Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1999 08:12:08 -0600

From: "Yvonne C. Allen"

To: Charles Ramcharan , Paul Herzog , Mathias Allen , Marcus Allen , Michael Ernst , Busdiver , "Rohde Deborah A." , G Kastorf , D Kerkhof , Lokken , Lonna Temple , Nonlinear , "danno@chorus.net" , Milo Parker , Stan Smith , Max and Maureen , Wolfgang Holdik , Gerald Longenecker , JC Wacker , R Hannes Beinert , Gernot , Lorrna Knapp , "olive@itis.com" , Kathy Shurts , San Rotter , Mary and Walt , Mike and Ruth , Mariner's Cay , Dianne Paul , Yvonne Allen , Werner Sykora , Wayne , Mary , Tom&Paula , Nancy Barthuly , Russ Allor , Matt , Lee Bowman , Bud Morin , Glen Miller

Greetings All,

Sorry I have been so remiss in providing you all with up to the minute information - things have been pretty hectic around here. First things first: I just got a call from Rosi this morning and they (Rosi, Jim and Wolfgang) are all packed up and are heading out this morning. They will try to get a message through when they can - maybe via another boat or ship. They are heading to Royan, France which is 1300 nautical miles from the Azores. They hope to arrive by about the July 3rd. In Royan they will have the mast taken down so they can make the passage through the canal system (the Canal du Midi) to the Mediterranean.

After first making landfall in Royan, they will continue on to Bordeaux where they are scheduled to meet up with Paul and Janet Herzog on the 10th. Paul and Janet are good friends from Madison. They are also vagabonds/live aboards who are generally anchored in the Caribbean (St. John?), but you never really know where they will be calling from. I don't know how much of Paul and Janet's substantial sailing expertise will be used as they go through the canal system, but Janet will have the opportunity to polish up her French language skills.

Although they did not get a chance to sail around to the other islands while in the Azores, Rosi said that they enjoyed Faial very much. One day they took motor scooters around the island and had a wonderful time. But they did have to make a special point to get off the scooters every now and then so they didn't get "saddle sores". Rosi is writing more information in her journal about the time spent in Horta, but I don't expect to receive any of that until after they arrive in France.

They had a wonderful time celebrating Jim's birthday (17. June) in Horta. They went to a nice restaurant where you choose your dinner from the several large (2-4 foot) freshly caught fish on display. Afterward they went to Cafe Sport for drinks and socializing with new "yachtie" friends from England.

Since everyone on Libelle speaks German, this has been the language of choice for the past week. When I spoke with Rosi on the phone, she would often go back and forth between English and German. This is fine for me, but Jim said that she also did this with people in Horta. Wolfgang had to remind her to speak English so other people could understand her!

I haven't gotten to transcribing bits of Rosi's journal from the first leg of the journey yet, but hopefully I will get it this week. I will, of course, keep you posted with any information I receive about Libelle's position, but I expect information to be pretty slim until they reach Royan.

Until Next Time,

Alles Gouda,

Yvonne