C1500 Weather Briefings
04 December 2011 | Nanny Cay, Tortola, BVI
Author: Toby
This photo from the day before the original start day says it all. Pretty much every skipper plus one crew was in the room. We were all scheduled to go. Boats were ready (not true). Crew were ready (not true), Skippers were ready (also, not true). Everyone had been watching the weather. Tropical storm Sean (later hurricane Sean), was just not moving toward Bermuda. The Newport to BVI boats had already started and were about to take a beating that left two boats stranded at sea, one lost life, two boats on the rocks going into Bermuda.
I think it was on this photo at the briefing that Ed Cusick realized he was running out of time. It's the first time I thought to myself, what are you thinking? Sane souls would probably question the intent of all 62 boats captains and the associated 180 plus crew!