We took on 1300 gallons of Diesel (US$1.00/gal) at Power Boats fuel dock on Tuesday. Following a twelve-day delay and crew problems, Penny and I have decided to make this passage without crew. Meeting Denis and Mary aboard Teka III (Beebe Design 141) a week ago gave us the idea. So, rather than going direct from here thru the Mona Passage and thence to Beaufort, NC, we will head up the island chain, nonstop, to St. John, and clear there for the US. It should take about 2.5 days to St. John. Then, we'll exit the Caribbean thru the Anegada (Sombrero) Passage on the rhumb line for Beaufort, which should take a week or less. The wx is benign at this time of year; the first Tropical Wave of the season passed over us yesterday without fanfare. I have installed a SR 162 AIS receiver which seems to play nicely with Coastal Ex on the Shuttle. For backup, we have Coastal Ex and a Garmin GPS10 Bluetooth GPS on the laptop, as well as some cruising guides. We may email again from St. John if we have time. Regards, John "Seahorse" Chaguaramas, Trinidad, West Indies