Hi Mark,

Of course, my daily routine usually began like virtually everyone else's, with brewing my first mug of coffee at 0630, and listening to Chris's forecast... No question, the Caribbean WX Center is the finest source of WX info available to Bahamian cruisers on HF radio, although I still rely a bit more on a site like Sailflow, when I have internet access down there, of course... Not to mention, i would never say anything derogatory about a service that is sponsored, in part, by Rogue Wave Yacht Sales... (grin)

Sure, I've poked a couple of jabs at some cruisers who appear to be perhaps overly dependent on Chris' advice, if that classifies as being derogatory towards any and all who use his service, so be it... But there are some down there who appear to be reluctant to take a dinghy trip across Elizabeth Harbor without first getting the green light from Chris, I simply find that fairly amusing... And, you just know he's got to be rolling his eyes, when after having just given a synopsis for an absolutely perfect couple of days for the Central Exumas, one of his subscribers still needs personal reassurance that it will OK to move the 10 miles from Cambridge Cay to Staniel that day... LOL!

It's also pretty funny, the palpable sense of desperation that sets in among some of his listeners, in times of poor HF propogation, or during an occasion when he might be delayed coming on the air... His first broadcast begins at 0630, but it rarely fails that if he hasn't begun by 0631, someone will transmit "Is anyone hearing Chris yet?" This will be inevitably followed by a chorus of "No, I don't hear him in Spanish Wells", "No, no copy in Rock Sound", and "I'm in Staniel Cay, I don't hear him, either..." until, finally, someone finally steps in and subdues the panic with "well, if y'all don't shut up, NOBODY is gonna hear him..." LOL!

To listen to Chris for a season, if nothing else, you will gain an appreciation for how narrow the window is for conditions that many Bahamian cruisers are comfortable sailing in... Chris knows his clientele very well, and appears to understand many of them will prefer to sit and wait awhile, than to venture out in anything much more than about 15 knots of breeze... And, I'm sorry, but I do think it has gotten a bit absurd, that the only way many cruisers will even consider crossing the Stream is to motor across in a flat calm, any thoughts of actually SAILING across seem to be off the table...

Nope, no enclosure on my boat yet... I actually folded down my dodger last Monday after the last rain squalls passed by Canaveral, haven't had any reason to put it back up since... I would pity anyone who would have to have spent the three moonlit, perfect nights I had offshore last week, confined to a cockpit with a roof of Sunbrella overhead... (grin)

best regards,

Jon