It was a real treat to see a mother and her calf at close quarters in Boot Key Harbour yesterday. This was my first encounter and what a treat, she was beautiful. I apolagise for the poor quality of the pictures since they were taken on my phone. The sailing has taken a back seat for most of us holed up in Boot Key Harbour while we wait for the weather to settle/improve. This afternoon and tonight we have forecast of 22 to 25 knot wind, gusting to 40 knots, with thunder storms. Everyone says that this is unusual and we are all waiting for it to settle down before we venture out into the gulf stream.... read more

Sunday 31st January 2010. On the move, at last. I haven't had much to say because there hasn't been much to report, just boring stuff about preparing Harbinger. However I am now happy to report that I've left Fort Myers and I'm now in Marathon, which is the middle Keys, Florida. It was a long haul for a first sail aboard Harbinger and as one might expect not everything went according to plan. Left fort Myers at 13.15Thursday 28th Jan, with a view to making Marathoin by 16.00 Saturday. It's about 130 miles and so this seemed a reasonable ambition. Motored down the Caloosahatchee river, its about a mile wide but shallow and so you need to stay within the channel. It was 18.00 and dusk before I reached the open sea. Motor sailed until the ... read more

Hi folks, Well I'm one month into a possible one year carreer break. I didn't realise there would be so much time taken up preparing for such an adventure. I always had this romantic idea that I would turn up at Gatwick airport and then decide where I was going, but you need visas and money and apex tickets, etc.. anyway at least I've decided where I'm going. I'm off to Miami first. It's around 78 degrees there and the best time to visit is the winter. I spent all last Monday in the US embassy trying to get a multi visit visa, which is what I need. 5 hours and three interviews later is seems that they will let go to the US and spend some money afterall! Very nice of them to let me ... read more