Subject: Libelle Update - 14 Dec 99

Date: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 21:14:01 +0000

From: allenyc@lsu.edu

To: Charles Ramcharan , Woody Nero , Mathias Allen , Marcus Allen , Michael Ernst , Bayfield Yacht Club , "Rohde Deborah A." , G Kastorf , D Kerkhof , Lonna Temple , Nonlinear , Dan and Pat Miller , 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 , allenyc@lsu.edu, Werner Sykora , Wayne , Mary , Tom&Paula , Nancy Barthuly , Matt , Glen Miller , Bob Niemi , Erik Herzog , Venita Plazewski , Roland & Angella , Helen Gurko , moleary@lsu.edu, Rick Pratt , Edwin Theriot , david brown , Carol Fleeger , Donna Giberson , Kim Wong , Bjoern Wissel , "Joseph F. Siebenaller" , Mary Smith , Leslie Hill , Mohamed Noor , Lokken , Sean , Lorna Inniss , hampton@lsu.edu, Lisa Head , Bob Cushing , beaulne@lsu.edu, Rudi Holdik , PC Foerthmann , Paul and Janet , Jodi and Jennifer , Barb Constans , "Kai-Chr.Imke.Reck" , Jo Schofield , hhaas@lsu.edu, Shaye Sable , LeAnn and Joe

Greetings, and Welcome for all of the new names on the list!

Charles and I have added a few people to the "Libelle" distribution list since we will soon join the Libelle crew on the leg back across the Atlantic! For all you newcomers, you can find all the old emails and some pictures from the trip so far at:
http://geocities.datacellar.net/allenyc/libelle.html

I got an email today from Rosi and Jim. They met Matt (my brother), Nola and Payden at the airport in Tenerife. They are now at the Marina del Atlantico near the Plaza de Espana. On Monday, they rented a car and drove to a black sand beach in the north of Tenerife. (My grandmother used to vacation on Tenerife quite often and she was really struck by this beach.) Payden had his first swim in the ocean and his first taste of sand. The weather has been great, but they will probably hang around Tenerife while Matt and family are there, and not sail to Gomera as they had initially planned.

Preparations for our departure are going well. We are getting pretty excited. We leave out of New Orleans on Sunday, fly to New York, Madrid, and then to the Canaries, arriving on Monday (20th). After arriving, we will be on the lookout for a good weather window to take off for the crossing. The crossing should take about 3 weeks (give or take a few days on either side for weather variations). We're still not sure if we will head for Barbados or Trinidad. Barbados may be easier to get a cheap return flight, but we would also like to get to T'dad if possible since we have family and friends there.

Charles is taking his test for a ham radio license on Saturday, so we will (hopefully) be able to provide everyone with fairly regular updates of our progress through our friendly amateur radio operators.

That's about all I have for now. We'll probably be able to get out a few more emails before taking off. Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season!

Alles Gouda,
Yvonne