Sunday, September 9, 2012



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.
English: Sunset in Cartagena, Colombia Françai...
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...
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
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
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
An enlargeable map of Belize (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We will keep updating here as we get closer to departure!


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Thursday, March 29, 2012

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.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
- Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad
Portobelo, Panama
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Tuesday, November 22, 2011























“Only the guy who isn't rowing has time to rock the boat.”
- Jean-Paul Sartre
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Monday, November 14, 2011

We are tied to the ocean. 
And when we go back to the sea, 
whether it is to sail or to watch - 
we are going back from whence we came.