Well Karen and I have decided to jump off from the relative safety of the Bay of Biscay and head to the sunny climes of the Caribbean. So this is take two. The boat will be thoroughly inspected and tweaked while here in France, so this is probably the best time to head across on such a trip. So we have put up an ad on the Cruisers Forum to get an experienced crew member to cross with us. The ad goes like this:

Where II? France to the Barbados

I am Looking for Crew

Boat size & type: Lagoon 420 Sailing Catamaran
Embark port: Les Sables d'Olonne Vendée France
Estimated departure (or join) date: 10th Dec
Arrival port & ETA (or voyage details): Barbados Hopefully around 15 Jan 2009 weather permitting
Number of other crew aboard: Skipper plus one.
Crew qualifications required and duties: Competent crew for watch and sailing duties, cooking to roster and some navigation if interested
Cost to join vessel and repatriation and visa costs are paid by: Crew member
Estimated equal-share contribution to food/drinks: (Per person, per day) = $US. nil while on board, crew members expense while on shore . A contribution to drinks would be appreciated
Note: No contribution towards any other costs (fuel, propane, fees, marinas, etc.) is required from crew.
More details:
The yacht is a Lagoon 420 with the additional Gennaker and is well equipped for blue water cruising (watermaker, Radar, SSB & Modem for email and weather) and it is a comfortable cruiser. Karen and I have spent the last 12months on it in Europe and the Canaries.

We are an easy going Australian couple but with the limit of our sailing being what I have said above about 1800 NM.

Our passage plan is to head out of Biscay, assess meteo and fuel and decide weather to stop in Cascais or head directly to Madiera for a refuel and to spend a day in Porto Santo then onto Gran Canaria for reprovisioning and refuel. We would probably spend 3 or so days here before heading across - all this is obviously weather dependent.

We are normally alcohol free at sea, but on this long passage, a civilized drink with dinner sounds sane. A contribution to drinks on board would be appreciated. The boat is smoke free except for the leeward transom.

If you are interested in this passage please contact us as soon as possible on the email on the home page so we can talk more.