I'm happy to be back in Hope Town tonight. It is great to be here! The week in New Hampshire flew by and was not too onerous I'm pleased to report. The trip back to Osprey went very well. I actually caught an earlier ferry back to Hope Town and found Tom frantically cleaning! It was good to see Tom - I missed him so much. I immediately noticed that he had a rather curious hair cut - sort of a pom-pom on top! Turns out he was getting a buzz-cut at the local barber when the power went out!!!! Yikes that is a little known hazard of island life.

Tom has done a good job of getting everything ready to go, so we are leaving tomorrow. The forecast looks good for getting back around the dreaded Whale. We will anchor at Manjack Cay tomorrow night and then head across the little Bahama bank to cross back over the Gulf Stream on Thursday or Friday. We will need to pause long enough to get the new AIS system installed and hook up the satellite weather receiver but we hope that won't take long - famous last words. Once we set off across the stream we will keep going for 2 or 3 days straight depending on the weather and how tired we get. So there will be no word for a while. We are aiming for Fernandina Beach, FL or Charleston, SC. We will be happy to get to either port in one jump. If the weather gods oblige we would like to get as far as Oriental, NC within the next 2 weeks and meet up with Wind Whisperer. I spoke to them this weekend and they are hanging out at their home there waiting for a new sail and a few other things. They have offered us the use of their dock so we would love to meet them there. Pray for Fair Winds!