About Our Plan

Update May 29, 2018

We're getting the boat ready to sail again, so its time to update the plan. Three years ago we planned to make the Marshall Islands our first stop, but after talking (and drinking) with other cruisers we've changed our minds. We're going South instead of West because there are more options and places to visit if we go south first and then west. Fanning Island (Kiribati), American Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Australia are the destinations we have in mind. We probably won't be able to sail to all these places in one season but we can do it in two if, and that's a big if, we can get the money to stretch.

The safe sailing season in the southern hemisphere begins now and ends in November. Our departure depends on closely watching the hurricanes in the Northern Pacific and getting South as quick as possible.

Our departure is also highly dependent on getting the rest of the boat projects completed - at least the essential ones. We were able to get the engine work completed last weekend. Now we're waiting on the new sails - we ordered them in February with the promise they'd be ready in 8 to 12 weeks. The sailmaker promises to deliver them this week. We've re-bedded much of the deck hardware and replaced all the hatch gaskets to (hopefully) minimize the leaks. Once we get the new sails and have a successful day sail, we'll verify the navigation lights work, tune up the windvane, and load her with food and water and we'll be ready to go.

Our new goal for departure is June 9.

Update August 18, 2014

We're in Hawaii and we're approaching the end of cruising season - when the north swell picks up in September, many of the good anchorages become unusable. Its time to start thinking about our plan again.

We're really happy about the way this 15-month San Diego-San Francisco-Puerto Vallarta-Hawaii cruise has worked out and we're ready to start planning for the next one which we would like to start in Spring of 2017. That gives us about 30 months to refund the cruising kitty and complete a list of boat chores a mile long. The first destination on the list is the Republic of the Marshall Islands in Micronesia. We haven't planned much after that but we'll update this page when we figure it out.

For short term plans...The slip situation in Hawaii hasn't been nearly as bad as we feared. We were able to get slips when we wanted to. We got lucky a few times and other times it was just painful, but we did spend more than six weeks this summer in a slip or at least tied to a dock of some sort.

We've talked to a lot of local boaters about the slip situation. We know which marinas are good, which are bad, and which have availability. We've called marinas to confirm they have available slips. At least two have slips available as of recently. The process of getting a slip isn't easy though.

Hawaii has a problem with derelict boats. Somehow or another, crappy, less than seaworthy boats make their way into the marinas and they never leave. They don't pay and they take up space that other boats could use. Because of this the marinas make it difficult to bring a boat in. To get a slip we have to have a survey, provide proof of income, and have $500,000 of liability insurance. Yikes.

The two marinas we're looking at right now are Ke'ehi Marine and Ko Olina. We have been to neither marina, but we've heard good things about both. We've talked to the managers at both marinas and they have space available for Crazy Love. Ko Olina is more expensive and farther away from Honolulu, so we would prefer Ke'ehi Marine. We'll be looking to get into a permanent slip in mid-September. Until then, we plan to continue our cruise on Kauai and then use the rest of our time as transients at the Ala Wai. While we're in Ala Wai Harbor we will do whatever paperwork needed to get a slip somewhere.

Once we find a permanent slip for the boat, or maybe in parallel, we'll be looking for an apartment. We're looking for little 1 bedroom/1 bathroom with a bit of outdoor space so we can have a little garden and build our new plywood/epoxy nesting dinghy. Carolyn browses Craigslist on a regular basis and there seem to be options that fit our requirements for about $1500/month.

If we're able to find a comfy place, we'll probably have our stuff in storage shipped over from San Diego. If we collect that stuff and the things we left with various friends and family, we will have all our worldly possessions with us in Hawaii. That will accomplish several things for us: eliminate the monthly expense of storage, allow us to purge more junk that didn't get pitched last time, and give us some nice furniture to use until our next cruise. Another nice side effect is that we'll be able to donate/sell/throw away everything we own that doesn't fit on the boat before our next cruise. That will be a nice feeling of freedom; everything we own will be with us on the boat with no physical possessions tying us down (except our real estate in San Diego).

We're not sure if we'll get a car yet. The bus system on Oahu is excellent, so we might be able to get by with public transportation.

For jobs, we will start with local part time work. Carolyn has talked about picking up catering gigs - the local caterers always have postings on Craigslist. We'll also apply at the West Marine in Honolulu. We spend so much money there, we might as well work there just for the employee discount which I've heard is pretty epic. Both of us will also be looking for remote work in our "real" careers at the same time. We're hoping at least one of us will get a "real" job by the New Year.

Anyway, that's the long version of it. We talk a lot about future cruising plans and are excited to get back out as soon as possible. On the other hand we're also looking forward to a land based life for a little while. You know, a real bed, a hot shower, a real kitchen with a refrigerator and oven. That kind of stuff. We're looking forward to it. Can you blame us?

Update January 25, 2014

It has been a while since Carolyn and I revisited Our Plan. We talk often about the future. About what to do for hurricane season. About when and where we'll land when we go back to work. And most of all about future cruising plans. The following are the factors we consider when we discuss our plans for the rest of this year:

• Stay where the weather is nice. We enjoy life without jackets and shoes.
• Have Crazy Love with us when the trip ends.
• I would like to cross an ocean for the great trade wind sailing and both of us want the amazing destinations on the other end.
• Extend our trip well into 2014, maybe not return to work until January 2015.

Our choices are many and we add new ones to the list often. I'll update this page as we talk through the decision. Here are the ones we're seriously considering:

Mexico: In a Slip or on the Hard

There are a few options here. In La Paz we could leave Crazy Love in a marina or on the the hard. In Banderas Bay or farther south in Pacific Mexico we could leave her in a marina - Nuevo Vallarta, La Cruz, Ixtapa, Acapulco.

Pros

• This could be an inexpensive option. Marina fees during the summer in Nuevo Vallarta are less than 30 cents per foot per day.
• With the boat in a marina we'd be free to explore inland areas. Not everywhere in Mexico is scorching in summer.

Cons

• Our current criuse would be done. The boat would be stuck in place due to the threat of hurricanes.
• Coastal Mexico is hot during the summer. Some cruisers we met on the beach summer'd over in the Sea of Cortez say it gets into the high 90s with humidity to match.

Hawaii

Sometime before hurricane season, we'd load Crazy Love up with water and food and cross the Pacific to Hawaii.

Pros

• We've heard many good things about the trade wind sailing between Mexico and Hawaii.
• Our cruise would be extended through the summer and into the early fall.
• We'd be back in the states with good access to our mail, marine chandleries, and fancy peanut butter.
• We've talked about trying to make a life for ourselves in Hawaii when our cruise is over. Sailing there would give us a chance to explore.
• Hawaii is amazing!

Cons

• Our Hawaii cruising guide says that every slip in every marina is full - we'll be lucky to get a transient slip for a few days. If we can't get a permanent slip, then we'd have to sail back to the mainland. That would be a significant trek. Before we strike this plan from the list we want to know more. We've committed to calling every marina in Hawaii to check for availability. Since Crazy Love is so small we've had good luck finding slips.
• If we can find a slip in HI, it is likely to be very expensive.

Central America

Continue South to Central America and leave the boat there when we go back to work.

Pros

• We'd be out of the hurricane path (I think), so we could continue our cruise. Maybe transit the Panama Canal?
• Central America is supposed to be inexpensive with fewer cruisers.

Cons

• Summer is the rainy season in Central America.

Trailer or Ship Crazy Love home

Put Crazy Love on a ship or a trailer to be delivered to wherever we want.

Pros

• Easy. Sort of.

Cons

• Expensive! This would likely send us back to work quickly since it would eat up much of the rest of our cruising funds.

Cross to the South Pacific

Instead of Hawaii, go to the South Pacific. We haven't seriously considered this so I don't know if its even possible.

Pros

• Coconuts!

Cons

• When it came time to go back to work we'd be leaving Crazy Love half way around the world. Very inaccessible.

The Original Plan - May 2013

The initial plan is to depart San Diego and head North. Our first goal is a lofty one...Mission Bay. It might only be a 15 minute drive from our current home on Harbor Island, but we'll make it an adventurous 20 mile sail. Going 4 knots, and having to tack against the wind and the waves, it will take us most of a day.

We will spend a few days anchored in Mission Bay and then we will head 25 or so miles up the coast to Oceanside Harbor. There is no anchorage in Oceanside, so we will rent a guest slip for the princely sum of thirty-some-odd bucks a night. I think two nights in Oceanside will be enough to resupply, rest up and plan the next leg of our journey to Dana Point.

The trek from Oceanside to Dana Point is about 30 miles, again into the prevailing wind and waves. After 72 hours anchored in Dana Point we will depart so we aren't arrested for overstaying our welcome. I'm not kidding about the arrest part, seriously, read the "Dana Point" section here.

Upon leaving Dana Point, we will attempt our first offshore destination. Catalina Island is where Carolyn and I were married and we've always dreamed of sailing there. We would love to make it to Avalon Harbor and stay on a mooring ball for Summer Solstice, but we'll see how that works out.

After Catalina, our plan is not set. We might stay in the Channel Islands, stopping at whichever anchorages suit the weather and our mood, or we might return to the mainland and continue our journey North. By the end of the summer I would like to get to San Francisco and anchor in McCovey Cove for a Giants game, but we'll see how that works out.

By the end of August or early September we will be heading back to San Diego to prepare for the next big leg of our journey, Mexico. Carolyn and I think we will need about a month to prepare ourselves and the boat to make the trip South for the Winter. We will need to be more self-sufficient in Mexico so we will need to answer a lot more what-if questions than we will sailing in California. For instance, "What if the engine doesn't start?" In California, we can call SeaTow or BoatUS for a tow, but in Mexico, those services might not be available so we have to be able to help ourselves. Fortunately, the systems on our boat are simple and a small cache of spares and tools should (fingers crossed) suffice. We'll see about this...