On Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:02:17 -0400, Marty wrote:

I'm pulling for Skip, a few thought he was nuts for attempting this in
one leg and warned of dire consequences rounding Cape Hatteras. So far
it looks great, except for a chance of getting rained on going into Miami.

Yes but there were, and still are, some risks:

The Gulf Stream off Cape Hatteras is notorious for unforecasted
squalls and steep squirrelly seas due to the shoaling water, strong
currents and convergant weather systems. They lucked out on that
one. I know quite a few very experienced, knowledgeable people who
will not go outside Hatteras if they have a choice. I also know a few
who swear they will never do it again. One is a friend of mine who
had a 56 ft ketch and broke a rudder out there in a storm some years
ago. He had to be towed several hundred miles into Norfolk in very
gnarly conditions.

The next issue in my mind is that they are pushing the limits of
mental and physical endurance after many days of round the clock
sailing and watch standing. Lots of other people have done that sort
of thing successfully, but they are not kids anymore, and the boat is
big enough to be a handful if conditions deteriorate or gear starts
failing.

Last but not least they are heading into southern waters with another
3 weeks to go on the hurricane season. Fortunately storm formation
is in a lull and will quite likely continue that way with any luck.

I'm reminded of the saying that airplane pilots have:

"There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old
bold pilots."