{{April 25 2008, Greg}} Just got off the phone with Jimmy and Jack. They started the first leg of the Bahamas trip this morning. They are about out of the channel at St. Simons and almost ready to hang a right for Fla. They hope to be in Fernandina today at about 5 PM. The trip down to Fort Worth, Fl will take 3-5 days depending on the weather and if they sail at night. The weather is great, with east winds 10-15 mph. They are well stocked with 3 cases of beer, four bottles of wine and a bottle of Baileys, and oh yes they have food. One problem, after they left the dock this morning, they realized they left bananas and tomatoes in Jimmy’s truck. They decided the best course of action would be to return to get the food. This detour cost them about an hour, but was well worth the extra time, as Jimmy did not want to drive home next a week in his truck with some well cured produce. George Thorpe will be meeting them in Fort Worth and sailing over in Jerry Hardin’s 22 Sun Coast and another boat which is a C25. All three boats will be sailing over together and sailing the Bahamas together. George Bloodworth is suppose to meet them in Fla next week. Jimmy is going to drive George’s truck back to Brunswick. George will make the trip over to the Bahamas and stay for about three weeks with Jack. I will fly over to Freeport on May 24th. I will meet George in the Freeport Airport, as he is flying home for the birth of their first grandchild. I will give him the keys to my car, which will be in the Jacksonville Airport. He will drive my car back to Brunswick, assuming he can find it in the airport, to get his truck that Jimmy drove from Fla. back to Brunswick. He will leave my car in the marina, so it will be waiting for me when I return. This all sounds good on paper, it will be interesting to see how it unfolds. Jack and I will stay a couple of days in the Bahamas then sail directly back to Brunswick. ———————————- {{May 1 2008, Greg}} South Bound and Down; I have been in contact with Jimmy and Jack as they continue down the coast of Fla. On Saturday April 26th they were sailing outside heading for Fernandina. Jack was telling me that Jimmy lost his hat overboard, so they did a 180 with Jimmy pointing at a white object. Jack noticed something hanging on Jimmy’s neck and asked him if that wasn’t his hat they were looking for? It was, the hat blew off but was attached. The real irony in this, while I was talking with Jack about Jimmy’s hat, this was during our race; I was hunting for my hat. I thought my hat had fallen overboard, but I found it in the cabin. So far they have been sailing and motoring in the ICW. Apparently they have bumped the bottom once or twice and they have lost one bumper. Their second day out they made it to St. Augustine and stayed an extra day to check out the town. They were able to borrow a car from the Marina. When they left St Augustine, the wind was still on the nose so they stayed in the ICW and motored. They were able to sail a little. Yesterday, they were sailing in the ICW averaging over 6 mph. Today they were planning on sailing on the outside. George was heading out today at noon to meet up with the cruisers. George Thorpe and the rest of the gang are supposed to meet them in Fort Worth over the weekend. They are still planning on heading due east for the Bahamas on Monday. Looking at the NOAA weather, it would appear that they will have a great weather window. Jack must be one heck of a good cook, or Jimmy is very hungry, because Jimmy keeps telling what a great cook Jack is. I am having trouble with this. When Jack and I brought the Hinckley from Stuart to Brunswick, the only thing Jack made were sandwiches. Apparently Lynda has been giving the boy some cooking lessons. Every time I have talked with them, they are like kids on Christmas morning. They are having a great time. The only downside to all of this happiest, is that when I get off the phone with them, I have to go back to work. Jimmy, asked me to give an update on their progress. I am sure when he gets back on Monday; he can give a more detailed account of his trip. —————————————— Minor correction: Jack and Jimmy are headed to Fort Pierce, Fl. not Fort Worth. —————————————— {{May 5, 2008, Jimmy}} I made it back to Lake Sinclair on Saturday night about 8 PM. Jack and I arrived at Rivera Beach Marina (which is near the Lake Worth Inlet and just north of West Palm Beach) about noon on Friday May 2nd. We had a short trip of about 10 nautical miles from Admiral’s Cove Marina near Jupiter Inlet. Jack and I had covered about 310 nm since leaving Brunswick on April 25, probably about 75 percent of the time we were sailing. We had talked to George Bloodworth who was driving and we arrived at the marina about the same time. After lunch at the marina “Tiki hut” restaurant, we spent the afternoon restocking the food supply at Walmart, buying a few items at the boat supply store and soaking in the scenery at Phil Foster State Park. The Park is a small island in Lake Worth with access by a bridge. The views were fantastic. All kinds of boats everywhere, sailing, motoring, anchored. The water was clear and there were two SCUBA divers swimming around the bridge supports. Another island, Peanut Island, which was only accessible by boat was near by. There were lots of kayaks and tent campers and at least one trailer sailer beached. We did not go to Peanut Island but had a good view from the marina and from the bridge to Phil Foster Park. Looks like it might be a good place to visit. I offered to buy dinner but Jack insisted on cooking on the boat. He is really into cooking on the boat and does a pretty good job making boat food taste good or maybe I was just real hungry. We had tossed salad, chicken breast and rice, and cookies for dessert. We went to bed early and got up early which had become our routine after 8 days on the boat. After a quick trip to a bait and tackle shop to pick up picture book on fish so they would know which fish to eat and which not to eat, I left in George’s truck about 9 AM and headed for Brunswick to pick up my truck which I had left at Jack’s house. The scenery along Interstate 95 sure was a disappointment compared to that along the ICW. George Thorpe and Jerry Hardin are arriving with Jerry’s South Coast 23 and Doug and Mo from Arizona (I think) are arriving with their Catalina 25 on Sunday or Monday. All plan to leave Sunday or Monday about midnight for the crossing to the Bahamas. Wish I could be with them. Maybe next year we can do another trip to the Bahamas or a trip to the Keys and Dry Tortugas. Jimmy