We are roughly at three years since we started thinking of going distance cruising. The amount of work and thought it has taken to get to this point has been amazing. A lot more thought, a lot more money and a lot more patience has been needed to get our lives and our boat together. It is interesting to see all the boats in the water and realize to get our project done we need the summer and this coming winter to get all the projects we need to complete.

It is also interesting and quite a bit unsettling, even downright scary, to think that when we go, we leave the comfort of our home, car, friends, and pretty much everything we know and strike out into a big unknown. Mallory has much more cruising experience than I do and therefore has a better idea what to expect. For us it is logical extension of our love of sailing but still both of us don't know what to expect from the places we go, the boat we sail on, the crew we bring along and mostly the interaction between us. Nervous or not, we both believe this is the time and adventure for us.

Even with all the planning, research, discussions, and decisions we have made, there is plenty of doubt to go around. It seems sometimes like we have jumped aboard a freight train going down a single path but its more like a freight train going through a switching yard. Every couple of hundred yards there's a switch (a decision) that pushes us into a direction and a whole new set of decisions to make. We have barely had time to look back and think, "Did we make the right decisions?" It's really hard to know, until we go.

The funny thing about all of this is we read about others adventures and what they feel is important on their boats and the decisions of where and how the decide to cruise and many of the decisions are not what we would do. Ultimately, we feel that we want a boat that will be as self-sufficient as possible. That means, Good solid engine, 12 V water maker (and a back up), refrigeration, radar (and several back up GPS units), Solar panels, wind generator, diesel generator/inverter to charge the batteries and run some of the systems on the boat, and as much as possible to prepare the boat and ourselves. Ultimately, we hope to prepare the boat so the bulk of work underway will be maintenance and not repair (though we know there will be some of that) and upgrades.

So even though we might be a year or two away from going sailing, we are taking a moment to think about where we are in our adventure and take a moment to think about all we are dealing with an making sure this is what we want to do and where we want to go.

We would like to take a moment to thank all of you for your support and for your interest in our trip. It is nice to be asked and congratulated as we take our steps toward our journey. It helps us make those small steps with confidence. For this, we thank all of you.

Enjoy sailing and more later.