Location: 13° 15.8 N 59° 38.7 W
Sunday 21:00, 05.28.2006

The Schooner Maggie B moved up the West Coast of Barbados to 13° 15.8 N 59° 38.7 W today. The holding in Bridgetown was just too loose for moorings, anchors, or anything. I€™m afraid that the Maggie B may have abused the welcome of the Barbados Yacht Club by inadvertently dragging some of its moorings around a bit.

Now we are in a new, artificial harbor called St. Charles at a so-called Mega Yacht dock. This harbor is Six Mens Bay on the chart, but probably the developer was named Charles. The beach is lovely, the turtles are close and the coral is very healthy.

We are here until June 5th, when our sixth crew member arrives. He is Max Hoffman, 30, from England, an experienced Blue Water racer. I will have his full bio soon, but suffice it to say that we are dragging him away from rebuilding a 1950 Bentley engine, which shows that he is either mechanical or nuts. For those of you who are keeping track, you will notice that he is neither French, female nor 25.

Getting ready for the passage to Brazil, one of the first things we thought about was water. (OK, coffee and chocolate came first). While I€™m enormously encouraged that we can make water on our own, and I expect to catch rainwater, we have to set up the discipline and understanding of our limits. We carry tankage for approximately 350 gallons of fresh water. If you assume 20 days to Brazil; no rain; no water maker; six people; and 50% extra, convert it to liters so everyone understands, you get about 7 liters per person per day. For cooking, drinking, showering, laundry €” everything. Today I went around with all crew to show how fast you can use a liter. In the shower it is 11 seconds. All were impressed. We have a salt water tap in the kitchen for rinsing dishes and to add to soups. I am also going to rig a tarp with a hose tap so that we can efficiently get water in the tanks in the inevitable rain showers in the ITCZ (Inner Tropical Convergence Zone).

Tomorrow is Memorial Day in the US. We all salute the military, especially those in Iraq and Afghanistan. With English (soon) French, Hungarians, and Americans aboard, in an area long fought over (the Caribbean), tomorrow will be a nice day to consider the steps towards reducing the need for fighters.

All is well.