So, we are off to America, heading for Newport, Rhode Island.  Our new crew members are Donald Brewster, who is now an old friend and Bill Springer, Senior Editor of Cruising World Magazine, who has come along to write a piece for the magazines. We have also known Bill for about 7 years, so we have a fine crew with lots of experience.

We face a mixture of low and high pressure systems, but at least the winds shouldn’t be all on the nose, so we hope to arrive in Newport by Sunday might.

Part of the challenge of this route is to pick up the Gulf Stream going north, but in fact it curves and twists, and in large areas is actually south-going at up to 3 knots. A new challenge!