Off to the Mediterranean

While we missed the warmth of the Caribbean this winter, we enjoyed our time at home, visiting family, and hanging out with friends. We also accomplished a couple notable things during our time on land :

1. We blended our own wines:

“Beast Cabernet Sauvignon” (short for Berkeley East)

“Mary’s 100 Point Wine” – (named for the score it received from the winemaker)

If you join us in the Med this summer, you might get to taste some of these excellent blends.


2. Larry passed his US Coast Guard Captains and Master License exams. He is now licensed to do what we have been doing for years and can also captain much larger vessels. He may have found his next career – driving a passenger ferry in Sydney.

As always, time flew by and we found ourselves scrambling to squeeze in a few water ski runs as the lake warmed up before we had to start preparing Berkeley East for the passages and a few years in Europe.

While most people think we just sit around, snorkeling in pristine waters, drinking rum and watching beautiful sunsets, there is a lot of work that goes into preparing for the life you think we live. So the last month has been very hectic getting everything ready.

In addition to determining if we have enough sunscreen and rum onboard (to live that life that everyone thinks we live), we had to review every system on the boat. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean requires us to be very self sufficient, which means having back up systems, spare parts, good communication systems and lots of safety equipment. While we have most of this already, it needs to be reviewed and updated considering that we are over a 1,000 miles from any assistance.

So as the task list gets longer and the number of days before departure gets smaller, we are prioritizing only the most important tasks and look like we will be ready to go on May 1st.

Our plan is to leave Hampton, VA on May 1st for Bermuda (4 -5 days), and spend two weeks doing more boat projects and enjoying the island. While in Bermuda we will meet up with 25 other boats who are part of the ARC Europe Rally. We all depart for the Azores on May 19th (weather permitting). This passage should take 13 – 17 days and we will be the furthest offshore we have ever been. If all goes to plan, we will spend a couple of weeks sailing the island of the Azores before departing for Lagos Portugal (6 – 7 days). Once in Portugal we will take short hops along the coast, through the straights of Gibraltar, along the eastern coast of Spain, to the Balearic Islands, ending up in Barcelona for the winter.

While traveling with a group of other boats sounds comforting, the reality is that we will probably never see any of them after the first day. The upside is meeting new people and enjoying the events on each end of the passage.

Check back around May 19th and we will have details on how to track our progress across the Atlantic.
Previous Comments

15 May 2010 – Leonard Taylor

We wish you bon voyage and will be thinking about you every day. We love you both.

22 May 2010 – Irene Smith

Congratulations Larry – what does it feel like to be legit? Did you get a 50 tonne or 100 tonne? You now have one more notch on your life experience belt.