Annabella - Fw: Day 5 at sea

The crew of Annabella watches the sun rise somewhere in the Triangle while H. L.watches over the scene and Wendy gives direction.What was the direction? "go East old men, go East" And so we do.Au demain. read more...

Annabella - Found at sea

Well we didn't make it very far but at least were happy. Actually this is the crew of Annabella showing where we don't want to be, in a four-person life raft. Could be worse.This was part of the safety equipment demonstration conducted by Peter Burch and the world cruising crew. Well worth attending. If we were really in a liferaft, I would probably be attached to the outside. Harpo suggests that the attachment is optional depending on how I behave.More later, safe sailingGilligan IMG_0246. read more...

Annabella - Dinghy Shrinkage

Somebody told me that they had never seen a hard bottomed dinghy on the fore deck / cabin of an Island Packet before, at least not one with a Hogt Boom on the staysail. Here it is, impinging nothing, allowing for complete control of the staysail.Thanks, Jeff, for the grunt work with me and the final solution to the secure lashing problem. For the land bound, this gets the dinghy off the davits and out of the way of any big following seas or breaking waves over the stern.John has arrived in time to miss the heavy labor. Something tells me we'll find some way to make that up to him.We leave Sunday and it is time. More tomorrow.H LIMG_0244 IMG_0243. read more...

Annabella - Options open

In the search for alternative transportation to BVI we have come up with at least one option below.Tracker is now installed on Annabella's stern rail so if desired you can keep apprised of our progress via the blog. We leave Sunday,assuming weather is favorable.Jeff Harper (Harpo) has arrived. We await John Irving to complete the Minnow's crew.More later9CD35340-88D4-4942-AB45-D76AFB1962F2. read more...

Annabella - Arrived in Portsmouth

Here we are joining up with the ARC 1500 crowd in Portsmouth VA just in time to see the first load of Christmas trees headed North for the beginning of the season.Been a busy couple of days so far but fun. Safety inspection by Peter Burch was more than just that, it was a walk around information download from Peter to us on a variety of topics safety and otherwise. Thanks.Finally chased down a stubborn fresh water leak before heading out to meet other cruisers (not swingers, Liz) at a get acquainted cocktail party.Today is a cleaning day in anticipation of the arrival of our friend and crew member, Harpo, tomorrow. Until later IMG_0240. read more...