Packing.  Ugh.

Countdown

English: The Bahamas. NASA image created by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott. Instrument: Aqua - MODIS (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We are a month out, now.   Airline tickets have been purchased, plans made, and bags are semi-packed.   The last month has been spent going over lists, organizing, planning, purchasing necessary items,  and worrying about what we are forgetting.  Which will undoubtedly be plenty.

And, there's still plenty of work to be done on the boat.  In fact, I'm guessing several weeks will be spent putting things together on the boat before we actually cast off the lines and head off toward the Bahamas.  But that's all ok.  It's all part of the process, and we are doing our best to remember that all this planning and prep is part of the journey. 

Dear friends, please keep in touch via email (pointsbeyondcrew@gmail.com)
We'll be monitoring our email and will write back as often as local wifi makes it possible.

10 Weeks Out

Somebody recently pointed out that we've only got 10 weeks until we start our adventure.   Wait.  What??   It seemed so much farther away until it was put in those terms: 10 weeks.  That's not long.  Not long at all.

I'm surprisingly zen about the fast approaching departure.  I'm not feeling particularly stressed about all the little details that need to be taken care of.   Actually my biggest worry at the moment is that I'm not worried enough about this.  What am I missing?  What am I forgetting?  Probably plenty.  I'm just not sure what at this point.  Guess I'll figure it out as the next few months unfold.

The boys are talking about it more and more.  It's on their minds, too.  I'm getting questions from them often about how things will be.  Questions like:

•    "How long will our longest passage be?" (4-5 days, probably)   
•    "Will it ever be really rough?" (Yes, but we will try to keep that to a minimum by watching the     wind and weather carefully.)  
•     "We are going to be reading a LOT, right?"  (Indeed.)

Brady brought home a school assignment the other day (I think it was some sort of idea generator for a writing assignment)  that shows very graphically how much our adventure is on his mind.  It made me smile.  He gets it.

MY MOM AND DAD SHARING THEIR ADVENTURES
WITH ME AND MY BROTHER:

Buying a boat.  Sailing it in the San Fran Bay.   Going cruising.
Taking me and my brother to the boat.  Sharing the same adventure they had.
 

Adventure launch update: The boys have started school this year at our local public school, where they will attend until we leave for our big adventure.  At this point we are planning to leave land life behind after Christmas.  We are all excited about our upcoming adventure!

Our itinerary is semi-set.  I say semi, because although we have a pretty good idea where we want to go, our plans are always open to change depending upon circumstance (like weather, for instance).  But at this moment in time here is our plan: we will leave Key West in January heading up the Keys, and then across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas.  We'll hop along the islands until we reach the Windward Passage between Cuba and Haiti.

We may make a stop in Cuba (depending upon the political climate), and likely will call in at Jamaica for a brief stop before our longest ocean passage across to Cartagena, Colombia.  Cartagena is a UNESCO World Heritage site with a colonia walled city we are looking forward to exploring.

Sunset in Cartagena, Colombia  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From Cartagena we will head toward Panama, and the San Blas Islands.  These islands are home to the Kuna Indians.  The Kuna are indigenous people of Panama with a fascinating matriarchal society.   The Kuna women are famous for their unique textiles called "molas".

A Kuna woman displays a selection of molas for sale at her home in the San Blas Islands. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From the San Blas Islands we will continue on up the coast of Panama stopping in for a visit at the canal zone, and further on to the Bocas del Toro area.  Our next stop will likely be Isla Providencia, a small Columbian island with an amazing reef system surrounding this isolated spot.  

Isla Providencia, San Andres Colombia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Then we will sail toward the Bay Islands of Honduras (Roatan, Guanaja, Utila, Cayos Cochinos) make a trek up the Rio Dulce in Guatemala (along with a planned inland tour of Lake Atitlan and Antigua), and check out some of the Mayan ruins in this area of Central America.

Lake Atitlan (Photo credit: colincookman)

Finally we will visit Belize and  the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico where no doubt we will spend much time exploring the largest reef system in the northern hemisphere.

An enlargeable map of Belize (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We will keep updating here as we get closer to departure!

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Aloft

Gearing Up

Our plans are beginning to gel.  We've set a departure time-frame (December 2012), and are busy with details like figuring out home-schooling options, plans for boat projects, trip-planning, etc. etc.  My hope is to begin blogging more often about our preparations, and as we get closer I hope to have to boys begin to contribute to this blog on a frequent basis as well.  I expect that journaling and blogging will play a big role in the boys' schooling while we are "out there".  Stay tuned.

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