Ready to go

1339Z
34.768N 76.672W
Winds Calm Seas Flat 38F
Course O degrees 0kts

In a little over 48hrs I'll be off to Spain.
I'm sitting here in the warmth of my kitchen testing the Satellite link that I will use for the blog so I figured I might as well make a post to see how it will look in the email format that i will be using.

I will not be able to see the blog or correct any formatting or spelling while posting from sea so you'll need to forgive the errors and just focus on the story.

I will start each blog just like this one with our position, the time the position was taken, (in Zulu which is Greenwich Mean Time or more precisely UTC for you time nerds.) and the general weather conditions. Since our entire existence revolves around the weather when at sea, the current conditions give you an insight into our world.

There will also be no pictures posted while at sea due to bandwith limitations so I'll try to paint a verbal one for you. I promise to upload some of our great fish catches when we are in port.

My very preliminary itinerary is as follows: Sunday 11/20 1805 fly to London then to Madrid. Cab to Train Station for a 1700 local time train to Seville. Hoping to catch an earlier one if I can get from the airport to train station quicker. After 2.5hr highspeed train ride arrive in Seville. Capt John and his son Jonathan will stay in the same hotel. It's now Monday night.

Tuesday 11/22 Capt Johns tour service shows us the Seville highlights then we drive 2.5hrs to JaySeaDee in Gibraltar. Weds I get acquainted with the boats systems, Thursday is Turkey day. (John special ordered one) Friday is Jonathans 21st birthday, and Saturday weather permitting we cast off for the approx 4-day trip to the Canary Islands.

We will pick up two more crewmates and stay in the Canaries till about 12/5 when we will shove off for the long leg to Grenada, hoping to arrive in Grenada around Dec 22.

So get ready... It's time once again to fire up the old blog. You can leave comments on the blog - I will see them when I get to port. In the meanwhile please drop Kate a line from time to time as she's going to be sitting home and I know she'd love to hear from everyone.

Hope you enjoy the ride.

--

The Fall Migration of the Island Packet

The past several days has seen a progression of southbound Ivory colored boats visiting the Marina here in Beaufort.

First we had the pleasure of Rubin, Bobby and the crew of Priority, an Island Packet 380 out of Baltimore enroute to Miami.  They spent about 24hrs before heading offshore bound for Charleston SC.  

We had dinner and laughs till past midnight.

Their departure was timed in order to make it the 36hrs down the coast before a strong low pressure formed, and along with it, Gale Force Winds.

This is Priority and crew leaving the marina

We chased them down the inter-coastal waterway and got this photo of them just as they exited Beaufort Inlet into the Atlantic Ocean.

Less than 24hrs after the departure of Priority, we had the pleasure of hosting 

IP35 "Island Spirit" with crew Hayden & Radeen, 

and IP460 "Cutter Loose" Crewed by Eric and Patricia.

We were fortunate to be able to obtain 2 slips in our marina so that they could stay and visit for 3 nights.

The timing was perfect in that less than 24hrs after their arrival the promised low pressure developed followed by had gale force winds 

up to 50kts blowing for almost 36hrs

Fortunately they were able to stay securely tied up to the dock and ride out the storm in comfort and safety.

This is Island Spirit squeezed into the slip next to our boat "ei' Lean".

Hayden did a heck of a job getting her backed in there.

This is Cutter Loose in the spot vacated by Priority.

We all made good use of their visit with several dinners, lunch, lots and lots of laughs, and some local sightseeing.

  We were able to show them a bit of our current hometown and a fantastic time was had by all.

Saturday we enjoyed a visit to Fort Macon State Park.  The 19th century fort sits right on the Atlantic and was constructed to protect Beaufort Inlet.

You can see by the flag that the winds are still howling!

The visit was topped off when Radeen and Pat presented Kate with some of their signed artwork.

How nice!  What a great gift!  A reminder of a great time for us to treasure.

By Sunday morning the winds had calmed down a bit and the call of the Keys was singing in the rigging  so our friends cast off their lines and continued their journey south.

The cruising life reminds me in so many ways of my years spent as an over-the-road trucker driving semi's around this big country.

Along the way you meet great friends but inevitably the road forks..... 

one must turn left....

while the other turns right.

The parting is always sad, but you know it's not good bye because sooner or later your paths will cross again in another place.

Until then more adventures and more new friends await.

Thank you Priority, Island Spirit, & Cutter Loose.

          

See you down the road!