April e-mail

4/3/01
Hi Dad. Just received the replacement part for your auto-pilot, thought you might need me to send it down somewhere, let me know. Hope all is well with you and that you are enjoying time in "paradise". We survived the March Birthday Bonanza, and had a little party here last Sun. A little crazy, but fun (kinda like Christmas celebrating 6 birthday's all at once) Everyone is doing well. Have fun, talk to you soon. Kathy
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4/4/01
The Sturdy Beggar and the Cara will be in Ft. Pierce tonight. RJO
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Hi all: Cara and Sturdy Beggar crossed over from the Bahamas today and are now 10 miles off Ft. Pierce FL. Email will now be able to be sent and received from the boat. Rick & Barbara

taken 10 minutes ago

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4/7/01
Hi All: We are sitting in the anchorage off the north Ft. Pierce bridge waiting till 6pm or so to run overnite to Cape Caneveral or probably direct to Fernandina on the Georgia border. We are anchored just off the very busy intracoastal waterway and the bridge opens every few minutes, We will be happy to get offshore. We should be in Fernandina by Monday noon or so, we will rest up there then go outside to Charleston. Sturdy Beggar is here with us hopefully we can keep him awake for the two night run.

Our heat exchanger failed in the middle of the gulf stream coming across from the Bahamas we had to run on sea water cooling to the engine to make Ft. Pierce. We were very lucky to find a good marina who helped locate another heat exchanger (22 year old engine) I was able to replace it yesterday so we should be all set, but it has been a bit hectic pulling things apart and putting them back together. Let us know when all the snow has melted and it is safe to return to Maine, It is 81 degrees here and a nice clear day like one of the 3 or 4 we get all summer at home. Rick
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4/8/01
Lat 29 01.011 Lon 80 52.430 
Hi All: We are anchored 3/4 of a mile off New Smyrna Beach 104 miles from Fernandina. Temp 81 water temp 78 sunny and mild. We left Ft. Pierce at 6:00 pm last night arrived here at 1:00 pm. Richard's (Sturdy Beggar) autopilot broke again after 20 minutes, some different problem this time, so he had to hand steer fo 16 hours, (we don't know how he did it) in and case he is sleeping now in in the boat (photo below). If we can wake him up we plan to leave here at 5:00 pm for Fernandina/Georgia overnight 18 to 20 hours. (Poor Richard will have to do it again). He really needs a more rugged unit.

Our heat exchanger problem appears to be solved all is running well aboard Cara (I know I should not have said that) After a rest in Fernandina we plan to overnight to Charleston 150 miles 25-30 hours (we will hove to at some point so Richard can sleep). We will likely stay in Charleston for a week or so then on to North Carolina. Rick & Barbara

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4/9/01

Hi Guys: Are we experiencing problems? For the last three days all I when I try to open Sturdy Beggar correspondence is that the file cannot be opened and / or that the page is not available. Are you updating files, or has your URL changed? The last I heard was that you were getting ready to leave Ft. Pierce. Nothing since! Other than that, hope things are going good and am looking forward to seeing more news of the 'Magnificent Voyage.' Wes!
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4/10/01
lat 30 40.259    lon 81 27.973 
Hi All: We arrived Fernandina Beach yesterday at 11:30 am 42 hours from Ft. Pierce. Sturdy Beggar had to hand steer the whole way except for a 4 hour nap off New Smyrna Beach, quite amazing! We are leaving here at noon headed for Beaufort SC 24 hour trip this should be easy for Richard at this point... We plan to stay in Beaufort, one of our favorite spots, for 3 days while Sturdy Beggar installs a new (bigger) auto pilot. We will then head 2 days inside to Charleston stay a few days then outside to Beaufort NC. So far we have not been in the intracoastal waterway at all, which has been great, skipping Florida and Georgia, which are of no interest to us. Cara
Cara & Sturdy Beggar tied up at Fernandina Beach marina
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4/11/01
Sturdy Beggar will be sailing all night after clearing customs in Fernandina Beach. Going along well. Headed for Georgia where I will install a replacement auto pilot. RJO
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4/12/01
lat 32 25.781    lon 80 40.450 
Hi All: We arrived yesterday at 10:00 am, 20 hour run from Fernandina. Beaufort is a nice as usual 82 degrees nice breeze along with good facilities including a courtesy car for shopping etc. The new autopilot is practically installed on Sturdy Beggar and looks like it will work fine. We plan to leave for Charleston Sat am and hang out there for a few days.

The trip home is always nice with favorable winds, more daylight, and warmer temps. The outside runs have been good especially with the full moon over the past week.  Rick & Barbara/CARA