The McRorys answer readers' questions Lindsay McRory January 14, 1997 Question: Other than the question, "Can I go with you to the South Pacific?" I want to ask: Do you think you'll be writing a book about your experiences? I go to your log book at least once a week to read about your adventures, the islands, and the warmer climes. A whole book would be great. Though, I suppose, the story isn't exactly finished yet, is it? When do you think you and your family will be done sailing? Jeff from [198.147.135.155] on Thursday, Nov. 14, 1996. McRorys: No book is in the plans. I enjoy doing the logs, but don't fancy myself a writer. There are a number of good books out there already. I don't see what we are doing as anything special that hasn't been covered by other books. We seem to be a family of converted cruisers, so our sailing will never really be done. There will only be different passages in different parts of the world. Currently we are planning on taking a year off cruising, living in Puerto Rico while we do a refit to Hakuna Matata, and taking care of business in Canada. Question: What does it really take to get out cruising? Boat, training, money, etc. If you could give any insights into how other people are doing it and tell us how you'd recommend going about setting sail--any specifics would be appreciated. Also, any recommendations of the best nonfiction nuts-and-bolts-type books to get a landlocked would-be cruiser started? Best of luck in your crossing and all your future travels. Adam from mn.us on Friday, Nov. 15, 1996. McRorys: The biggest thing that continually surprises me is the amount of people that just buy a boat and go, with very little or no experience. For the determined, this sometimes works. People that abandon the sailing/cruising life early on usually have different expectations about what it's like. They picture beautiful, calm tropical bays, and cocktails at sunset. Aside from sailing skills, first-time distance cruisers are usually startled by the amount of maintenance that has to be done and what you need to know about weather. Some boaters go out and follow other boaters around. Before setting sail, I think the most important thing is to find out if you really like it. If you have no or little experience, take a one-week ASA/CYA cruise-and-learn course. They are available all over both coasts. There are also ASA/CYA navigation courses that should be taken afterward as well. From there you will have all the basic skills to coastal cruise in a 25- to 35-foot boat. My favorite sailing books are: The Encyclopedia of Offshore Cruising, by Steve and Linda Dashew. Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics of Offshore Yachts, by John Rousmaniere. Mariners Weather, by Crawford. Voyaging on a Small Income, by Annie Hill. The Sailmaker's Apprentice, by Emiliano Marino. Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual, by Nigal Calder. The Marine Diesel Engine, by Nigal Calder. Heavy Weather Guide, by William Kotsch and Richard Henderson. Fastnet Force 10, by John Rousmaniere. Question: What does each of you miss the most about living conventionally on dry land? And do Kita and Wesley wear personal flotation devices/lifelines whenever on deck? When windsurfing? When sleeping? How about the adults? Do you worry about rogue waves, half-submerged logs, runaway freighters, and other maritime nuisances that can dunk you without warning? Rob from harvard.edu on Friday, Nov. 15, 1996. McRorys: Kita misses her friends. Wesley doesn't miss anything and will have a tough time adjusting away from a water-based lifestyle. What Denise and I miss largely depends on where we are and what the state of Hakuna Matata's systems are. For example, having all the power we could use was a luxury once we hit Palmas Del Mar. Family gatherings are sad to miss. Having your feet not covered with sand fly bites is a bit of a treat. Kita and Wesley sporting their body harnesses Kita and Wes both have complete body harnesses. They wear these whenever we are offshore. Jackstays are rigged in the cockpit and around the deck for clipping onto. The kids are not allowed on deck when we are underway. When in the cockpit, they have to be clipped in. They each are on their third life jacket. They wear these in the dingy at night, when it's rough out, or sometimes when they swim (in a swell). When they were new to boating they wore life jackets a lot more, but in the heat you can't expect the kids to live in them. After living on the boat so long they are both very boat-wise. A bigger source of accidents for kids on boats is the companionway ladder. Its a long fall onto a hard floor. We always keep a lookout while underway, particularly at night. I don't believe that radar is a good substitute for vigilance and a good pair of binoculars. Our radar has failed to pick up small wooden fishing boats (Nova Scotia lobster boats, Bahamian conkers, Haitian sailing things, Dominican rowing launches) so we keep a good lookout. If a submerged container is in your path, there's not much you can do about it. If we ever hit something like that and couldn't stop the leaking, it's time for the life raft. Question: I envy your travel. I own a 41-foot ketch and am preparing for the day I leave. It always seems to get put off. Can you offer any advice on what equipment you feel is a must and what is very advisable? The other stuff I probably already have, maybe all of it, but would like to know what you have found to be a must-have group of items. Thanks. Love your postings and look forward to each new one. Take care! Jack Van Dorn from [205.161.239.108] on Friday, Nov. 15, 1996. McRorys: Different cruising styles and destinations have different equipment lists. Our own cruising style has changed a lot in the last year. Seasoned cruising veterans, all on the same route, can have opposing views on things like life rafts, inverters, generators, radar. My own must-have list (other than the usual) would include: SSB/ham for weather and distance communications. Some people use small Grundig or Sony receivers; these may be great backup units but are no substitute. Good quality binoculars. Proper storm canvas. 3 or 4 good-size anchors. Lots and lots of ground tackle. 3 150-foot lengths of thick line for securing the boat to mangroves, docks in a blow, etc. A good quality barometer (there aren't many out there). Lots of spare engine parts. Except for the block/head and injector pump, you'll most likely want one of everything else. A good dingy. The biggest you can afford and store on your boat. In a small dingy, you and everything in it will get wet every time it blows more than 10 knots, and that makes life miserable. Question: What has been your experience in communicating while at sea and in the third world? Has your computer connection (satellite link?) been reliable? Are we at the point where satellite technology makes such a connection as valuable as SSB or ham radio in communicating with home? John in CA from [207.113.176.63] on Friday, Nov. 15, 1996. McRorys: Ham/SSB has been very good. The satellite system worked well until last month. Even if it was 100 percent, it would not be a replacement for SSB/ham. Currently the satellite costs are expensive; until the costs come down to $1 minute or less, I don't think they will replace ham/SSB for weather info and distance communications. We have not tried any radio patches to home, but we know people who do this all the time. Question: My biggest concern would be encounters with not-so-friendly ships at sea. What precautions do you take? How much blue water time did you have before embarking on your current journey? Good luck and Godspeed. Larry Moore from [207.146.217.128] on Friday, Nov. 15, 1996. McRorys: The not-so-friendly ships are at harbor, not usually at sea. Most of the problems this year were in Venezuela. Small fishing boats robbing boats at anchor, at the beach, pretty well anywhere. Question: Greetings from the mountains of West Virginia. What you are doing sounds great. I live on a large farm in the middle of nowhere and have thought about selling it all and moving closer to the ocean. My wife and I run an outdoor adventure program for kids and teens and are of the adventurous type ourselves. Although it sounds as if you are getting in a workout windsurfing, what type of exercise regimen do you have planned for your time on the high seas? Enjoy the journey. Tom Bryant from [208.192.18.217] on Saturday, Nov. 16, 1996. McRorys: Our longest passages have only been four days at sea. During each one of those, it was to rough to think about exercise. At anchor is another story. The kids would swim for the entire day if we let them. We walk and jerry-jug a lot. The work that has to be done on the boat is quite physical and the kids have been doing their share. Still, most afternoons we do something, whether it be windsurfing, swimming, boogie-boarding. Question: There must be periods of frustration or second-guessing, even nostalgia (homesickness). What would you say are the percentages of truly enjoyable vs. troublesome times on the sea? Best of luck from a pilot of the air. Ben Ochs from [204.233.143.2] on Sunday, Nov. 17, 1996. McRorys: Periods of frustration are usually brief and so far associated with things breaking on the boat. Denise and I both thought we would miss land life more than we have. We had budgeted to go home every six months for a few weeks if we missed it. It's been one-and-a-half years and we haven't felt homesick enough to go back. Its hard to separate truly enjoyable from normally enjoyable times. Things can shift from normally relaxed and enjoyable to miserable with no gray area in between. We've had few miserable times. Hurricane Hortense and a storm in Bellhaven, North Carolina, were both bad. The two weeks of downpour in Luperon weren't great. A ground swell in Anchorage can put everyone on edge for the day; it's hard to sleep when the boat's rolling. All in all, it's an addicting lifestyle--once you get into it, it's difficult to give up. Question: Love your postings. I check out the Web site every week, hoping for a new account of your travels. My question(s): Have you ever thought of bringing a family pet (i.e. a dog) along? What is your opinion of the feasibility of such an undertaking? Have you noticed any cruisers with dogs? Good luck! Derek in MA from [208.195.107.130] on Monday, Nov. 18, 1996. McRorys: A lot of boats bring pets, mostly cats and dogs and the occasional parrot. I have never heard of anyone having a problem with a pet in the entire Caribbean. Denise and Kita are both allergic to cats, otherwise we would have one. Question: How do you think your children will be affected by their inability to form longer-term friendships with other children their age? Does this worry you, or do you think that they have adequate time to socialize with people other than their parents? John from [204.254.94.5] on Monday, Nov. 18, 1996. McRorys: This is a difficult question because we believe that we are doing the right thing. Denise and I both enjoy doing home schooling and actually consider it a privilege to be able to do it. The only independent metric we can point to are other long-term cruising kids we've met along the way. Unfortunately our experience is mixed, with no middle ground. They both still maintain contact with their friends back home. We are starting to see other cruising families on a regular basis. We just left Kita's friend Jamie, aboard Moonshadow Texas in Boqueron. We will meet up with young Nathan in Salinas in a few days. It's hard to say what the long-term effects will be. They are both older than their years (most of the time). So far the biggest noticeable effect is the lack of TV; they don't like the violence in cartoons at all, it scares them. Question: If you could redesign your boat based on what you have learned so far, what are the most significant changes you would make? John from [204.254.94.5] on Monday, Nov. 18, 1996. McRorys: The Whitby 42 has been a very good boat for us. It's not as spacious below as other 42-footers, but it is light, fast (a lot faster than I gave it credit for), and carries a lot of fluids. Most of the changes (other than new toys) are relatively minor: 1) Change running rigging on the mainmast so everything can be done from the cockpit 2) Desperately need scuppers on the toe-rail 3) Convert to rod rigging 4) Add soundproofing to the engine room 5) Change the location of the house batteries from the engine room to under the floorboards 6) Throw the 8.5-kilowatt Onan generator overboard. Replace it with a 3.5-kilowatt Phasor. Question: I would love to experience your sailing adventure someday (although I have never been aboard a sailboat), but your mechanical problems seem overwhelming for the layman like myself. Is it frustrating, and what are your plans to deal with the possibility of something else serious breaking? Hope your travels continue safely. Randy from [205.131.56.118] on Monday, Nov. 18, 1996. McRorys: Mechanical problems are a pain in the fanny. We have the shop manuals and parts diagrams for pretty well everything. So with a good selection of basic tools and lots of spares dealing with breakdowns, it's not so bad. If we lost our mast, we would jury-rig and motor. If our engine seized for good, we would sail someplace for a new one. Other than the boat sinking and having to get into the life raft, I can't think of anything too serious. Question: You seem fairly cautious with respect to weather windows. What kind of weather info do you look at before you make the decision to start a passage? What's been the best source of information so far? As you continue your travels do you think your sources will change significantly? What books would you recommend to help in understanding forecasts and in timing offshore passages? Thanks for all the posts. Keep 'em coming! Doug from intel.com on Monday, Nov. 18, 1996. McRorys: Understanding weather and being able to apply it to our route is the single most important factor in safe, comfortable cruising. Impatience, or not having good criteria for the right time to leave, can be hard on the crew and the boat. A weather window really depends on where you are going and what area you are in. To cross the Gulf Stream from Florida to the Bahamas, you wait for the south-southeast winds of less than 20 knots for the next 48 hours. If it's been blowing hard from the north, you may have to wait for the northerly swell to settle down before leaving. When we left the Dominican Republic, we waited for a cold front to roll down the U.S. and Cuba. This created a stalled area of light easterly winds in front of it. We followed that front to Puerto Rico. The trade winds follow a cyclic pattern. If not influenced by cold fronts or tropical disturbances, they follow a predictable pattern moving from south, southeast, to east, and diminishing in strength as they move to the east. Sometimes if the wind is blowing hard southeast it will just stop for a day then pick up slowly from the east. These cycles can take from two weeks to six weeks. By paying attention, it's easy to pick up on them. We get our weather information (reports and weather faxes) from ham/SSB. We get some information from the NWS Web site as well; it's the same as what is broadcast over weather fax radio. Question: I check your log every week and really enjoy it. As a former live-aboard--looking forward to cruising again in a few years--I am interested in hearing more about the devices you have brought on board, how they have worked out, and if you would get them again: things like a washer, air conditioner, reverse osmosis system, etc; of course there already is a similar question about your telecommunications setup. Tom F. from house.gov on Monday, Nov. 18, 1996. McRorys: We have been happy with everything on board. We don't use our water maker as much as I thought we would. The air conditioner is a very small Cruise-Air for emergency cooling. We have only needed it a dozen times so far. It would be too small for use in southern Florida where the summers are cruelly hot and humid. Question: We'll be in the Virgin Islands area from the middle of January to the middle of February 1997 on board our Morgan 41 Panasea and will keep an eye out for Hakuna Matata. We would love to have you all aboard for a sundowner and to pick your brain as we plan to live aboard as soon as retirement permits. Godspeed and good luck. Frank & Peggy Dolan from [152.163.231.184] on Monday, Nov. 18, 1996. McRorys: If we're in the Virgins in February, we'll keep an eye out. Question: My husband and I have followed and enjoyed your postings since you first left. Thanks for letting us "cruise" with you. Any plans to return north--specifically back through the Chesapeake Bay on a slower timetable? If so, we'd love to be able to show you some of our favorite spots on the Bay. We sail aboard Delphinus, a Gozzard 31. Good luck and fair winds. Cindy & John Rossley from swarthmore.edu on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 1996. McRorys: Not currently, although I really wished we were not in such a hurry coming down the coast. We missed great cruising in Maine and in the Chesapeake. Question: We are leaving Houston in January, basically following you in your wake. I work for a computer company and have been trying to get them to let me telecommute. They laugh. How did you convince your company to let you do it? Are you using a sat service or ham/packet, or ...? (P.S. We planned to spend hurricane season '97 in Venezuela, but the seismic company my husband works for had a boat hit by pirates just off the coast--the crew told us we'd be better off hanging in Trinidad or Curacao.) Susan Scott from [207.18.199.249] on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 1996. McRorys: Our company was already doing distributed development throughout North America. If you have an e-mail address, can transmit files, then you can contribute to a project team. The best example of how successful telecommuting can be is to look at the Linux operating system or any of the GNU tools. It's hard to believe how much work has been done on these systems without long-term contributors ever meeting one another. I have always believed that the office environment is a lot less productive than most people realize. By the time you subtract all the office disruptions, the amount of time spent on real work is probably in the 30- to 70-percent range. But for some reason, middle managers feel the need to walk around and see everybody, or let everyone see them. It's a throwback to management styles of the '60s. If observed from the outside, it's more of a tribal ritual. As telecommunications improve and companies adjust to a knowledge-based society, there will be a lot more people doing what I do. Prior to leaving on this trip, we spent the summer on our old boat in the Pacific Northwest. I didn't tell a lot of people we were going. I worked from the boat. When I got back, some people never realized I was gone. I didn't have to make a strong case for this trip. We met quite a few boats returning from Venezuela this year. The advice was unanimous, don't go, it's not safe. The exception being Margarita Island and a few other small out-of-the-way places. Even traveling in groups wasn't safe this year. Trinidad was too full because of the problems in Venezuela. The SSB was full of reports of people getting 48-hour clearances to stock up before going someplace else, although we didn't meet anyone who had firsthand knowledge of this. I think the ABC islands will be our choice next. Luperon in the Dominican Republic isn't such a bad deal either. We will most likely spend another hurricane season there. Some people hole up in Salinas, Puerto Rico, with good success. Question: Sounds like you are a pretty in-demand techno-wiz. Now, affording the boat is one thing, keeping it afloat is another. Hope you don't mind me being blunt, but what do you sink, so to speak, into your boat, on an annual average? Seems we'd be well short of our current beans and rice diet. Maybe not. And, sorry to put two questions in, but maybe they are related: Any comments on your abundance of technology? Granted some is necessary for your telecommuting (sat communications, computers) and a modicum of safety, but sounds like there is quite a bit of hardware a long way from the nearest field engineer. Thanks much for the entertaining read. Andy from mn.us on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 1996. McRorys: We actually eat a lot of rice and beans. Our boat was 130k. We put another 40k into safety gear and offshore equipment. We plan on 7k to 12k per year in refits/haul out. Our technology isn't that leading edge. We have two laptop computers and one desktop. Satellite communications are from Westinghouse. Our ham/SSB and 2-meter ham are connected to a packet radio controller (AEA Packratt 232). The packet radio controller plugs into any of the computers. This is actually a fairly standard package. Some redundancy is required. Ham/SSB is backed up by a small Sony world-band receiver. Marine VHF is backed by the 2-meter ham (it was modified). For the satellite, I have a spare antenna. Question: I am always excited when I get the chance to read your logs, it's something that anyone who has ever stepped foot on a boat dreams of one day trying! My best friend and I always joke about what it would be like to just take off and sail around the world. How much sailing experience did you have prior to this? What suggestions can you give to make the dream a reality? How many practice runs and how many overnighters did you make before you felt ready for your journey? I have one last question about your boat: Did you pick your 42-footer for certain reasons such as solo captaining abilities, or did it have to do with what you could afford? If you could have any boat in any size, what kind of boat would you pick and why? Chris L. utah.edu from utah.edu on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 1996 ([email protected]). McRorys: I had quite a bit of experience sailing and racing, not much experience maintaining things. As a family, we spend about three months cruising on our old boat before we decided to do this longer term. If you don't have any experience, take an ASA or CYA cruise-and-learn course. Take the ones where you spend a week on the boat. From there you can start making your own decisions. Because we had been cruising so much already, we didn't do any practice runs. We got on the boat and sailed 1,100 miles from Kingston, Ontario, to Halifax, Nova Scotia. A boat in the 40- to 50-foot range has the interior size and is a lot more comfortable (relatively speaking) when the going gets tough. My all-time favorite would be an aluminum Sundeer 64, designed by Steve and Linda Dashew. It's a very narrow, light boat designed to be sailed by two people. Normally a 65-footer would be way too big for Denise and I to safely handle. The Sundeer 65 was designed for safety and fast passage. My next pick would be a Privilege 45 Catamaran. Thank you. Question: How old are your children? JOSHUA from [207.1.29.107] on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 1996. McRorys: Kita is 7 and Wesley is 5. Question: I have followed your travels ever since you left and I must say I am green with envy. I would love to be in your shoes! I was wondering where you get your weather information. Is there a National Weather Service or a close cousin in the Caribbean? If so, how much do you rely on them? Do you make your own forecasts and what data do you use? Thanks. Good Luck and happy sailing. David B. from [199.17.26.22]. McRorys: Primarily our weather information comes from ham/SSB. The National Weather service broadcasts the Offshore Marine Forecast on 4426,6501,8764 kilohertz four times a day. You have to interpret this data with your location. Weather Fax information is broadcast on several stations. I usually get the surface report and the 500mb chart. I can get real-time GOES-8 satellite picture from a 2-meter ham. Usually though, I just pull them off the Internet. The magic is to check the information received against what we see and what we can measure (barometer, temperature). For example if a cold front is on its way down, watch for mares' tails prior to the wind shift. The barometer should be rising as well. If it isn't, then the front may have stalled or be dissipating. Here is an example of the offshore report: 036 FZUS8 KMIA 140921 OFFMIA OFFSHORE MARINE FORECAST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 430 AM EST THU NOV 14 1996 CARIBBEAN SEA AND SW N ATLC BEYOND 50 NM FROM SHORE. CARIBBEAN SYNOPSIS...FRONTAL TROUGH FROM CENTRAL CUBA TO HONDURAS WILL MOVE NW AND EXTEND FROM CENTRAL CUBA TO YUCATAN PENINSULA BY FRI. BROAD AREA OF LOW PRES OVER W CARIBBEAN WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NW AND PRODUCE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND TSTMS THROUGH FRI. NW CARIBBEAN N OF 15N AND W OF 75W. ..GALE WARNING N OF 19N AND W OF 80W TODAY... ..GALE WARNING N OF 20N AND W OF 80W TONIGHT... ..GALE WARNING MAY BE REQUIRED N OF 20N AND W OF 80W FRI... TODAY...N OF 19N AND W OF 80W WIND NE 30 TO 35 KT. SEAS 10 TO 15 FT. ELSEWHERE NW OF THE FRONTAL TROUGH WIND NE 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 8 TO 10 FT. SE OF THE FRONTAL TROUGH AND E OF 80W WIND E 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 7 FT. SE OF THE TROUGH AND W OF 80W WIND NE TO E 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 5 FT. WIND AND SEAS HIGHER IN NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED TSTMS. .TONIGHT AND FRI...N OF 20N AND W OF 80W WIND NE 30 TO 35 KT. SEAS10 TO 15 FT. ELSEWHERE NW OF THE FRONTAL TROUGH WIND NE 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 8 TO 10 FT. SE OF THE FRONTAL TROUGH AND E OF 82W WIND E 20 KT. SEAS 8 FT. SE OF THE TROUGH AND W OF 82W WIND NE 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 6 FT. WIND AND SEAS HIGHER IN NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED TSTMS. SW CARIBBEAN S OF 15N AND W OF 75W. TODAY...N OF 12N AND E OF 78W WIND E 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 7 FT. ELSEWHERE N OF 11N WIND NE TO E 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 5 TO 7 FT. S OF 11N WIND VARIABLE 10 KT. SEAS TO 5 FT. WIND AND SEAS HIGHER IN NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED TSTMS. .TONIGHT...N OF 12N AND E OF 80W WIND E TO SE 20 KT. SEAS 8 FT. N OF 12N AND W OF 80W WIND N TO NE 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 6 FT. S OF 12N WIND BECOMING SW TO W 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 6 FT. WIND AND SEAS HIGHER IN NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED TSTMS. .FRI...W OF 80W WIND W 20 KT. SEAS 7 FT. E OF 80W WIND S TO SW 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 7 TO 9 FT. WIND AND SEAS HIGHER IN NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED TSTMS MAINLY E OF 80W. E CARIBBEAN E OF 75W. TODAY...W OF 70W WIND E 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 7 TO 9 FT. E OF 70W WIND E 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 7 FT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS MAINLY W OF 70W. .TONIGHT...W OF 70W WIND E 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 7 TO 9 FT. E OF 70W WIND E 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 7 FT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS MAINLY W OF 70W. FRI...W OF 72W WIND SE 20 KT. SEAS 7 FT. E OF 72W WIND E 15 KT. SEAS 6 FT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND TSTMS W OF 72W. OUTLOOK FRI NIGHT THROUGH MON...LOW PRES WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT NW CARIBBEAN THROUGH SUN. REFER TO LATEST TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOKS FROM NHC. N OF 20N AND W OF 80W WIND E 20 KT AND GREATER THROUGH PERIOD WITH SEAS T0 10 FT. ELSEWHERE...WIND LESS THAN 20 KT AND SEAS 7 FT OR LESS. SW N ATLC S OF 32N AND W OF 65W. ..GALE WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT W OF 74W BETWEEN 22N AND 27N... ..GALE WARNING MAY BE REQUIRED S OF 30N AND W OF 74W FRI... SYNOPSIS...FRONT WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY FROM 28N 65W TO CENTRAL CUBA THROUGH FRI. STRONG HIGH PRES OVER THE E UNITED STATES AND ATLC WATERS NW OF THE FRONT WILL BUILD EVEN STRONGER BY FRI. WEAK TROUGH FROM 32N 70W TO 30N 75W TONIGHT WILL MOVE E TO 30N 65W AND 29N 70W FRI. TODAY...W OF 74W BETWEEN 27N AND THE FRONT WIND NE 30 TO 35 KT. SEAS 10 TO 15 FT. ELSEWHERE NW OF THE FRONT WIND NE 20 TO 25 KT...EXCEPT N OF 30N AND E OF 75W WIND NE 15 KT. SEAS 7 TO 9 FT...EXCEPT 6 FT N OF 30N AND E OF 75W. SE OF THE FRONT WIND E 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS 8 FT. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED TSTMS SE OF THE FRONT AND W OF 70W. SCATTERED SHOWERS WITHIN 180NM NW OF THE FRONT. .TONIGHT...W OF 74W BETWEEN 27N AND THE FRONT WIND NE 30 TO 35 KT. SEAS 10 TO 15 FT. ELSEWHERE NW OF THE FRONT WIND N TO NE 25 TO 30 KT...EXCEPT N OF 30N AND E OF 70W WIND E TO SE 15 KT. SEAS 10 FT EXCEPT 6 FT N OF 30N AND E OF 70W. SE OF THE FRONT WIND E 20 KT. SEAS 7 FT. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED TSTMS SE OF THE FRONT AND W OF 70W. SCATTERED SHOWERS WITHIN 180NM NW OF THE FRONT. .FRI...S OF 30N AND W OF 74W WIND NE 30 TO 35 KT. SEAS 10 TO 15 FT. ELSEWHERE NW OF THE FRONT WIND N TO NE 25 TO 30 KT. SEAS 8 TO 10 FT. SE OF THE FRONT WIND E 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 7 FT. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND SCATTERED TSTMS SE OF THE FRONT AND W OF 70W. SCATTERED SHOWERS WITHIN 180NM NW OF THE FRONT. OUTLOOK FRI NIGHT THROUGH MON...FRONT WILL MOVE TO ALONG 25N BY SUN AND MON. STRONG GRADIENT BETWEEN LOW IN CARIBBEAN AND STRONG HIGH PRES OVER N ATLC WILL MAINTAIN STRONG NE TO E WINDS GREATER THAN 20 KT AND SEAS GREATER THAN 8 FT N OF THE FRONT...WITH GALE FORCE WINDS POSSIBLE OVER AREAS W OF 70W. LITTLE CHANGE S OF THE FRONT. Question: You seem to be on the cutting edge in running a business (or job, maybe) from the boat via satellite link. I would really appreciate some specifics on what the link costs and how the "primitive" cruising lifestyle mixes with the sophisticated on-line lifestyle. I just got back from my first two-week charter in the BVI and I spent so much time just keeping the boat "going" (sailing it, checking anchors at night, cleaning it, preparing food, etc.) that I can't imagine having enough time to do much non-boat work. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Jack Williams from [165.247.36.18] at 11:14am ET McRorys: Our boat doesn't get as much attention as it should. Work time is always early in the morning or at night after the kids hit their berth. Our satellite link is the only thing that makes our boat different than any other boat, and that will only last for a while until the prices come down. Most other cruisers don't even know we have it. Question: As a fellow Canadian now stuck in the frozen North, I have a vision and plan to cruise long-term in about eight years. My problem is that my wife, who likes sailing, does not want to commit to a long-term cruise out of concern for health services, sailing out of sight of land, etc. Did you experience a similar hurdle, and if so how did you get over it? Duncan from bnr.ca. McRorys: Denise was the same way. I had a cruising/racing boat before we were married. Denise came out a couple of times, didn't like it, so the boat was used for racing and guys' weeks out. It worked well and I never tried to convert her. After we had kids, we gave a family cruise a try and never looked back. We met quite a few retired people who sailed between the Great Lakes and Florida every year. There is great cruising in the Chesapeake down to Florida; everything is a short day-hop, and you're never out of sight of land. If you yearn for the tropics, you can do a "boys' trip" to Puerto Rico or the Virgins and have your wife join you later. Alternatively you can have the boat delivered there by a professional skipper. We met a few very competent delivery skippers along the way. Sometimes the owner would be along to get more experience.