a good trip with guidance from a weather router, which is why we pushed to get into San Juan by Thursday.

We started with from Long Island in the Bahamas and left at 2200 hrs on 11/26.

I will post other photos in a few days.

Home Again!

I am home again and can upload more photos and video of the trip.

Jack Zacks - Yacht Broker with Sparkman & Stephens

Larry Cohen - Dentist

Darlene Roberts 

Larry Kron

Hampton before departure

Cutter Loose in Hampton

Saudade in Tortola

The meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything

Arrived in Tortola

We left Hampton as scheduled on Saturday at 1300 hrs to avoid the Nor'easter that was due to hit on Wed. Larry Cohen (7th passage down) and I (4th passage) had commented that the forecast presented was the best we had seen for a trip down.  The first day and night were uneventful and we started across the Gulf Stream at 0900 the next morning.  The Stream as the calmest I have experienced until just before sunset when a squall appeared on the radar.  The squall became a constant storm that persisted all night and into the next day before it dissipated.  Winds were 35 to 40 with gust to 50 with heavy rain and lightning.  After arriving in Tortola we were told that this was a small area of low pressure when we left that had developed into a large area that coincided with the fleets arrival in the area.  Beyond that weather improved and we proceeded to get south down the rhumb line as quickly as possible to get out of the path of the NE'er.  Most of the early passage was fast with the strong winds - up to 9kts.  By Tuesday we were fairly consistently making 7kts with an occasional 8kts.

The Crew upon arrival - Larry Kron; Larry Cohen; Darlene Roberts; Jack Zacks; Me - yes I did not shave!!

The Beach at Nanny Cay

The Crew of Cutter Loose upon Arrival

The biggest mechanical issue was that we lost the autopilot on the first day and had to hand steer until we finally were able to fix it after 6 days.  We slowed down toward the end to arrive at the marina entrance at daybreak.  We were the 11th boat to arrive, with cutter loose having arrived the next day.

Our path down was as follows:  http://www.findmespot.com/spotadventures/index.php/view_adventure?tripid=317612.

With this event, sailing for the year is now done.  I fly back on Friday and begin planning my next event.  I am trying to be a crew member on the ARC Europe which leaves in May.   Fingers Crossed...

The Caribbean 1500

I am now due to head to Hampton on Wednesday.  Amtrak has announced the cancellation of service for tomorrow.  The marina in Hampton is at the indicated location and have the second highest level of impact.
With a target departure date of Sunday (conditions premitting) I need to be there to ensure that the boat is ready.  If Amtrak is cancelled again on Wed. I will need to drive down and return later to pick up the car.

Updates from Yachts en-route to Hampton

29 October

Thanks to those yachts not yet in Hampton who emailed in with their progress reports! We heard from the following, in addition to the news we posted yesterday about a few boats in Annapolis and on the Chesapeake... FROM JIM ON KIA ORANA: "Hi- Kia Orana in 30-40k presently, but safe and sound at the dock in Smith Creek at the mouth of the Potomac. Plan to resume on Weds., make it there by late Thurs., 1 Nov. Jim Burdick" FROM THE CLUB CARP CREW: "Report from Club Carp. We plan to leave Annapolis Wednesday PM and arrive in Hampton Thursday PM. We will be staying at my cousin’s (Charlie Huffman) dock next to Chris Hall's place at Bluewater Yachting Center. We will have a car to get to the events. Club Carp Crew, Jeff Woody Hansmann Larry Roland Glenn Haberbush" FROM BILL ON ALTHEA "Thanks for the updates.  Althea is still in the C & D.  I expect to head south Wed, hopefully we will arrive Thurs or Friday. Again, the updates have been very helpful in keeping us informed. Bill Ewing Althea" FROM NEIL & SHAUN ON ESCAPADE "We sailed all night Frdayi night and arrived at Blue Water in the wee hours Sat morning in order to be ahead of the weather. We are on the floating dock just outside of Surf Rider restaurant at Blue Water.    We drove back to our hometown Saturday afternoon to deal with hurricane issues here and plan to return to Blue Water mid day Wednesday.   We look forward to seeing everyone. Neil and Shaun s/v ESCAPADE"

HMS Bounty was abandoned 90 miles SE of Hatteras.  14 of the 16 crew members have been rescued.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2224706/HMS-Bounty-Hurricane-Sandy-path-2-missing-16-strong-crew-replica-forced-abandon-ship.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/10/29/hurricane-sandy-ship-abandoned-ship-coast-guard/1665339/

Here are photos of the ship from when I was in Belfast Maine in August.  One interesting thing about that stop for the boat is that they performed a Man Overboard Drill that was monitored by a Coast Guard team.

Sandy Update

Today's forecast is for sustained winds of 35 to 45 mph and gusts to 60 with over 5 inches of rain.  Tonight the wind gusts are predicted to be 65 until they begin to diminish after 0900 tomorrow.  Many power outages are expected due to the combination of wind and rain and the fact that  there are still a lot of leaves on the trees.  Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey have announced a state of emergency.  Septa, Patco, DART and Amtrak have all suspended Service and all flights in and out of Philadelphia have been cancelled.  Delaware has even implemented a driving ban on all roads unless you are an emergency worker or officially designated as essential personnel for specific industries such as food, fuel or health care.

The track appears to be further south than in previous projections.

I had been scheduled to leave today for Hampton and the Caribbean 1500, which is targeted to depart on 11/4, but that is now pushed to Wed.

Hourly sustained Wind Forcast for Wallingford, PA - This is NOT THE Coast

This storm is different from hurricanes we usually see, in that they usually track parallel to the coast and push the water more to the north.  This one will aim directly at the Jersey coast and water will be pushed onto the coastline.  Together with a Full Moon tonight and High tide at 2030 hrs tonight, flooding is expected to exceed any past record. 

I will continue to post through the storm.