Our Rough Itinerary for the Forseeable Future…

We have to keep working full time for one more year, but that means we will also get to enjoy one more Montana summer and time aboard our sailboat on Flathead Lake; Double Trouble.  We are sure the year will blur by! 

We have had lots of questions about where we plan to go and when we plan to be there, so we put together the following rough itinerary, though we also want to make sure not to disappoint anyone, so we’ll state at the outset that the plan could change at any time.  For instance, if weather doesn’t let us move along as steadily as we plan, or if we feel like we are just moving too fast through an area we may choose to take an entire extra season in it, which could push us back a year.  The reason for this is the hurricane belt (roughly between 35 degrees North latitude and 12 degrees North latitude), which we won’t be allowed to be in (by our insurance carrier) between June 1st and November 1st each year.  So we will see how it goes!  Here’s what we think right now… 

7/2020 – 10/2020; First big shakedown cruise!  Inside Passage north, San Juan Islands, and return to Bellingham or Seattle. 

11/2020-04/2021; Haul out for winter, fix/tweak anything that needs it, especially warrantee work. Visit family and friends, tie up loose ends in Missoula.  

04/2021 – 08/2021; Inside Passage again, all the way to Alaska.  Fly Juneau to Denali.  Return to Seattle area in time to prep for and begin Coho Hoho (start beginning of August).  The Coho Hoho is a loosely organized rally from Seattle to San Diego.  

08/2021 – 10/15/2021; Coho Hoho from Seattle to San Diego, including Crescent City, a side trip to Crater Lake and Redwoods National Parks, the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento River Delta. Take a trip to Yosemite, possibly Tahoe, then on down the coast including Catalina Island.

10/30/2021 – 11/15/2021; The Baja Haha from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas.  This is a much more organized rally, with only a couple of planned stops on the way.  

11/15/2021 – 05/31/2022; Sea of Cortez, Pacific coast of Mexico and Central/Latin America, ending up below the hurricane zone latitude, likely in Costa Rica.

06/01/2022 – 10/31/2022; Sail to Ecuador, possibly haul out for paint, repairs, whatever. Explore Ecuador, Peru (Machu Pichu, Lake Titicaca), Chile (possibly fly down to Patagonia?), Galapagos Islands, possibly Colombia. Then sail through the Panama Canal and spend time in the San Blas Islands, before turning back north and sailing up to the edge of the hurricane zone.

11/01/2022 – 06/01/2023; Caribbean coast of Central/Latin America, Mexico, and entire Gulf Coast (using the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway [ICW]). Visit Galveston, New Orleans, Panama City, Tampa, Dry Tortugas and Key West, Ft. Lauderdale, then sail north up the ICW past Hilton Head to Beaufort, NC.

06/01/2023 – 10/31/2023; Cruise north to Acadia N.P., goto Baxter S.P., hopefully P.E.I. and Nova Scotia, and then south again to Beaufort.  Likely take some time in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and the Potomoc River up to Washington, DC.  

11/01/2023 – 04/01/2024; Bahamas and Caribbean.

04/01/2024 – 05/05/2024; ICW north to Albany, NY. Remove mast and prep for Erie Canal.

05/15/2024 – 10/05/2024; Erie Canal west, sail the Great Lakes for the summer, then take the St. Lawrence Seaway, Lake Champlain and canals back to Albany. Make a side trip to Quebec from the St. Lawrence seaway. 

10/10/2024 – 04/01/2025; Either take the ICW south again, or possibly sail from Long Island out to Bermuda, then on down to the Bahamas and Caribbean for the winter. Decide whether we are going to sail across to Europe or ship the boat there. If we ship the boat we can stay in the Caribbean a little longer, if sailing we have to head north to Bermuda in April to prep for the crossing to the Azores and then on to Europe.

We could take more time in the summer of 2025 to sail the Chesapeake Bay, Potomoc River, Delaware Bay, etc. Then another winter in Caribbean, then go to Europe in the spring of 2026.

2025 or 2026; Go to Europe in late spring. Sail north to England, Ireland, then to Finland. Explore archipelago south of Sweden and Norway, then make way south along France/Portugal/Spain to the Mediterranean. Winter in Med, decide whether to go north again for summer (very likely!). Plan to rent a canal boat (France and/or Germany) and explore vineyards and castles! After likely summer north, decide whether to do Med again for winter or return to Caribbean/US.

2027/28; Return to the Caribbean/US. Timing and destination depends on whether we are sailing across or shipping the boat, but if sailing, leave Med in late Oct/early Nov.

Decide whether to continue cruising, find a more permanent port or area and sail local to it, or move back onto land. If we continue to cruise, we will need to decide whether to continue staying along the East Coast and Caribbean, or possibly head through the Panama Canal again and go to the South Pacific!

We hope to see all of our friends and family along the way, and imagine we will meet lots of new friends during our travels!  Sacagawea has a beautiful second stateroom with its own head (bathroom) and separate shower, which we hope our friends and family will make great use of to come join us and have a yachting vacation.  She also has a full-size convertible berth in the salon, and a single berth on the settee in the salon as well, so Sacagawea has the room for extra people and will be a great destination for kids with all the associated activities (besides sailing!); kayaking, snorkeling, biking (we will have a couple of bikes aboard!), beaches, trips ashore to explore towns and sites, time in the hammock, etc.  Just let us know where and when you would like to join us!