It’s almost midnight. I’m on a business trip, somewhere in a grey and rainy corner of Europe, sitting in some anonymous hotel room. And I’m grinning like a kid.

The crew is complete.

Come May, JACE heads south — back to Grenada for “safe” storage during hurricane season. Once the decision to keep her became clear, this passage was next on my mind.

It’s roughly 400–450 nautical miles. Not a leisurely cruise. More full-on sailing, some long legs, likely a couple of overnighters. Hard to do alone. Even with just two aboard, it would be a stretch.

So I started thinking.

A few names immediately came to mind. But would they be interested? Would they have the time? Would schedules align? It felt like a long shot.

I shouldn’t have worried.

Matt was first. The ink on my last post had barely dried when WhatsApp lit up: I’m in. Matt sailed JACE in season one and quickly proved he knows his way around a helm. Calm, precise, solid. Qualified.

Johannes followed shortly after. Phone buzz: I’m really interested. During his week aboard in December, he couldn’t get enough. By the end of it, he was taking JACE from anchor-up to anchor-down on his own. Observant, competent, hungry for more. Qualified.

And Greg didn’t need much convincing either. He cleared his calendar and claimed the final spot. A recent graduate of the JACE Sailing Academy, he broke all previous speed records steering through 25–30 knots from Bequia to St. Lucia. Qualified.

So here we are.

Dates set. Flights booked. A rough route sketched out. Haul-out in Grenada confirmed. Now we just need the right wind, waves, and weather.

Mid-May we cast off.

I cannot wait.