Picture: Comocean at its home port, Osterville MA.
Author: Seth Hynes

Toby, my Dad, had every intention of writing this blog entry, but as could be expected he's a little busy preparing for tomorrow morning's departure with the Caribbean 1500 Rally. The race will take him and his crew of three (Norm, Ed and Tom) far off-shore across 1,500 miles of bluewater ocean from Hampton Roads, Virginia to Nanny Cay in the British Virgin Islands.

Needless to say, there is a lot to do when preparing for such a voyage and considering he only retired this past Monday I would say it's a miracle the boat is ready at all (he always was a workaholic). The past week was spent making final preparations and attending to problems with the boat (which are systemic on a boat of this size).

In speaking with my dad I learned on Wednesday that the engine wouldn't start due to a dead battery, but after replacement on Thursday it was deduced the problem had to do with the charger relay. On Saturday they put up the cabin flaps only to learn the new solar panels affect the fit, so yesterday they rushed around getting a patch made. Today they discovered the Storm Sail cannot be used due to issues with the track. And last I heard the SSB Radio was still not tuned properly (thankfully they have Norm on board who is a licensed Ham Radio Operator - and a back-up Sat phone should he not come through)! Meanwhile, my Mom, JoAnne, was tirelessly provisioning the boat and pre-cooking meals for the crew to enjoy on those first cold days at sea. It sounds like a very busy week, but I know my Dad and the crew were all having a blast keeping busy (they sound exhausted and giddy at the same time).

Departure is set for tomorrow at Noon (Eastern). 64 very excited sailboats will leave the marina with their pink Caribbean 1500 flags hoisted high and will congregate by the starting line. A helicopter will hover overhead to take pictures of the start and hopefully there will be a little wind as they begin their 6-13 day voyage (depending on the size of the boat). My guess is that Comocean will finish in just under 9, but we'll see!

Be sure to click on the link to the right to follow Comocean's track as compared to the other C1500 boats. And feel free to leave comments below!

Good luck Comocean!
Seth