CHANGE OF PLANS!

As suspected, it was confirmed yesterday that our original plan of sailing away on or around November 5th will not be possible. We have decided to have the rig and lifelines professionally inspected, and we are also subject to the working schedule of Strouts Point marina in Freeport.

http://www.stroutspoint.com/

Our new targeted sailaway date is 11/17-18. Stay tuned for details. This is a blessing in disguise because the weather is going to be much nicer on 11/17 than on 11/5....... right?

Sister Site

Johnboy will also be maintaining a similar "Team Audax" website / blog:

www.caribbeanendeavour.com

He has mad web design skills. I do not. I have Ninja skills.

Buff, Wax & Bottom Paint

Got lots done this past weekend. Two steps foreward, one step back. Foreward: Got the topsides buffed and waxed, and got the bottom painted. Back: As Sverre (Jordi's brother) started researching a deck leak in the aft cabin, more and more leakage was discovered as more and more soaked and rotten joinery was ripped out of the boat. We suspect the backstay chainplate is leaking. Profusely. File under "issues that must be addressed before departure". It is now becoming evident that we be unable to tackle every action item pertaining to boat cosmetics. Most of those will need to be addressed en-route. Given our reliance on subcontractors and marinas to complete some vital necessary work, our goal departure date of November 5th may now be in question. We certainly hope this is not the case, because it's gonna start getting COLD outside. When you're sitting in your 70 degree living room in your jammies and slippers watching the Red Sox kick ass, it's easy to say "no worries, we'll just leave one week later". When we're miles offshore and it's 40 degrees and raining, we may have a different perception of this.

Thought for the day:

Click it. I dare you. Especially if it's COLD outside.

Progress Report

Got the money. Got my passport. Informed my place of employment (Hodgdon Yachts). Informed my family. Sold my desktop computer and bought a wireless-ready laptop. Got my house rented out. Found a GREAT home for Rico Tubbs (thank Di-Di!!). Had a meeting with the J's last week, went over action items and delegated accordingly. Johnboy got boat insurance (yes!!). We got a crew heading up to the vessel in Rockland this weekend to attack the action item list. We'll be busy Friday Saturday and Sunday... the biggest task will be to buff/wetsand and wax the topsides, tape out the waterline, and paint the bottom while she's still on the hard. I love anti-fouling paint. Blueberry is my favorite. Tastes just like chicken. There is a secret theory among my family that inhaling anti-fouling paint fumes once caused my dad to have a stroke. The doctors have not confirmed this. I am going to wear a respirator and gloves. If that stuff can kill barnacles, it can kill brain cells.

THE CREW

Steve St.Jean (me)
See profile at right.

John Herrigel
Age: 28
Hometowns: Chatham NJ, Portland, Phippsburg, Bath ME

Vessel owner. Entrepreneur extrordinaire: Real estate and otherwise. Avid sailor. One day he found a pink cel phone while hiking the Morse Mountain trail. He tracked down the owner: my ex-wife Adrienne. This is how we met. Since then, Adrienne and I refer to him as "cel phone John".

Jordi St.John
Age: 26
Hometowns: Stratton VT, Phippsburg, Portland ME

Accomplished nordic skier, Avid sailor. Has USCG Captain's License. Claims to have connections in Tortola BVI. He and John seem to be really tight - like brothers. He calls John "Johnboy" - Maybe I will too.

THE PLAN

Here's the plan:
Myself, John Herrigel and Jordi St.John move aboard "Audax", a 1989 Endeavour 38 center cockpit cruising sloop which John has recently purchased. On or about November 5th (conditions permitting) we shove off to journey South for the winter. Planned destinations include, but are not limited to: The Bahamas, Turks/Caicos, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, St.Thomas USVI, St.John USVI, Tortola BVI, St.Maarten, St.Barth, Antigua... you get the idea. I'd like to try to do some racing in my free time. Miami Race Week, Key West Race Week, Heineken Week, Classics Week, The Bucket... we'll see. If we are all still alive with all our limbs, and haven't killed each other or the vessel, God willing we will sail back to Maine for mid-May '08. Stay tuned.

Why? Cuz. Cuz I can. I'm single (recently divorced), no kids, no debt, I love sailing, I love the Caribbean, and I love yacht racing. I love adventure. In 1994, I packed up everything I had that would fit in or on my 1984 VW GTI Rabbit, and drove from Maine to Salt Lake City, Utah to "Ski Bum" at Snowbird. I will NEVER forget that feeling of hitting the highway and heading West to..... the unknown. New places, people.... experiences. FREEDOM. Like Captain America (Peter Fonda) in Easy Rider when he throws his watch on the ground, right before he and Billy the Kid (Dennis Hopper) hit the road on their choppers headed for Mardi Gras. I gotta get me some more of that.

Let's face the facts: You're born, then you die. In between, you are confined to this planet Earth. This is a HUGE friggin' planet. I'll never see it all, but I gotta try to see SOME of it. I bet there are some really cool places and people out there. I bet there are some adventures I can get into. Stay tuned.

DAY ONE

Here she is, folks. "Audax" is a 1989 Endeavour 38 center cockpit cruising sloop. She shall be my home away from home for the upcoming months of November through May. At least that's the plan, anyway. Myself, John Herrigel and Jordi St.John went up to Rockland to uncover her and load the sails. Jordi and John both went up the rig to fix a main halyard snafu. Why wait?