Day 5 at the Caribbean 1500, and only three more full days prior to the planned departure here in Portsmouth, Virginia. Another day, another change in the weather.
Crews awoke to another rainout this morning, with a soaking mist falling at Ocean Marine Yacht Center.
“Man, it’s raining! I don’t wan to go aloft in the rain!” joked Mike & Jordan, who had driven down from Port Annapolis Marina today before the dawn to help the fleet out with rigging. They walked into the rally office for lunch with matted hair and damp t-shirts, but spirits were high.
“We fixed the furler on Zoom,” Mike exclaimed triumphantly. “They’re ready to rock and roll.”
By the time their lunch was finished, the sun was threatening to peak out, and as of this writing it’s actually shining again. It’ll make Mike & Jordan’s afternoon of completing rigging inspections that much more productive and enjoyable for the duo as they help get the fleet ready for the rigors of ocean sailing. Mike is scheduled to give tomorrow’s first seminar on Tips & Tricks for rigging offshore.
It's been a roller coaster of a week weather-wise, and unfortunately doesn’t look to be getting any more stable. Despite the fact that it’s November 4, well into the fall season, temperatures are expected to soar into the 80s by Friday ahead of the next big cold front currently sweeping across the Midwest. The passage of that front, and the intensity of the high pressure ridging behind it, will determine our start date for the rally.
There’s also of course concerns in the tropics. As we wrote yesterday in an extensive Feature Story about weather forecasting for the rally, a small low is predicted to form in the tropics just east of the BVI over the weekend. We at the rally office and the folks at WRI will watch very closely it’s potential for development, the second factor that will dictate the departure date.
And good weather or bad, it’s on the minds of all the sailors walking the docks at Ocean Marine, and is a popular topic of conversation.
“We’ll my foulies and boots needed a good washing anyway!” joked Ros Cheetham from the catamaran Misto, berthed at the town docks at the end of High Street. Despite the short walk from the boat to the marina, Ros was soaking wet in the fine misty rain when she left the marina office earlier today.
The next update from WRI is scheduled to arrive tomorrow by 0900, and we’ll do an impromptu weather briefing before the first seminars start tomorrow morning at Roger Brown’s to discuss the long-term outlook and the prospects for Sunday’s planned start. No decisions will be made on delaying the start until the weather plays itself out a bit more, so stay tuned for tomorrow’s update.