John and Ann say goodby to Jascat

In 2003, Ann, Sarah and I sailed our Catalina 36, Starfish, from Puerto Rico through the northern Caribbean as far as St Barts where we turned around and sailed back through the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas to Key West. From there we made a direct 8 day crossing of the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston. Sarah was just 10 years old at the time, and has many more adventures ahead of her, but for Ann and me, this was the cruise of our lifetimes.

Unfortunately, we have only a few records of that trip. Having fun, along with navigating, keeping house, school teaching, and keeping poor old Starfish running, kept us from keeping a detailed log. Large portions of the cruise, such as the Gulf crossing, have no written descriptions at all. I now find, 11 years later, that much of the 2003 cruise is just a blur.

With that background, the reason that the “Jascat to the Bahamas” blog was written was to serve as a memory jogger when, in my old age (tomorrow?), I pause to reminisce. It's already working pretty well. I can drop into any one of the entries and get hooked into reading one after the other. The visual memories alone that they foster are worth the time taken to write them.

All good things must end and so it is with cruising on Jascat which means that this blog is also ending. Jascat is up for sale and we have made our last cruise with her. This then is the last entry in “Jascat to the Bahamas”.

The blog comprises 204 entries over the past five years from locations stretching from Rockport, Texas to Black Point in the Exumas. Along the way, there was some excitement, a few hardships, lots of satisfaction, and a whole lot of fun. Wish we could do it all over again.