Saturday, June 6, 2009

What to do, what to do...

Chris here... we're trying to figure out what the best plan of attack is to head back to the US. What we'd LIKE to do is take a day to get to Chub Cay, just east of The Banks. Then take two days to head across the banks to Bimini. THEN take a day to go across the Gulf Stream and get to FL. Now, Chris Parker, weather forecaster extraordinaire, has said that there is a possible new tropical low forming south of us, and that he would recommend completing any crossing by Wednesday. There are supposed to be some squalls tomorrow with a lessening of frequency on Sunday and Monday, but then picking back up again on Monday afternoon. It's about 170nm to get to Fort Lauderdale from here - at 5kts average, which we'd be lucky to keep with how covered with growth Pelican's bottom is now, we're looking at about 34 hours. That means that if we left at around 8am, we'd arrive at Ft. Lauderdale at about 6pm the next day. In other words, we can get back quickly and hopefully miss the squalls, but it won't be fun and we'll miss the chance for a last conching run across The Banks. So - to hurry and to push, or to accept that we may have to wait another couple of weeks to get back to the US. When Tropical Lows push through, the weather can take a week or more to settle down again. Add to all of this the requirement to be north of the hurricane belt by the end of June for insurance purposes. What to do, what to do.

No comments: