Juno's Journey

Obrigado, gracias, grazie, efharisto, merci

2011-09-18T13:34:00.001-07:00

The day after the 2008-09 school year ended, the crew of Juno set off for Bermuda and beyond. Twenty-six months, two continents and 15,000 nautical miles later, the other bookend slipped into place, as the boys began the 2011-12 school year in Virginia. The adventure, at least THAT adventure, had come to an end.

I have stayed out of the boys' blog as much as possible, but wanted to step in here to thank all those who helped make Juno's Journey a success.

To Peter and Denis and Ben and Carolyn and Matthew and Scott for getting us across the Atlantic. To Ann for seeing us to the Spanish Balearics, and to Peter (again) for coming to the rescue and lending us a hand to Italia as autumn's gales closed in. To Mark for donating many hours of sleep on the long Atlantic passage to the Caribbean.

To Tod and Matthew (different Matthew) for their stamina through the shorthanded and sadly fishless passages from Puerto Rico to the Bahamas and from the Bahamas up to the Chesapeake.

A special thanks to Edee, who not only helped get us around and through the Med and across to Bequia, but bore with our quirks and unusual requests (no heels on deck!) with admirable equanimity.

Finally, our biggest and warmest thank you to Mary Beth, aka . . . Mommy, who stayed behind to keep a paycheck coming and (perhaps even more important) get up at 0500 to gather, analyze and then break down the oceanic weather forecasts into 160 character txt msgs to fire off to the sat phone. I cannot imagine having to worry about my spouse and my sons off on a small boat in a big ocean, but that is what she did, with unending courage and grace. Those days we all shared on her visits to Bermuda, Horta, Italy, Greece, Gibraltar, Union Island and Antigua -- those will remain the highlights of the trip, and our warmest memories. Thank you, my love, for letting my dream come true.

The first cold front of the fall passed through the other morning. Orion and I walked to the bus stop, and the brisk air reminded us of two autumns earlier, as the first front passed across Sibari. The mountains that were vague, hazy shapes for our first weeks suddenly came sharp and clear and so close it seemed like we could reach out and touch the snow that covered their peaks.

I imagine there will be many such moments. I hope there will be. My sons have been to more places, seen more of this planet, than most people will in a lifetime. More than anything, I wanted them to understand all that is possible in this life, limited only by our imaginations.

I had that thought this trip would be my great gift to them, something they could treasure forever, a touchstone as they grow and move off into their own lives. I did not foresee how, instead and already, it has been their remarkable gift to me. They were my little boys when we left home. Before my eyes, they have grown up, and have come back thoughtful and capable young men. I don't know that a luckier father has ever lived.
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A last look at the waterfront

2011-08-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

At least for now.

Moving van picked up all the house stuff from Tallahassee today. We drove down to Deltaville to load up as much boat stuff would fit in the car. All of it will be crammed into a rental condo in Falls Church.

Math placement test on Friday, work starts Monday, school two weeks later.

It's been a hectic month, wrapping up one adventure -- and transitioning into a brand new one.
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Washington D.C.

2011-07-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

This is not the first time I have been in Washington, D.C. I went here about five years ago, when we were looking for boats. We had seen a tiny portion of the Air and Space museum and the Museum of Natural History. Dad needed to go here for some job interviews, so when he was out to do those interviews, we went to the museums that we did not see last time. We went to the flight simulators in Air and Apace, for example. We also saw three movies throughout all of the museums we went to (only two, unfortunately). It was fun.

--By Rigel

Rinsing and drying

2011-07-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

The sea anchor which we never had to use, thank goodness.

And, looking at it now, it's clear this is probably a one-time use device -- imagine trying to get this back aboard in sloppy, 20- or 25-foot seas left over from a gale strong enough to require its use.
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2011-07-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:37.54177
Longitude:-76.34454
GPS location Date/Time:07/06/2011 15:10:11 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/5HfKj/37.54177N/76.34454W

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La fine

2011-07-06T06:24:00.000-07:00

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Hauled out again

2011-07-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

Well, not quite yet.
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Penultimate step

2011-07-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

Fifty feet from the slipway where we'll haul out tomorrow morning. First night tied to shore since Santa Cruz de La Palma, Islas Canarias.
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25 months later,

2011-07-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

Our final night at anchor before coming out of the water, our windscoop gives up the ghost in a summer Chesapeake squall.

Thank you for the many cooling breezes.
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Wow. It looks even bigger like this.

2011-07-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

And this is only the yankee.
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Back to Civilization

2011-06-28T16:25:00.001-07:00

We are back in the United States, and our trip has come to an
end. In a few days we are going to haul out the boat and put her in a
boat yard. In a few weeks we will be back in Tallahassee, with school
about to start. We have a lot of work to do though, and we have been
very busy in the few days we have been here. So far we have cleaned a
good deal, changed the oil in the engine, replaced the broken lazyjacks,
done the laundry, taken down and cleaned the harnesses, tethers, and
jacklines, and replaced a defective pulley at the masthead. We still
have to preserve the watermaker, put antifreeze in the water tanks, stow
everything on deck, clean the bottom, finish the cosmetic work, take
down the sails, and remove the wind generator blades. Some of this we
will do in the water, some we will do in the yard, but the coming days
are going to be full of hard work.
--Orion Date

Deltaville

2011-06-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we're at the end of the trip now. In Deltaville, Virginia. Now we are ready to start winterizing the boat. Today we worked on the mainsail (to be precise, we tucked it under the sail cover) cleaned the safety gear, and bought supplies. Before we go on the hard, we have to take down all the sails. You see, if a sail accidentally deployed when you are in the water, you would simply drag your anchor. If it deployed when you are hauled out, it would be a disaster. All the boats would fall like dominoes, damaging them all. So, the boatyard wants us to take down all our sails so prevent something very bad from happening. It looks we have a lot of work ahead of us.

--By Rigel

Well, we're safely home. . .

2011-06-26T05:40:00.000-07:00

Let's do dangerous things now!
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Daybreak on Deltaville

2011-06-26T02:32:00.000-07:00

Juno's old new home. For a while, anyway.
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2011-06-25T16:09:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:37.54708
Longitude:-76.3287
GPS location Date/Time:06/25/2011 23:10:05 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/5Apiq/37.54708N/76.3287W

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Customs man says 'okay'

2011-06-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

We're officially home.
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2011-06-25T09:05:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:37.07215
Longitude:-76.14392
GPS location Date/Time:06/25/2011 16:04:21 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/5AWIM/37.07215N/76.14392W

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Last Days

2011-06-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

Last Days

These days in Marsh Harbor and Hope Town have been our last days in the Bahamas. Today was our last day before the passage back to Virginia, and it has been rainy and cloudy all #$@%ing day. All day, except once during the morning when we were busy cleaning the weed off the hull. It really stinks, because we were planning to go snorkeling all afternoon today, as it is our last chance to snorkel on this trip. In a matter of weeks we will be back at home with school starting, and we will definitely not be able to snorkel then. We could go swimming at the pool, but that is just not the same as swimming in the ocean, and there will definitely not be any coral reefs there.
A week ago we arrived in Hope Town. Dad had really been looking forward to visiting there, and it was a lot of fun. We got to climb the lighthouse and see the mechanism that rotates the kerosene light source at night. Apparently someone has to climb the tower every half hour to an hour to wind it up, that must be quite irritating. In Marsh Harbor nearby we made a major grocery run to load up for the passage. We made another for perishables two days ago, and one more run here in Man-o¢-war Cay for parmesan cheese, which we had forgotten. Tomorrow we plan to up anchor and start our six day passage to Virginia.
--Orion Date
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Cape Henry to port

2011-06-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

Cape Charles to starboard. Freighters everywhere.
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2011-06-25T03:09:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:36.7952
Longitude:-75.79514
GPS location Date/Time:06/25/2011 10:09:53 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/5AKrt/36.7952N/75.79514W

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Last sunset at sea

2011-06-25T03:07:00.001-07:00

On this voyage, anyway. Vivid color courtesy wildfires of North Carolina. Just offshore Kitty Hawk.
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Hatteras rounded, onward toward the Chesapeake

2011-06-25T03:07:00.000-07:00

The bay entrance is 52.21 miles away.
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Homeward bound

2011-06-25T03:05:00.000-07:00

So long, Bahamas.
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2011-06-24T21:00:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:36.43046
Longitude:-75.58411
GPS location Date/Time:06/25/2011 04:00:21 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/5AE0A/36.43046N/75.58411W

If the above link does not work, try this link:
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2011-06-24T14:56:00.000-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:36.01089
Longitude:-75.30991
GPS location Date/Time:06/24/2011 21:57:12 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/5A3O_/36.01089N/75.30991W

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2011-06-24T08:58:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:35.44382
Longitude:-75.01453
GPS location Date/Time:06/24/2011 15:58:16 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/59qA2/35.44382N/75.01453W

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2011-06-24T03:27:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:34.80173
Longitude:-75.2869
GPS location Date/Time:06/24/2011 10:28:03 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/59g3D/34.80173N/75.2869W

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2011-06-23T21:15:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:34.0878
Longitude:-76.01813
GPS location Date/Time:06/24/2011 04:15:21 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/59ZF-/34.0878N/76.01813W

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2011-06-23T15:20:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:33.41256
Longitude:-76.50269
GPS location Date/Time:06/23/2011 22:20:37 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/59PFc/33.41256N/76.50269W

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2011-06-23T03:07:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:32.18147
Longitude:-77.00153
GPS location Date/Time:06/23/2011 10:07:42 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/58_aA/32.18147N/77.00153W

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2011-06-22T21:07:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:31.59366
Longitude:-77.38736
GPS location Date/Time:06/23/2011 04:07:43 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/58vPh/31.59366N/77.38736W

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2011-06-22T15:41:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:31.06869
Longitude:-77.57434
GPS location Date/Time:06/22/2011 22:40:07 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/58mKY/31.06869N/77.57434W

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2011-06-22T09:02:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:30.60319
Longitude:-77.60782
GPS location Date/Time:06/22/2011 16:02:51 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/58U_o/30.60319N/77.60782W

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2011-06-22T03:04:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:30.14437
Longitude:-77.68875
GPS location Date/Time:06/22/2011 10:04:47 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/58KR4/30.14437N/77.68875W

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2011-06-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:29.21044
Longitude:-77.34387
GPS location Date/Time:06/21/2011 23:43:13 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/587Pp/29.21044N/77.34387W

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2011-06-21T04:38:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:28.3868
Longitude:-77.05048
GPS location Date/Time:06/21/2011 11:38:50 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/57iL0/28.3868N/77.05048W

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Squally, squally day

2011-06-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

Rain. Shifty wind. Lightning.

Maybe the weather is trying to tell us something. It's time to come home.
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2011-06-18T11:51:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:26.59981
Longitude:-77.01437
GPS location Date/Time:06/18/2011 18:51:01 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/566R7/26.59981N/77.01437W

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2011-06-16T07:59:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:26.55374
Longitude:-77.06769
GPS location Date/Time:06/16/2011 14:59:22 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/54fBy/26.55374N/77.06769W

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Pack animal mode, one last time

2011-06-15T16:36:00.000-07:00

How many times, and how many places, have we done this now? Loaded like burros, trudging back a half mile or a mile or two miles, sometimes dodging traffic, back to the dock or the dinghy? To Modelo in Horta, Morrison's in Gib, Binipreu in Mahon, Conad in Sibari, Carrefour in Piraeus, EuroSpar in Siracusa, Mercadona in La Linea, Jordan's in Bridgetown, Match in Marigot . . . and, finally, today, Maxwell's in Marsh Harbour.

Boy, are we going to miss this.
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2011-06-15T09:51:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:26.54712
Longitude:-77.05936
GPS location Date/Time:06/15/2011 16:51:26 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/5440J/26.54712N/77.05936W

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2011-06-14T14:20:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:26.56165
Longitude:-77.01154
GPS location Date/Time:06/14/2011 21:20:42 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/53cC2/26.56165N/77.01154W

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The beach at Elbow Cay

2011-06-14T08:15:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the last one of this trip.
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What?! You said we were DONE climbing things!

2011-06-14T06:16:00.000-07:00

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Finally . . . Hope Town

2011-06-13T14:47:00.000-07:00

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2011-06-13T14:01:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:26.53371
Longitude:-76.97055
GPS location Date/Time:06/13/2011 21:01:58 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Little Harbour, Great Abaco

2011-06-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

Hoping to see the bronze working foundry at Pete's Pub, where the Johnstons have been using the lost-wax casting process for their renowned sculptures -- but it wasn't open on weekends. And lunch sandwiches were $15 each. Priced for American tourists, but not for us.

Back to the boat.
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2011-06-12T08:32:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:26.53899
Longitude:-77.0473
GPS location Date/Time:06/12/2011 15:32:12 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/527YX/26.53899N/77.0473W

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Power boaters

2011-06-11T14:25:00.000-07:00

I am not referring to power boaters in general, just these, one-two-three-four-five-six seven-eight-nine-ten-eleven-twelve-thirteen-fourteen-fifteen-sixteen-seventeen-eighteen-ninteen-twenty power boaters in particular. They raced at full throttle past us in a row, going out of their way to annoy us. And whenever they are close together, they produce constructive interference, making double the wake size. Once our stern got dunked into the water, soaking the helm seat. What word do you have to describe them?

--By Rigel
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2011-06-11T12:11:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:26.50433
Longitude:-77.03757
GPS location Date/Time:06/11/2011 19:11:25 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/51coE/26.50433N/77.03757W

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2011-06-08T13:35:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:26.35584
Longitude:-76.98557
GPS location Date/Time:06/08/2011 20:35:41 GMT

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2011-06-08T09:34:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:26.04182
Longitude:-76.92322
GPS location Date/Time:06/08/2011 16:34:52 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

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2011-06-07T10:43:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:25.51756
Longitude:-76.78391
GPS location Date/Time:06/07/2011 17:43:26 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

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Spanish Wells

2011-06-07T08:33:00.000-07:00

Our first big city in . . . a whole month.
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2011-06-07T07:40:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:25.53559
Longitude:-76.76059
GPS location Date/Time:06/07/2011 14:41:06 GMT

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Watchkeeping

2011-06-06T12:34:00.001-07:00

Since there are only three people on the boat, Orion and I take
watches during the daytime. It works like this: Orion (or I) go up
top. Every twenty minutes or so we check the horizon, and now that we
are in the Bahamas, we check for coral heads when it is shallow. We
actually check for coral head every minute, but that is beside the
point. After an hour, we switch. This system works pretty well.
Usually, Dad is in the cockpit as well, and we sometimes play twenty
questions, or something like that. We are both extremely good at it by
now. This passage, being eight hours long (it might have been more) we
used the system the whole time. No complaints. However, the engine
started to overheat. We turned it off, as the sails were out. We
deduced that it was the raw water pump failing in some way, so we
closed the seacock and took apart the water pump. We noticed that
nothing was wrong (by the way, I was on watch this whole time) with
it. So then we put it back together and started the engine. It started
to overheat again, so we turned it off again and then saw that the
seacock was still closed. We opened the seacock, started the engine,
and it ran normally. Odd. Any ideas on how this could have happened?

--By Rigel

Two Years and Five Days Ago

2011-06-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

Two Years and Three Days

That's how long it's been since we left Amelia Island Yacht Basin for Bermuda. Two years and four days ago was my last day of sixth grade, and my last day of regular school. I can't believe that we have been away from the United States for two entire years, but I have learned far more about the world than I ever could from a textbook. This trip has taken up almost one seventh of my life, and it has made a huge difference in my view of the world. I have actually seen the Parthenon, and The Last Supper, and Mount Etna, and Stromboli, Pompeii, the Italian Alps, the Rock of Gibraltar, Knossos, Vesuvius, Rome, the Coliseum, and countless other amazing sights I would have only seen pictures of at home. This has been a wonderful experience for me, and I am sorry to see it come to and end.
--Orion Date
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2011-06-05T15:14:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:25.51449
Longitude:-76.84549
GPS location Date/Time:06/05/2011 22:14:21 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/4-Bff/25.51449N/76.84549W

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2011-06-04T10:02:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:24.81155
Longitude:-76.8291
GPS location Date/Time:06/04/2011 17:02:30 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/4zOSR/24.81155N/76.8291W

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2011-06-01T09:49:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:24.71455
Longitude:-76.82959
GPS location Date/Time:06/01/2011 16:49:28 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/4xgTM/24.71455N/76.82959W

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Sandbars

2011-05-31T14:07:00.001-07:00

They are irritating. We always have to be on a constant lookout
whenever we are going somewhere. When we were getting into this place,
the sand bar and reef were both basically invisible. We kept having to
slow down, and speed up, and loop around, and stop, and mearrgh! At
least we have the help of polarized sunglasses and charts. Without
them, it would be impossible.

--By Rigel

Atop Boo Boo Hill

2011-05-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

Warderick Wells Cay, trying to get a cell signal from Staniel Cay. Two bars, fading to one, then none.
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2011-05-28T09:41:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:24.38004
Longitude:-76.63
GPS location Date/Time:05/28/2011 16:42:03 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Trying to catch dinner

2011-05-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

At Fowl Cay. Chicken Cay, on some charts.

We don't care, so long as it's Grouper Cay, for us.
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2011-05-27T09:17:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:24.27458
Longitude:-76.53818
GPS location Date/Time:05/27/2011 16:17:52 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Another cloudy day

2011-05-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

Which means that navigating around sandbars and reefs can be hazardous, which means we're not moving, which means, time to go exploring ashore.

That pink church, by the way, is the landmark on Staniel Cay with which one lines up the vertical stick at the tip of the islet at the south end of the harbor in order to gain the entrance channel and avoid going aground on the rocks and sinking.
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Thunderball Grotto

2011-05-23T14:07:00.000-07:00

If you have seen the movie Thunderball, then you know of the scene of James Bond being dropped by helicopter into a cave. That cave is now called Thunderball grotto, and we've been there. Twice now, actually. It is only accessible by water, and perhaps, air, but it is quite fascinating underwater. There are tons of fish, including sergeant majors, grouper, and snapper. The thing is, they are very brave, and a little aggressive. They are used to humans feeding them breadcrumbs. There are three entrances into the cave. One is always above water at low tide, and involves no diving at low tide. At high tide, it is still possible to get in, but kind of hard. Thunderball grotto is not a place to miss.

--By Rigel Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

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2011-05-22T09:28:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:24.18163
Longitude:-76.46136
GPS location Date/Time:05/22/2011 16:29:03 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Imagine all this chain

2011-05-21T18:23:00.000-07:00

Twisted up into a massive, 150-pound ball. Imagine trying to get it out through a three-inch hole.

For the gory details, see Orion's entry today.
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The Monster in the Anchor Locker

2011-05-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

The Monster in the Anchor Locker

The Monster to whom I refer is, or rather was, the giant ball of twisted chain that took up almost seventy feet of chain that we could not use. This morning Dad and I launched a determined assault on the dreaded ball of chain. First step: pull all the chain out on deck. More difficult then it sounds, because to do that you have to pull the chain up through the hawse pipe. The hawse pipe is the tube that leads from the chain locker up to the windlass on deck, and if the chain is twisted, it will jam in the pipe. The only other way is to empty the fore cabin, where Dad sleeps by the way, remove all the mattresses, and pull the chain onto the boards beneath the bunk. This is rather extreme, and would require the whole day to do properly, so we proceeded with the original plan. Dad untwisted the chain in the anchor locker and I was on deck, pulling the chain out. It took us about two hours to get it all out, and as dad untwisted the chain, the twists moved down the chain and added to the dreaded ball. To properly untwist the ball required lifting it up, and the thing weighed more than thirty pounds, and in the anchor locker, you get very little leverage. Then, we had to completely untwist the chain on deck, not an easy task, we had to untwist almost ninety feet of heavy chain. Feeding it back in was easier, but the whole task took more than three hours, but it was a big task that is now out of the way, and hopefully we won't have to do it again.
--Orion Date
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2011-05-19T09:21:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:24.09788
Longitude:-76.40482
GPS location Date/Time:05/19/2011 16:22:09 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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The flood tide

2011-05-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

Doing its crazy, swirling, twice daily, anchor-yanking insanity here at Little Farmer's Cay.
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Orion's snapper dinner

2011-05-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

That which he caught, right off the boat.
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Little Harbour

2011-05-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

LFC.
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Downtown, Little Farmer's Cay

2011-05-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

Pop. 70.
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Getting in was easy

2011-05-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

Getting around inside . . . well, that's another matter. Sandbars and coral ridges all over the place. As this big sport fisherman found out this morning. Next high tide: 2030 this evening.
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Stale Golden Grahams and a Spreadsheet

2011-05-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

That is what we used to determine the freakish speed of the current here. It was purely out of curiosity, but it was fun to find out. First, we made some calculations. Then, we started to test. We used the stopwatch on my wrist watch to measure the amount of time it took for the stale golden graham to get from bow to stern. As it is hard to determine exactly when the golden graham passed the stern, and it is impossible to make it land directly at the bow, we did several tests and determined the average amount of time it took. We used the spreadsheet program to find the average, and then used our calculations in the spreadsheet to find the speed of the current (it was about 1.2 knots).

--By Rigel

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2011-05-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:23.95272
Longitude:-76.31543
GPS location Date/Time:05/15/2011 18:59:11 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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Piloting

2011-05-15T04:13:00.000-07:00

Piloting

In marine language, piloting basically means navigating by landmarks rather than latitude and longitude. To get in and out of Elizabeth Harbor, that is just about what you have to do. When we left this morning, getting out into the open water involved following the coast of Stocking Island until a stone tower on Stocking Island and several pink houses with white roofs on Great Exuma were in a line, then following that line until the bearing on the radio towers in George Town was about 180°, then turning to a course of 308° until the we had a bearing of 173° on the houses, then keeping the stern on the houses until we had a bearing of about 130° on the tower on Stocking Island, then keeping the tower on our stern until the houses were at 165°, then keeping them on our stern until we were clear of all the reefs. Kind of complicated, right? According to Dad, we'll be doing that a lot in the Bahamas.
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Look what we caught!

2011-05-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

So some fish comes along and nibbles and nibbles and then chomps down hard, biting our €9 lure from Marigot, St. Martin, using the last of our Euro notes, clean in half -- and then spits it out and swims off!

Of course, a fish with teeth that sharp . . . do we really want him thrashing around in the cockpit?

And then to cap it off (and before we realized the state of our feathery pink "squid"), we catch -- a clump of sargassum! Yeah!
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2011-05-14T13:12:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:23.7826
Longitude:-76.12711
GPS location Date/Time:05/14/2011 20:12:44 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/4okAq/23.7826/\-76.12711

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One last run to Exuma Markets

2011-05-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

No idea where the next fresh milk, veggie stop might be.
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The micro dinghy

2011-05-11T14:11:00.000-07:00

On our boat, we have three dinghies. One is the main RIB, another is the fully inflatable one under the cushions of the fore cabin, and the third is the micro dinghy. It is fully inflatable, and Orion and I occasionally inflate it, and row to the beach, or something like that. We have been doing just that lately, but the wind is now up so we can't. It has only oars, is very light, and can beat the RIB in a rowing race with no wind or waves.
--By Rigel
¤¤¤
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George Town

2011-05-09T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well, we are finally in George Town, the place where we can get the things that we can't get in the rest of the Bahamas. Most of the things anyway. Elizabeth Harbor, at the island of Great Exuma, is also a really great place to swim, as it is protected from just about any direction. Anyway, it is really nice to finally be here, but we now only have about six weeks left.
--Orion Date
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Bringing the dinghy around

2011-05-08T08:07:00.000-07:00

To collect Dad from the Shell station dock on "Lake" Victoria, George Town.
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At anchor off George Town, Great Exuma

2011-05-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

Pondering the clouds shaded green at the bottom -- reflecting the shallow water on the bank?
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2011-05-06T11:55:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:23.51451
Longitude:-75.7525
GPS location Date/Time:05/06/2011 18:55:46 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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2011-05-05T10:17:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:23.65656
Longitude:-75.34186
GPS location Date/Time:05/05/2011 17:18:05 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
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S/Y Juno

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2011-05-03T06:18:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:23.85166
Longitude:-75.12082
GPS location Date/Time:05/03/2011 13:18:36 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/4jQE1/23.85166/\-75.12082

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S/Y Juno

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2011-05-02T09:13:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:23.99028
Longitude:-74.97156
GPS location Date/Time:05/02/2011 16:13:27 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/4j4n1/23.99028/\-74.97156

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S/Y Juno

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There! Leak into THAT!

2011-05-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

For the second time in a year, our sea water cooling pump on the engine began leaking. And while we appreciate the drain holes that prevent sea water from getting into the crankcase, we're not so crazy about the drip-drip-drip onto wiring bundles and the transmission case -- which after a prolonged period of motoring adds a not-so-nice cake of salt onto those and other engine parts.

Hence our attempt to divert the NEXT leak directly into the bilge. We almost hope the newly replaced pump leaks, just to see if our contraption works. ALMOST hope.

The water pump was one of two must-fix items before leaving here. The other was the ripped seam in our mainsail. After eights hours of hand stitching, that's done, too.

So, it's off to Conception Island tomorrow, first light.

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Silence at last... Almost.

2011-05-01T14:27:00.000-07:00

Place after place we've been to, we have been surrounded by other boats, often charter boats. Now, at San Salvador, there are no other boats in the anchorage. So silence at last... Almost. There is a big, loud generator on shore that runs all the time. And there is the constant whir of the windmills as well. But at least it is better than constant noise...

--By Rigel
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Cristobal Colon

2011-04-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

Cristobal Colon

We have now visited the four main points of the journey of the man we know as Christopher Columbus. We visited the Ambassador Room of the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain, where Columbus got support from Ferdinand and Isabella. We also visited the harbor of Cadiz, where he assembled his three ships before starting out. We spent about two and a half weeks in the Canary Islands, where he started his famous ocean crossing. And now, we have recently arrived at the place where he landed, San Salvador, in the Bahamas. There are actually two monuments on opposite sides of the island, both commemorating his first landing. One is a large cross monument on the west coast of the island south of our current anchorage. It is the more likely spot for the legendary navigator to have come ashore. The other is ridiculously situated atop a reef bound headland totally open to the prevailing winds, and probably with heavy breakers. If Columbus came ashore there, he either had a weird front or storm on his hands, or his boat went to shore in pieces. There is little chance that a great sailor like Columbus would have needlessly endangered his crew by anchoring on the wrong side of the island. The monument was probably put there by people who had zero knowledge or experience of the sea, and reasoned that if Columbus had been coming from the east, he would have landed on the east side of the island. Never mind the dangerous reefs and violent breakers that are capable of smashing any boat or ship of the time to bits, no, anyone can see that he would have come ashore on the east side. As if. Columbus was a legendary sailor, he would have come ashore in a nice, sheltered anchorage, not one open to Atlantic rollers.
--Orion Date
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Downtown Cockburn Town

2011-04-30T12:47:00.000-07:00

After bumping plenty of elbows with other boats in the Virgin Islands, we seem to have this island pretty much to ourselves.
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The road Columbus must have walked

2011-04-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

To clear customs and immigration at the airport.
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The Fore Cabin

2011-04-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

The problem with Orion and I playing is that we don't have much room on the boat to do so. But, when it is not being used, we can use the fore cabin, the biggest bunk we have. It used to be V-berth, one bunk on each side, but we put in a trapezoidal piece of wood in, so now it is one big bunk in a trapezoid shape. Usually, Dad sleeps up there, but when we are on passage, he sleeps on my bunk when I'm on watch, and when I come of watch, the port settee. Anyway, the fore cabin is a good playing space, because it has an enormous hatch on the deck head, one of the biggest on the boat.

--By Rigel

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What Cristobal Colon saw, 519 years ago

2011-04-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

San Salvador Island, Bahamas -- aka, India
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2011-04-28T03:54:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:24.05061
Longitude:-74.53592
GPS location Date/Time:04/28/2011 10:55:00 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/4hERe/24.05061/\-74.53592

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S/Y Juno

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Check-in/OK message from S/Y Juno SPOT Personal Tracker

2011-04-27T19:52:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:24.05065
Longitude:-74.53592
GPS location Date/Time:04/28/2011 02:52:30 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/4h94l/24.05065/\-74.53592

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S/Y Juno

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Check-in/OK message from S/Y Juno SPOT Personal Tracker

2011-04-26T21:14:00.001-07:00

S/Y Juno
Latitude:22.88372
Longitude:-72.78152
GPS location Date/Time:04/27/2011 04:15:04 GMT

Message:Juno's latest position:

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/4gnOv/22.88372/\-72.78152

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S/Y Juno

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