Gargleblaster
Well-known member
Paul Mead in Independence from Pin Mill who was first across the line in this year's Jester Challenge has sent the following message:
A quick update from here in Newport Rhode Island.
My wife Rosemary flew home Monday and I was due to leave here for home first thing Tuesday morning with the other boat that is here with me. Monday afternoon we learned of a tropical rain storm developing in Florida with the potential for it to head this way. We decided and were advised by locals not to leave in case it worked east and hit us on our passage to the Azores. It seems we made a wise decision because if we had been at sea we would not have been able to get far enough off-shore (circa 500 miles) in order to miss it's 85 mph wind.
Our boats are now sitting on moorings in the bay where they will ride better to the weather than the fixed pontoons we were on previously. If it does arrive we have been told not to sleep aboard and folks here have been very good at offering us a free bed for the night.
The forecasters are still not completely sure what it will do but they think at the moment it will develop into a category 1 hurricane hitting us in Newport around Friday/Saturday. This means we will probably not be able to leave here to Sunday earliest or Monday. Monday might be the preferred day because it will leave a little extra time for any big seas which will have built up to calm down a little.
Once we get 500 miles towards the Azores we should be able to handle most weather we get as tropical rain storms tend to track up the US coast and not as far as the Azores.
Will try to let you know when we leave.
A quick update from here in Newport Rhode Island.
My wife Rosemary flew home Monday and I was due to leave here for home first thing Tuesday morning with the other boat that is here with me. Monday afternoon we learned of a tropical rain storm developing in Florida with the potential for it to head this way. We decided and were advised by locals not to leave in case it worked east and hit us on our passage to the Azores. It seems we made a wise decision because if we had been at sea we would not have been able to get far enough off-shore (circa 500 miles) in order to miss it's 85 mph wind.
Our boats are now sitting on moorings in the bay where they will ride better to the weather than the fixed pontoons we were on previously. If it does arrive we have been told not to sleep aboard and folks here have been very good at offering us a free bed for the night.
The forecasters are still not completely sure what it will do but they think at the moment it will develop into a category 1 hurricane hitting us in Newport around Friday/Saturday. This means we will probably not be able to leave here to Sunday earliest or Monday. Monday might be the preferred day because it will leave a little extra time for any big seas which will have built up to calm down a little.
Once we get 500 miles towards the Azores we should be able to handle most weather we get as tropical rain storms tend to track up the US coast and not as far as the Azores.
Will try to let you know when we leave.
