We’ve been backaboard Beowulf now for a month and this is the first chance we’ve had to send notes to SetSail. Between navigating in the fog and finishing up another book project we’ve been jammed.

New England summers are, well, maybe we better not comment. Except to say that if people in this part of the world knew what the weather was like in the west, the price of real estate around here would plummet.

In the past month we’ve had three sunny days – all in the last week. Of course piloting in the fog and overcast is a great way to test various charting programs. Not bad for radar practice either.

The trip from Camden to Boothbay, Maine was made in 200-foot visibility. In fact it was so thick we almost ran up the stern of a Grand Banks trawler which was stopped to get its bearings. We now understand where the rule about not going any faster than you can see to stop the boat comes from!

Since we picked Beowulf up in New Bedford we’ve been to Martha’s Vinyard, Nantucket, Newport, and a variety of spots on the way up to Maine and then back down the coast. Right now we’re in Provincetown, Mass, on the tip of Cape Cod. We’re headed back to Nantucket for the “Nantucket Bucket,” an invitation-only mega yacht regatta. We’ll probably be the smallest boat there. Lots of 130- to 150-footers – including the tallest sloop rig in the world aboard Georgia.

The regatta is pursuit format – with the slowest boats starting first (us) and the mega speed demons later. With competition like Saudade, Extra Beat, the “J” boat Endeavor, and Georgia, we hope we get a long head start! Of course if these guys wanted to race across an ocean, we’d offer to go it boat for boat.

We’ll report on the results after the weekend, and bring you up to date on what we’ve found with charting software (having now tested all newest systems). The results may surprise some of you.