New Frontier

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  Ft Lauderdale, Florida, United States
Thursday, May 24, 2007

Needless to say the past couple days have been somewhat traumatic. Not only has our unplanned change in direction created more than a bit of stress, but the weather east of Florida remains "unseasonable". Yesterday, we had a briefing from our paid weather "router" who flew down to brief crews and captains. His message was clear: the weather is still winter-like and the normal high pressure usually found off of the east coast this time of year has not formed up.

The wind has been in the 20-25 kts range and out of the north east. Those of you who are not boaters should understand that any wind out of the north results in very difficult to dangerous conditions in the gulf stream. So it has been stated by the rally organizer that we will not leave unless the wind clocks to the east. The current advise from our router is that conditions will improve somewhat on Sunday afternoon and then plateau at that point. So the weather (or wx as boaters know it) will still not be great on Monday, but the wind direction is likely to be easterly and therefore gulf stream conditions may be good enough to go. So the current thinking is that Monday or possibly Sunday will be our tentative plan. But, no guarantee.

On the other matter, we have secured a berth on the Nordhavn 62 "New Frontier" and also (just as good a news) secured a berth on one of the other vessels while we are in Bermuda. So we are go. We thought long and hard about this, but felt like we might have regrets later if we just gave up and went home. Yes, we would have wanted to go to the med, but going up to Bermuda and ending in Newport RI is not chopped liver. This can still be a great trip and besides it will allow us to get to Norfolk VA to pick up our boat earlier....maybe around June 10 or so. [Those of you who are asking if we will come back home earlier....no. We still plan to be back in Scottsdale on 7/17]

So that is the new plan. I am not one to change big plans easily so its a big pill to swallow, not to mention the thousands dollars I am out in non-refundable deposits.

So Dave (Adventure) is leaving at daybreak tomorrow (Fri) and heading up the inter-coastal with is friend Max. The other crewman (Patrick) is long gone. Sue and I have rented a car and will be going back to our condo in North Palm until the fleet leader announces a departure and then we will drive back....only and hour. I think this will be a good transition and give us a chance to "shift gears".

And yes, this has been a bit of a lesson in unpredictable behavior of people you don't know well. I'll not elaborate on a public blog, but I will be chewing mints for a few days to improve the taste in my mouth. Our choices are limited, and I really don't want to give up on the whole idea of this rally. So we go forward ....... on "New Frontier". So the adventure continues....but now the adventure does not have a capital A.

Our new Captain is Jerry and is wile Con (for Connie) seem genuinely interested in making sure we did not go home. Their personalities are much different than that of Dave and his wife. For now, it seems like it will all work. Besides, its a much shorter trip up to Bermuda and Newport than to Gibraltar.... Thanks to all who sent us warm wishes. We will keep you posted.