Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

That’s what we’re stuck on right now. Taxi to take off is expected to exceed 30 mins. But we have to get moving first. I shall use this as an exercise to get used to things taking time.

Tomorrow we fly to Bermuda. Middle of next week we should be setting sail for the Azores. There are a few sites where you can get information on where we are and how we’re getting on :

• Windancer IV Blog – Not sure how often this will be updated while we’re traveling.
• ARC Daily Logs – Updates seems somewhat sporadic but you get to hear from most of the boats crossing with us.
• ARC Daily Positions – Most days you should see an updated position report around noon GMT
• This blog – I’m hoping to get an update out out each day.

If none of these blogs show any news for a day or two that, in itself, will not be cause for alarm.  We’ll be out at sea and communications may not be perfect.

A few other links of interest :

• Bermuda Wind Forecast.  Looks windy this coming Saturday.   As of now, the wind looking strong on departure day (next Wednesday).  Long term forecasts are a bit flaky.  We’ll see nearer the time.
• Faial Wind Forecast.  Faial is our planned point of arrival in the Azores.
• Bermuda Weather.  Not looking too brilliant for the weekend.
• Faial Weather.

Just had a quick Skype with Capt. John on Windancer IV.  Their last 48 hours seems to have been a bit of a challenge.  Wind speeds peaking at 75 knots, 30 foot waves.  They went out and partied last night.  This morning they all look a bit beat up.  John was honest enough to say it was the party.

As they are moored fairly close to the airport we decided we should meet up straight after our arrival tomorrow.  I can drop off the stuff I don’t need on land.  We can figure out the rest after that.

Managed to leave work early today.  That’s now it until June when I return from the Atlantic trip.  Thoughts can now really begin to shift to the upcoming trip.  Most my gear is now packed.  A lot of room is taken up with Celestial Navigation gear / books.  This should add an additional educational element to the trip.  I’m also looking forward to spending the long weekend in Bermuda with Helen.  This should be a small taster for the future ahead.  John and his crew have probably arrived in Bermuda now so chances are we’ll meet them early on.

For now – I am going to get my head around the reality of the situation.  Everything still feels a bit unreal.  Personal plans all seem to be working well and though not without issues, we’re moving onwards in a bit of dream.

I have titled this entry “Escape #1” as today was my originally planned retirement date.  I think this is messing with my head a bit as part of me is nagging away saying I could be all done now.  Escape #2 is on August 12th.  That should be the last one.  I’ll try my best to avoid further persuasion.

Finally – a big thanks to all who have wished me well on the trip.  I will be disappointed if we have perfect weather all the way.  I am sort of hoping for a few trials along the way to bolster future confidence as well as break the rhythm.  Watch the blog – I expect to be posting once every day or so.

Flights are all now booked to bring John, Ben, Sam and Ben’s girlfriend Jesse to Antigua for Xmas. They’re all arriving within 20 mins of each other on the 24th of December and leaving on the 19th of Jan. That gives us three weeks together. It is said that Antigua has as many beaches as there are days in the year so if that’s all we want, we can stay in Antigua and get variety. We will also consider the visiting Barbuda, Guadeloupe and maybe even Dominica. It will be all down to what everyone wants. I suspect we’ll do more stops in less islands although getting away from British Antigua and getting over to French Guadeloupe will add some cultural variety.