Coming soon to a place near you

My little racing boats have been put to shame.  This week is the finish of the Pineapple Cup, a race from Fort Lauderdale, Miami to Montego Bay, Jamaica. Already 4 boats have arrived, and man, are they big!  The two biggest come in at 80 and 72 feet long, and the 72 footer, "Shockwave" arrived in the early morning and was an hour later than the record time.

When they arrive in Montego Bay, they are greeted with a case of cold Red Stripe beer, true Jamaican Hospitality. Last night, one of the old-timers told me that they used to take bets on which boats would arrive first, and sometimes they were days off in their estimations.  Now all the boats all have fancy tracking systems and you can see it here (click through to the "tracking" button) so we didn't bother to bet.

I'm "on duty" a couple nights this week down at the club to welcome boats as they arrive.  The boats themselves are very different from the cruising boats in style.  The whole deck is flat, with very minimal furniture and fixings.  I've heard that if you crew on these boats, there are very strict limitations on the weight you can bring on board.  The lighter, the faster!

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On another note, I thought I'd give you the dates for the "friends and family" tour.  Please drop me a line if you are in a place where I'll be and want to connect.

*Toronto* March 1-7  

Julia and Captain Phil leave Montego Bay on March 1st.  Julia gets off the plane in Toronto and Captain Phil continues on to the UK.

*Ottawa* March 8-10

Julia goes to a Cuso workshop in Ottawa.

*UK* March 11-24

Julia heads to the UK to meet up with Captain Phil. (This leg has various ‘venues’ but I’m not responsible for planning it so I can’t tell you what they are at this point.)

*Toronto* March 25-26

Julia and Captain Phil fly back to Toronto. There will be a party of some sorts on the 26^th. Stay tuned for details.

*Calgary* March 27-29

Julia and Captain Phil will be visiting friends who have relocated themselves from Toronto to Calgary. Way to go on making this more complicated, guys!

*Vancouver* March 29-April 11

Where Julia and Captain Phil will eat yummy sushi and check out motorcycles. And do some other fun things too.

*Toronto* April 12-18

Just in case you aren’t tired of us yet, T-dot pals.


And then we will head back to Montego Bay, Jamaica, on April 18^th. 

P.S. I have a google calendar dedicated to the when’s and where’s.  I am excited to schedule you in!
P.P.S. I will have a Canadian cell phone number. Probably the same number I had before. Will keep you posted.
P.P.P.S. We will be very cold and whiny about your weather. Apologies in advance.