and I think everyone should at least read what Street has to say about it. As discussed here, he speaks from the point of view of an insurance broker, perhaps, but more, as you mentioned from the POV, of someone who's been sailing an engineless wooden yawl for 50 years. GPS, GRIB files, and Herb Hilgenberg may give some people a little more confidence than is appropriate. But then, when I was a squab, we'd never heard of the term "weather window" and hadn't a clue how to tune an SSB, so who am I to talk. (Now I know a little about boats and stuff I shudder at what we all got away with . . .) FYI, Street is working on a fresh edition of his Transatlantic guide (full disclosure -- I'm serving as his editor). The Eastern Caribbean guides have sadly been somewhat eclipsed by glossy pubs full of ads for restaurants.