Crew Wanted: OPPORTUNITY: Annapolis to Marsh Harbour, Bahamas

[Auspicious]

OPPORTUNITY: Annapolis to Marsh Harbour, Bahamas

Owner Jeff Clark and delivery skipper Dave Skolnick are taking Sea
Larks, the Clark’s new 50 foot sailing catamaran from Xquisite Yachts
to the Bahamas. She achieved best in show at the boat show">Annapolis boat show
in 2016 in her class. The Clarks took delivery in Tortola in July of
2017 and have been on a shakedown cruise heading to Annapolis for the
2017 boat show. After a three month shake down the Clarks feel they
are in good position to head further afield. They have over 2200 nm
thus far on board Sea Larks and are looking forward to many more
enjoyable miles at sea. See X5 Sail - Xquisite Yachts .
Sea Larks is the owner edition version so some hot bunking may be
required.

Jeff writes: Married for 44 years to my lovely wife Paula, who has
been gracious enough to allow me to pursue my dream of sailing. We
have three adult children and five grandchildren.

We grew as sailors with our children sailing sabots and lasers in the
Santa Barbara area. Jeff Clark has coastal cruising and racing
experience with friends over the years. Jeff has completed ASA 101
through ASA 114 certification for multi-hulls.

My background is a small business owner in the Santa Barbara, CA area
for the last 30 plus years. I have a technical background in
electronics and have re-careered after selling my company in the early
2000. My recent passion was aviation, and along the way attained an
ATP certificate with a Citation type rating for light jets. I
partnered with a friend and we formed an aircraft management and
turbine maintenance business that I still own in the Santa Barbara
area.

It turns out my wife Paula does not enjoy time on the sea as much as I
do. Therefore, I will be looking for crew from time to time to assist
with passage making as I continue down the path.

Planning to leave Annapolis on or about 30 October and the Chesapeake
Bay, subject to weather of course, on or about November 2, 2017 with a
destination of Marsh Harbour in the Abacos 4 days later. Crew joining
the boat in Annapolis may attend the events of the Salty Dawg Rally in
Hampton VA with the owner. Not sure after that, but want to eventually
head to the western Caribbean and the Panama Canal. Hope to spend
time sailing the Sea of Cortez, as that is closer to our CA base.
Then, who knows, perhaps off to the Galapagos and French Polynesia.

We are a non-smoking, non-drinking boat under way. You should have
your own life jacket with harness; provide the Keurig coffee you like,
and a sleeping bag. All food on board will be provided, along with
humor and some decent sea time experience.

Skipper Dave Skolnick is an experienced and active delivery skipper
who also writes and speaks on a broad range of topics. His resume is
available at http://AuspiciousWorks.com/SKOLNICK_sailing2017.pdf.
Sailing with Dave has been described as “graduate school for
cruising.” We can focus on any topic of interest to you during regular
newsletters leading up to departure and of course while underway.

Sea Larks is fully equipped with safety and electronic navigation
equipment. Jeff Clark and Dave Skolnick are in search of two
additional crew for the trip from Annapolis to Bahamas. Pick-up in
Norfolk (vice Annapolis) may be negotiated. Crew must get to and from
the boat on their own. All costs on board are covered. Some support
for local transportation in Annapolis can be arranged.

Interested crew should write to Jeff Clark at jclark500@cox.net. A
copy to Dave at dave@auspiciousworks.com would be appreciated.

[mbuckely]

We depart Annapolis for Marsh Harbour this Friday with a stopover with the Salty Dawgs as well. This will be our 11th delivery between our two bases of operation. Irish Rover is a FP Lipari. Hope to meet you guys along the way
Mark

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by mbuckely

We depart Annapolis for Marsh Harbour this Friday with a stopover with the Salty Dawgs as well. This will be our 11th delivery between our two bases of operation. Irish Rover is a FP Lipari. Hope to meet you guys along the way

Hi Mark,

Where are you in Annapolis? Do you need anything? This is my home base and I'm always happy to help. Sea Larks just moved to AHBY and we'll probably depart from here.

dave

[mbuckely]

We are at Port Annapolis on Back Creek. I'll arrive some time Thursday with my crew. Provision & boat prep than off we go.

With a favorable weather window we could depart before the Salty Dawg's target date. If we are going to hang out we would prefer to do that in the Bahamas [emoji4]

[Auspicious]

Let me know if you want to get into Sams Club and don't have an account. Costco is far. Drop me a line at dave@auspiciousworks.com

Do you have a reservation at Bluewater? They are apparently all booked up for cats.

We may anchor in the river.

[Lazy J]

I too head for Marsh harbor about 2 weeks later on S/V Lazy J. Please post the conditions of the islands, availability of diesel, fresh water, etc.

[BernBruce]

We had our boat in Marina Hemmingway for 2 years cause of my health issues. They will steal anything you have on deck, so lock up everything!!! The Marina at San Antonio is the opposite, lovely people there. The rest of Cuba is safe and the people are very honest. Just a warning!!

[Auspicious]

Cuba isn't on the radar screen.

I'll do my best to post on what we find in the Abacos but all indications are that they have rebounded nicely.

[SFS]

Auspicious- have you found crew yet? I am available on or about Nov. 5, which I recognize doesn't quite fit with the plan outlined above. I helped Mark deliver Irish Rover last year, and we had a great trip. If you are still looking for crew, post here or send me a PM, and I will respond via PM.

If I could get there more quickly I would, but am currently in Panama and cannot leave my housesitting responsibilities until the owners return.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by SFS

Auspicious- have you found crew yet?

We were worried that short notice at this time of year would be a problem for us but we're getting a great response from lots of good candidates. Jeff (owner) is sorting through and we're just starting getting emails out to set up phone calls. Looks like most of tomorrow will be on the phone. The goal is a decision by the end of tomorrow.

Anyone who wants to come can still toss their hat in the ring by email to the addresses above.

[SFS]

Well, that's great news then. I'm going to respectfully bow out, given my scheduling constraints, and the difficulties with internet at my remote location. Even a WhatsApp call is a crapshoot. I wish you the best of luck with you selections, and fair winds.

[Auspicious]

We're very pleased by the response. Thank you all. Everyone that applied will get (or should have already gotten) a return email. We've booked the trip and have backups.

For those interested in future opportunities I generally post on CF but always on my own crew list. You can join by sending an email to me at auspiciousdeliveries-subscribe@lists.skolnick.org . Being a member of the list is free. It is no guarantee of a position but my list always gets notices first.

[Sail365]

Hat tip to Dave. He took great care of my boat. This will be a great trip to crew on -- and a great skipper to crew with. If I had the time I'd be signing up myself!

[sccndc]

If anyone else is looking for last minute crew to head from the mid-atlantic to the Caribbean please send me a note. I'm able to leave work for ~3 weeks to make the passage.

My near term goal is to get blue-water experience to prepare for my own cruising journey. I owned and sailed a 25' Cal around the Chesapeake for 3 seasons, and grew up boating.
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