Here you will find some important dates, including tentative dates to continue cruising Mexico, Central America, the Galapagos Islands, South America, the Caribbean Sea and ultimately the Mediterranean, Croatia and numerous other points on the other side of the Atlantic.

APRIL , 2010 - JUNE, 2010:  Explore the Sea of Cortez and endure the Baja Bash to get back to Southern Calinfornia.

JUNE- OCTOBER , 2010:  We will be spending the summer in California, mostly in SoCal at Catalina, but we hope to get to the Bay Area, as well, to say farewell to our many friends there.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> LONG  RANGE  CRUISING PLANS <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

NOVEMBER, 2010 TO JANUARY, 2011: VIVA MEXICO! We will join the Baja Haja again in 2010 (It was a blast last year!) and then we will work our way south through Mexico, perhaps with a little time in the Sea of Cortez, maybe as far north as La Paz.

FEBRUARY, 2011: CENTRAL AMERICA. We will be paying port calls to Guatamala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica as we begin our southbound adventure.

MARCH, 2011: COCOS AND GALAPAGOS ISLANDS. During March we will sail first to Cocos Island, an island located about 300 miles off the coast of Costa Rica, and belonging to that country. From there, after our allotted 48-hour stay (still working on the permits), we will continue another 400 miles to sea and arrive in the Galapagos Islands. Weather permitting, we'll stay as long as 30 days, but realistically, probably more like 2 - 3 weeks.

APRIL - OCTOBER, 2011: PERU. We've settled on Peru as our country of choice during which to sit out hurricane season in the Northern Hemisphere. There is a yacht club in a small port called La Punta, not far from Lima, that is very cruiser friendly, so that will be our base from which to explore as much of South America as possible. We will sail to Ecuador when we leave the Galapagos, but as Ecuador becomes more and more aligned with the government of Venezuela, curiser's are reporting significant difficulties with port captains, etc., so we won't linger. Food and fuel and we're outta there.

NOVEMBER,  2011: PANAMA CANAL.  We will depart Peru in late-October to begin our trip to Panama. We'll transit the Panama Canal as early as possible (pleasure craft get very low priority unless we pay some big extra bucks!!) in November.

DECEMBER, 2011 - APRIL, 2012: EAST COAST OF CENTRAL AMERICA & MEXICO, US GULF OF MEXICO: We'll work our way up the east coast of Central America, after lingering in Panama's San Blas Islands, which are supposed to be spectacular. The on to Mexico's east coast. I'm not sure if we'll return to the US to explore the Gulf Coast or not, but our goal is to reach Florida by the end of April, 2012, well ahead of hurricane season.

MAY, 2012 - OCTOBER , 2012: EAST COAST, USA  & CANADA. We will be cruising up the Eastern Seaboard and into Canada (perhaps Nova Scotia) then back down to the Caribbean.  

NOVEMBER 2012 - APRIL, 2013: CARIBBEAN SEA. Cruise the Caribbean Sea as far south as the West Indies and Grenada. Further south there are a number of reported problems and anywhere near Venezuela is out of the question (cruisers are getting shot at, mugged, robbed, injured and killed off the coast of Venezuela!!!!)

OKAY, HERE COMES THE BIGGIE!!! WE'VE ABANDONED ANY IDEA OF USING DOCKWISE TO TRANSPORT THE BOAT TO EUROPE. WE'RE GOING TO SAIL HER ON HER OWN KEEL. MAYBE JUST THE TWO OF US, BUT PERHAPS A TRUSTED MATE OR TWO FOR EACH OF THE THREE LEGS (Start dusting off your sailing resume....LOL)

MAY, 2013:  CROSSING THE ATLANTIC. Pinch me, I have to say that again...CROSSING THE ATLANTIC! There is a rally/race across the Atlantic about this time, so we'll try to join this flotilla for some additional security and help should we need it.

LEG 1: ST. THOMAS TO BERMUDA: 800± nautical miles (Reminder, one nautical mile equals 1.15 statute miles, e.g. in your car). Estimated time en route: 6 days (but these things are totally dependent on the wind, seas and weather. Sailing to Europe is an upwind beat, so it can take a lot longer.)

LEG 2: BERMUDA TO THE AZORES: 1800± nautical miles. This is the longest of the three legs and by far the trickiest, because you have to stay north of the Azores High or you run the risk of becoming becalmed for a long period of time. (Even with an additional 60 - 100 gallons of fuel on deck, our maximum range motoring is only about 600 - 700 nautical miles, so we will be mostly wind dependent during this passage) We will be usng a weather routing service to assure we don't find ourselves hopelessly stuck in the Atlantic Ocean.

LEG 3: AZORES TO GIBRALTER, OR PERHAPS IRELAND TO VISIT FAMILY (Like everything, weather dependent): Whoopee, EUROPE!!!! When we arrive, I can take "Crossing an Ocean" off my bucket list!

In general terms, on the voyage from San Diego to Gibralter, with all the intermediate stops and detours, we will have sailed well in excess of 21,000 nautical miles. To put it in perspective, that's the equivalent of driving back and forth across the United States more than 8 times.

JUNE, 2013 AND BEYOND:  We will spend the first summer in the Mediterranean Sea exploring Spain, France and Italy. We've been told that Turkey is a wonderful place to spend the winter, so that's the plan. But there is much to learn, much to read and study, and as we've found out, no matter what we plan, it changes!!!

Wherever we go, whatever we do, I still plan to step directly from the boat to assisted living, although there is the possibility of an intervening step...dare I say it?...a POWER BOAT....to be called ASEASTED LEAVING!!! 

SO THAT'S THE DREAM!!!  Cruising is all about the journey, not so much the destination.  We're living this dream every day, so well see how far our boat and our wits will carry us....