Thanks everyone for your input so far.
I have been in contact with the
skipper the last few days and this is where we are at now.
He doesn't take and definitely does not allow drugs on board. which is very good to know. and he doesn't really drink.
As for
weather information, he mainly relies on his
VHF radio, communicating with other ships in the area, listening to
radio conversation and keeping an eye on his barometer and whether the pressure is dropping quickly. He doesn't have a 2-way HAM radio, as he
lost it in a storm and has not replaced it, and he doesn't have a
weather fax. Should this be a big concern for me?
His
current planned journey is to leave Carnarvon, WA and
head north past
christmas island towards
Indonesia, before crossing into the Java sea and finishing at Johor Port in
Malaysia. He has said that once we are 10 degrees of less under the equator, the risk of cyclones reduces..Is this true?
For this journey he is planning it to take 3 weeks to cover 1700 miles. He also has plenty of sailing experience and has sailed from
san diego to
hawaii and onto
Australia.
He has an
EPIRB on board, which he says still works, besides the
batteries being expired and he also has a personal
GPS SOS device, the emits our location when in
distress.
Finally, there is the issue of when he will depart. He has said he is quite broke and cannot afford to hang around in Carnarvon waiting for me if i don't show up. So he has asked if i could send him $100 as a sign that i am seriously committed to joining him. I know this is probably not normal, but is this a fair agreement?
Apart from all of the above, I get the feeling this could
work out right. I know there are signs pointing to NO, but I think he is genuine and I could just be over-paranoid.
would appreciate your opinion on the situation!
cheers,
Brodie