SailBlog

The wind and current stayed up and in my favor these last two days approaching the farthest west point of this last leg. I made over 150nm two days in a row and yesterday, 123nm, the light of Cabo San Antonia flashing in the north east as the dawn began to show on the horizon. The winds freshened up with the morning breeze off the Cuban landmass, nearly from the SE�... We were off headed on a good course to make NE progress along the coast of Cuba.

I am intrigued now�... about Cuba. I realize that I know nothing of the topography. Should the coast be cliff-like, mountains rising from the sea, or a low plains or beaches? I have no idea, yet I am only 10nm from the coast�... I can see nothing of land in the thick haze, only a towering anvil cloud hanging over the coast. It was so amazing to have read about the Panama Canal before going through it�...I am wishing I had though to grab a book or do some research about Cuba, a mysterious island shrouded in so much political upheaval over the years�... now the boarders open to cruisers�... there are lots of new articles and information coming in from those who have been there�... there is so much to be experienced in this part of the world. As for Texas and New Orleans�... hearing the music of Cuba is on the top of my list of to dos as a cruiser�...

We are finally on the homestretch, no longer getting farther away from home, having rounded Cuba, the nearly 700nm long landmass laying horizontal right in the middle of my pathway to the New England coast. Unfortunately, that has added a near 700nm detour as I have had to divert to the west to get around it. But we are now making way back to 79*W, where I started in Panama, where I will be carried north in the Gulf Stream, a 3-4kt set of �'engines�' for Inspired Sanity.

Actually, the Gulf Stream begins here in the Straits as the Gulf waters, warm and moving, get caught with the Caribbean sea current moving north through the Yucatan Canal. In excitement today to be on such a great NE course, I may have neglected to go north in this ESE breeze, the only clear opportunity to go north�... but the winds were forecasted to be easterly and then back to the ENE.. I expected that to come�... Instead, at 2pm, the winds suddenly shift out of the north and stopped blowing within a half hour�...

Here we sit, one more time, in the calm, waiting for a breeze to fill in. I took advantage of the moment to jump into the clear, crystal blue water�... a bit cooler and more refreshing than in the Caribbean waters�... what a relief from the hazy, humidity of the day�... yet, it seems that the coolness only last as long as I am in the water�... before I can even dry off, I am dripping with sweat once more�...especially in the calms. I have climbed below, out of the afternoon sun to write, finding a distraction from the tendency toward despondency that I feel when the winds stop blowing. The forecast suggested the winds would become variable, so it is not a surprise�... this is the reason I have given myself a week in my itinerary for this section of the trip�... tacking on light winds will make the short 345nm trip from W Cuba to Fowley Rocks, nearly 550nm; a three-day trip can take 5-7�... But we are ahead of schedule by one day with the briskness of our way to W Cuba�...

Clouds are moving in�... of course, I am hoping that a breeze fills in for the night. Being as close as I am to Cuba, there should be on onshore breeze from the N/ NNE at least, if not any actual wind�... I am wishing I was a bit farther from shore but if need be, I can always tack to NW. The current is moving NE as well.

In order to get things moving in preparation for my return, I have made a good �'guestimate�' of my arrival�... Based on the slow-down here in the straits that may delay my getting to Miami until mid-next week, and the fairly reliable timing of my trip from Florida to RI, having done it several times in IS, somewhat unfortunately, I should arrive in Bristol over the holiday Memorial Day weekend�... Given the intense schedule of events at the Herreshoff Museum for Saturday and Sunday of the weekend, we are planning my arrival to the dock for the Memorial Day, Monday late afternoon�... I may arrive in the bay earlier but will delay as needed�...

The arrival at the dock will be an informal event allowing a free time of enjoying the homecoming with friends and family; there will be a brief time for thank yous, welcomes, and refreshments. Sail Twice Around has planned a more formal Welcome Home reception for Tuesday, May 31, at 5:30pm hosted by the Herreshoff museum, in the Hall of Boats. This will allow those involved over the holiday and traveling distances to do so in less holiday traffic. Hopefully, many will be able to come for the landing on Monday and stay over for the event on Tuesday evening. Both events will be followed by a time of camaraderie at a local restaurant.

Team Sail Twice Around hopes that the Welcome Home will give ample opportunity for anyone who wishes to participate, share a toast or any thoughts�... to do so. This journey has been an incredible joining of hearts, life energy, and so much support. We have a simple program planned�... Lots of Thanks, a little music, with plenty of time for your input.

Of course all of this is tentative as all sailing finales must be, but this should be pretty accurate. We will have a better idea of the date of arrival once I have rounded the SE tip of Florida and have a reasonable reliable forecast for the last stretch of the journey up the US east coast.

A lecture date is being set at the Herreshoff for later in June or July, for me to do a full presentation. I will be doing a presentation for the Women�'s Sailing Foundation on June 4th, participating in the SSCA Essex Ct, Gam, as well as plan to be in Rockland, Maine for the SSCA Gam the last weekend in July with OceansWatch Executive director, Liz Andrews. I will also be a guest speaker for the Southern Cross Owner�'s Assoc. over the summer.

Now�... I guess the breeze is filling in for real�... I better go hoist the sails and make headway while there is headway to make... Ahhh!! The sound of the water crushing against the hull once more. It is going to be a long few days in the variable winds. An opportunity to practice presence and patience, finding ways to find the gold leaf lining in the meanderings�... So far there has been no wildlife to be seen, except a couple of flying fish�... Hopefully, the birds and mammals will fill in with the winds. I have to wonder what effect all of the ecological nightmares in the Gulf have had on the populations of sea life�...

I was able to do some check-ins by radio this morning. Actually, I am being heard quite well considering that my tuner is not working�... I am getting lots of 5 X 5 reports for my signal strength. During the Cruisheimer�'s net, there was an announcement for a new Gulf Stream Net�... at 1400UTC�... the old Panama net time�... I was able to check in there as well. There are two sailboats very close to me, Ballou and ? Temporarily Impermanent ?? not sure the name�... I realized they were who I had seen on the horizon earlier in the morning, a bit to the east�... and turns out they are good friends of Bob and Sherry Davis from SV Nirvana!! They were familiar with my circumnavigation from them.. Hello Bob and Sherry�... Robin and Mike�... Kenny and Betsy�...!!! All in the San Blas Islas. I also took a chance at checking in with the Panama Net�... though I had very little copy on them�... but decided to put out a call.. and sure enough, Guenevere II came back that they had good copy�... So it was a social morning�... T hank you all from all the nets for your incredible commitment to being there every day, for checkins and to be such an amazing support system for sailors cruising�... Just in case you may not know all the cruising nets�... here is a quick list I have found over the years, some new ones for me this year.

Stat UTC EDST Cruising Net 8170 1200 0800 Coconut Tele Net, Caribbean, Bahamas 8104 1215 0815 SSCA Safety Security Net Caribbean, East US Coast, Bahamas and as far as heard 8152 1230 0830 Cruisceheimer�'s Net, Caribbean, East US Coast, Bahamas 8152 1400 1000 Gulf Coast Net ( 2300 as well, 4066 at 1415, 2315) 8143 1400 1000 Panama Pacific Net�... both east and west sides of Panama Canal, Pacific as far as heard

Keepin On Sailin On Caring�... It has been so beautiful a today�... the sailing pristine until the afternoon calm�...but here we are crushing along once more. It is once again time to bask in the beauty of the serenity, the natural energy flowing surrounding me with life energy�...

Time�... once more it is the conundrum, a necessary element to consider in the horizontal plane of coexisting�...but it does not need to be the nemesis that decides if things are going well or not�... time will pass soon enough and all will happen as it can in presence. The gold leaf lining�... time is what we want it to be, there for us to fill yet no longer able to create the stress of the rushing or the disappointment of being slowed down�... time is not the element of existence we must manage, it is our own being in presence. Fairest of winds and the love of the oceans Only Gratitude Donna