21 March 2007

Springfield VT in the Bahamas!

March 21, 2007

Talk about a small world. Yesterday I met two guys on vacation here in Hope Town that grew up in Springfield and N. Springfield, VT, my hometown! Dick Merrick grew up in N. Springfield and Phil Jasinski grew up on Wall Street, just across town from me. Of course, they graduated in '61 and I graduated just a few years later, in '97. We had a great time talking about the town and how it has changed over the years. Their graduation class had 250 kids, while mine was around 100.


I still can't get over that I bumped into fellow Springfielders--my dad would be proud!

Kristen

Time to say adios

March 21, 2007

We listened to the weather forecasted by Chris Parker this morning on our SSB and it looks like we’ll have a decent window to cross to Eleuthera sometime early next week, either on Tuesday or Wednesday. The winds are still strong today (25-30 knots), but they will be moderating throughout the week and into the weekend and are forecast to be around 10 knots on Tuesday. The seas should settle down as well, so we’ll keep a close eye on the weather and pick our best day. Another cruiser in the harbor, who is also planning on spending hurricane season in the DR, is also crossing to Eleuthera at the beginning of next week, so we’ll try to coordinate if feasible and perhaps cross together.

Last Friday there was a small party in honor of Don’s 76th birthday, the arrival of Dave’s girlfriend from Florida, and our anticipated departure to points south. It was a great time with good food and conversation.



Linda & Don on Don's 76th birthday.


Our Hope Town Gang assembled. This is the group of friends we have been hanging out with in Hope Town. The men in the back: l-r Gordon, Dave, Don, Hans, Brad; the women in the front: l-r April, Carla, Kristen, Linda


Hans, Kristen, Carla & Gordon.

The Hope Town Sailing Club hosted dinghy races on Sunday from Optimists, Sunfish and traditional Abaco dinghies. We went out on Gray Fox with Carla and Gordon to watch the races. Of course, today’s race for cruising sailboats has been postponed because the winds are too strong for the race committee. We’re going out anyway to practice using our storm jib.



Abaco dinghies underway.