Now that I am mostly away from an internet connection and my various on line weather sources, my new best friend is weather guru Chris Parker and the merry band of the boats that sponsor him. After the coffee is made, at 6:40 I settle into the cockpit with my little Sony single sideband receiver. Chris gives a synopsis by day for the entire SW North Atlantic region, then by smaller areas like the Abacos, then individual forecasts for sponsoring vessels that are underway or planning passages. Today I heard boats from as far away as Beaufort, NC (trying to sail to the BVIs) and the Turks and Caicos. Radio wave propagation is a funny thing. On my $100 set, I heard boats he didn't hear, and heard Chris better than some of the sponsoring boats with their installed SSB radios (big bucks and frustration.) Other days, zip!

When you hear his individual forecasts for the various boats, it really helps triangulate what is happening or coming. Yesterday, when he started talking about "ugly" and "nasty" and "gale force winds" for Sunday and Monday, I betcha several of us really perked up. Today he has backed off that a schoch but we are still headed for the complete protection of White Sound at Green Turtle Cay, perhaps even a splurge on a dock for a night or two.

Ancient mariners knew that "red sky in the morning, sailors take warning." This morning is an eerie calm, but there is a trough developing nearby that will bring deteriorating weather this afternoon.