New Plan and a Little Help

So, our original plan was to sail south from Norfolk to Stuart, FL and visit with my folks while we completed final preps for leaving the US. At the SSCA Gam, I had asked the question "What should I look for in a weather window to get around Cape Hatteras from Norfolk?" 50 plus cruisers shouted in unison "Don't Go!" Not encouraging. They all take the Intracoastal Waterway from Norfolk to Ft Lauderdale and then hop across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. Music is just too tall and too deep for "the ditch". We HAD to go outside. After talking to the folks at the Salty Dawg Rally, who were all going "outside" in the deep ocean, we read up on getting from Florida down island to the Virgins and beyond. Dubbed the Thorny Path because it is upwind into the eastern trade winds, we read Bruce Van Sant's book "The Gentlemen's Guide to Passages South" about how to take some of the thorns out of the trip. Unfortunately, the answer lies in lots of short hops in good weather windows, usually at night to take advantage of land breezes knocking down the trades. Pretty well thought out, but would not allow us to give Ginny and Cary any stability to keep up with schoolwork. Everyday we would be trying to find a new WiFi hotspot to log on to school.

After talking with my parents in Stuart, Tricia and I decided to join the Salty Dawg Rally and sail from Hampton to Tortola. We would have lots of support and company for the trip. And we realized, yet again, we were postponing the inevitable. The stop in Florida to get "finally ready" was a lame excuse. We will never be "ready-ready", so we might as well go.

The SDR is 1,500 miles in the open ocean. We wanted a third experienced crew member to share night watches. Cary and Ginny are good as a team during the day, but are not ready to stand night watch just yet. At least I know I wouldn't get much sleep if they were on watch. So, we called all our sailor friends. Not surprisingly, no one could commit to be ready to leave "on or about November 4th, and arrive in 1-2 weeks". Big ask. After striking out with those we knew, I took a gamble and asked on of the staff at Fawcett's who had been a big help during the refit if he was interested in joining us. Super Dave Goldsmith signed on as a member of the Music band. He even showed up in Hampton on November 1st with a mandolin!

The pre-departure prep with the SDR team in Hampton was awesome. We made more friends, especially the family on Nyapa.  Cary and Ginny were huge hits with kids and parents alike as the senior members of the Salty Pups. They even took the initiative to have Salty Pup t-shirts made up. Contact us soon as supplies are dwindling. We celebrated Halloween and Tricia's birthday in Hampton.

Departure was rapidly approaching...