On their way into Charleston

They are about 120 miles to the south and east of Charle3ston, having some pretty good wind for a change. They need to do a field repair and re-fuel; they should be in Charleston Harbor sometime tomorrow (Monday) around 7 in the evening. They have good long days now, so that helps.
The repair is to a broken outhaul ring at the back of the boom. The mainsail is fine as long as they take at least one reef, so not a big deal but they do want to get it fixed. Everyone is well and able to maintain their watches, so no one is too exhausted yet.

I feel a bit guilty reporting on MY weekend, but here goes. I had an enchanted two days in New York City, seeing my friend David and his parents and sister, her husband and their two boys (I have not seen her in probably 30 years - it was really terrific). We saw the fantastic revival of West Side Story last night, and today I had an exquisite lunch, with service our French friends would appreciate, at The Modern, overlooking the sculpture garden at MOMA. Spent time in the museum after, seeing an exhibit of works on paper (an interest of mine) and flew back this evening.

Saturday afternoon, still no wind

So here is the Saturday afternoon position. They are still mostly motoring, and JP says they are seeing wind from north though the observations and forecasts all say it should be SSW or WSW. Ah, weather forecasts. SO helpful. They made about 50 nautical miles or so since this morning, or so I'm estimating. All is reported well, no bad weather - just no wind!

Saturday morning update

JP called around 0630. JP had a couple of hours under sail, and Susan was prompt for her watch at 6, so all was well. You can see their location (plotted by lat/long) at the time he called me. The front seems to be weakening, and may only affect them with some moderate north winds on Monday. That would allow them to keep going, and take full advantage of the Gulf Stream.

I'll post a Gulf Stream map a bit later; can't get my preferred version to load using Firefox.

They're underway

I heard from JP around 4:30 this afternoon; they had just set off from Marsh Harbour after an intense day of provisioning. There's a front coming from the north early week, so they are trying to get to Fernandina to tuck in before it comes through. They may be there a few days, because it is forecast to "stall". I talked with him again a little after 9, on the satellite phone this time. They are off Whale Cay passage, in dead calm, motoring. Susan was on the 6-10 watch and I had a text from her saying the watch was a lot nicer in June than in November. JP says the stars are gorgeous - he will be on the 2-6 watch, so Stan must be on "my" watch tonight, 10-2.
I'll talk with them again in the morning - hoping for some wind so they can shut off the iron sail.

Soon to be Raconteur, Northbound

HOME PORT

BAHAMAS

Susan and JP, with a crew member who is coming from Calgary, will be in Lauderdale tomorrow and then on to Marsh Harbour on Thursday. They are planning, weather holding, to set off from there for Annapolis and our new home base at the Annapolis Landing Marina (5 minutes from our front door) on Friday the 19th or Saturday the 20th. They hope to tuck into the Bay sometime the following weekend, the 27th or 28th, and then take a couple of more leisurely days to sail the final 100 miles.

I'm holding the fort in DC, although I'm sneaking away for this weekend, to NYC, to see my friend David and his parents and sister and her family, and my mom is coming to Annapolis next weekend.

I'll be the blogger, since they will be out of range for much of the passage.

Food, glorious food

This is a postcard that depicts George, who makes conch salad right outside the gate of Harbour View Marina in Marsh Harbour. We had our first Sho'Bo' (that's his nickname) conch salad when we brought Raconteur here in March, and when we arrived back yesterday [after heading straight for the local supermarket, PriceRight, en route from the airport to do our two week provisioning] JP made a beeline to pick up a container. We headed to lunch at Mango's, which is between Harbour view and the Sunsail/Moorings marina, saving the conch salad for an apero later. On the way back, we stopped again, and George was making a huge mound of the salad for some folks who were apparently off on an excursion (by plane, no less) and who had sent someone to pick up about 8 or so containers. Anyway, we were all exhausted so the conch salad, along with gin&tonics and Destrooper's Almond Thins, became dinner. If anyone will be in Saint Augustine on the weekend of May 16-17, you can meet George and his wife (who runs the kitchen at Wally's, a more upscale restaurant across the road from Harbour View) and, I hope, taste this fantastic dish, as they will be participating in a Junkanoo Festival there (ahead of the real thing, which happens here in June).
I started thinking about the extent to which we travel on our stomachs - all three of us now that JP and I have got hold of Susan - and what pleasure there is in these local foods. George fishes the conch himself, prepares it (it's very labor intense, because you have to pound the hell out of it to make it tender enough to eat), chops the vegetables (tomatos, onions, green pepper) and makes a hot sauce (optional) to add to it at the end for those who want a little kick in their conch. I don't think it is possible to find a better or fresher version of this Bahamian classic anywhere.
Here's to George, and all those like him in the world, who give us such experiences.
Relaxing at the marina today, off toward the south tomorrow. Still really nice here, not yet hot, quite windy...

Sneaking off again

We're off to Lauderdale on Friday night, and to Marsh Harbour on Saturday, with plans to stay for two weeks and cruise south to Eleuthera and maybe the northern Exumas. Really looking forward to it. Our friends Kaye and David will arrive in MH just after we leave, and will sail around for two weeks also. Sometime in June, JP and Susan and maybe a third crew member (I'll be holding the fort at the office) will make the crossing and bring her back to the Chesapeake for the summer. We have a slip that is a FIVE minute walk (max) from our new front door in Annapolis, so that will be fun.
We may be out of internet range for much of the time, but I will take pictures and we will post when we can.