This is a photo showing sunrise over Long Island Sound after our night-time run to Port Jefferson.

One of the things that I was looking for when we joined the Caribbean 1500 was to depend on more experienced people for weather and routing. Of course, what I found was that no one will have our interest in mind when they make their calls to go or not go. In retrospect, it was ridiculous for us to have gone out to sail down the coast of VA and NC with the forecast. Those who were making the call for the 65 boats to go were making that call in their own self interest.

Of the 65 boats that were signed up to sail, 8 never made it to Tortola. One boat was lost, one crew was lost and multiple boats had damage. The larger, faster boats "had a good experience". We did not have a good experience...

So, in the future, the weight of "go/no-go" decision is squarely on my shoulders. Only I can make sure we leave in weather that is appropriate for our boat and crew. Clearly a bunch of guys in big fast boat will tolerate more abuse than our family show. Our boat is designed to take Ocean storm conditions, and yet we are not seeking that kind of experience.

In a way the Caribbean 1500 was a great learning experience for us as we learned to trust our own intuition regardless of what the pack is doing. We allowed peer pressure and "experienced sailors" override our own judgment. Never again!

In the past there was a lot of anxiety for me surrounding routing and weather planning, it will be easier now as I know that I will certainly do better than anyone for us. I can't wait to get the boat back in order so we can carry on with our renewed confidence.