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Hey Scupper what's up?  Cold, wet, windy in the Tri-State area.  Linda and I will see you quite a bit this summer as I have resigned my summer school teaching job. My retirement will begin May 24, 2012. How are the dog bones? Are Gary and Pat behaving themselves?

Here's a picture of our latest holy terror!  He is so much fun!  We flew out to San Diego, California for a one week vacation, picked up "Scupper" on the last Day, then flew back to Grand Rapids.  The bad news is that we lost our Chocolate Lab "Buster" over the July 4th weekend.  He had a seizure playing in the water, doing what he loved.  He passed quickly and with no apparent pain.  We all should be so lucky.

The ARC Europe departs from Tortola, BVI on May 6. Barry and I are crewing on Splendido, owned by our friend Michael. A fourth crew member, Janie, joined us today for the first leg to Bermuda. In Bermuda we will be joined by Nate and Amy for the trip across the pond departing on May 19. We'll cruise the Azores for a week then arrive in Lagos, Portugal around June 18. We'll be updating the log while underway on the ARC Europe web site, and will have a satellite tracker on board.

A rain cloud passed over the anchorage as we prepared to leave Antigua. Behind us, Allegro was framed by a full rainbow. Discovery had already left and was positioned at the end of the rainbow. Barry and I had decided to leave the group and head off on our own but would meet up with them on the 15^th in St. Martin to help celebrate Sharon's birthday. The others planned to anchor off St. Kitts on the way to St. Martin while we planned to visit Nevis where friends Hud and Lynne from Belle of Virginia had bought a home. They had participated in the 2005 Caribbean 1500.

It's amazing how quickly time passes on a sailboat. After boarding Gaiamar on Friday night, we finally left the marina on Sunday afternoon with Gene kicking and screaming to stay attached to the internet so he could Skype. Once we got to our anchorage in Benure's Bay on Norman Island he was glad we left the marina. The snorkeling was great and it was much cooler with the breeze since the marina is so protected.

The fleet of 60 boats is gathering in Hampton, VA for the November 2^nd start of the 20^th Caribbean 1500 rally. Joy For All is ready to go. After getting last-minute boat projects finished this morning we are now staying warm and dry while the weather has turned cold and wet outside. The forecast sounds pretty wet for the next two days, so we are taking advantage of being able to stay warm while we can. The cockpit enclosure helps, but I'll be donning long underwear for the start, and I don't intend to take it off until we've crossed the Gulf Stream.

As a mid america born and raised individual, I have a non typical california opinion of the delta and sf bay boating experience. Namely, its boring. Not that you cant get in trouble and have excitement that way, but its just not the midwest, or east/north/south coast experience.