Hello supporters of minimus sailing team,

Here is what Alison reported Friday…January 23, 2009

Nathan sounded fantastic this morning! He had eaten his “stick to your ribs” breakfast of instant oatmeal and coffee and was looking forward to another great day of sailing. He is currently sailing under reduced speed in order to ensure that he has daylight when he hits the bank. At 4:00 this morning he took down his jib and began luffing the main to reduce speed.

After all of the miles he has traveled on this trip, the remaining 50 miles on the bank and 40 miles across the gulf seem “short” to him. He has had almost no ship traffic and seen no marine life. Nathan did say that it was a chilly night that had him wearing several layers of clothing including a fleece jacket, foul weather gear and a toque. I fear the Kingston cold will be a shock to his system when he returns…they are calling for another deep freeze in the days ahead!

Nathan is optimistic that he will arrive in Miami around day break tomorrow and speculates that he may have to do what he did last night and slow the boat down so that he can navigate the harbour in daylight. He will call in with his position late this afternoon so that we can alert Grove Key Marina of his arrival.

Click on the link below to get his latest position.

News Flash….

We also want to thank Roger Healey for offering $500 towards a new long-shaft engine for the boat. Roger has suggested that the engine cold be nicknamed “The Jolly Rogers Engine” as Roger Ware is the other contributor.

We have also had several other offers of support and a few donation commitments. We will have these posted to the website as soon as permission of the donors is received.

Thank you all again.

John