And Smoke Finally Emerges .....

The recent relative radio silence has been partly due to poor mobile coverage here (or at least access for UK phones) and limited wi fi availability. A bigger consideration, however, has been our continued wrestle with the cruising strategy….. We have debated long and hard whether to leave the boat out here for a season, take her north west to the USA, or bring her back across the Atlantic before the hurricane season starts at the end of May. The pros and cons have been aired endlessly; positions adopted and then retracted; and then we have gone back to the start for another round. At last, however, we have made up our collective minds.

With heavy hearts, we have concluded that we would be more comfortable going back to Europe, and thus we have embarked on another round of preparation and planning, maintenance and provisioning. It is easier sorting some of this out in the BVI’s than in Bermuda, so we have devoted the last week or ten days to the essential tasks.

The c 850 mile passage to Bermuda is usually a light wind affair, but best if that comes from the east rather than the north east! The forecast suggests that the weather systems will conspire to give us east and south east winds for the next few days, so we intend to set off on Friday and hope for a c 7 day passage that is not too boring! Thereafter, we have to replenish the stores, refill the diesel tanks (since a bit of motoring is expected) and collect our 2 crew on 1^st May. After a couple of days’ familiarisation and getting over their jet lag, they sail with us on the c 2000 mile leg to the Azores.  

Looking forwards (or backwards),

Watergaw