Friends and Family,
Most of you know that Camp retired in June and Lisa is taking a trial year off from working so that we can spend the winter cruising on our sailboat. It's been a lot of work to get ready but we are leaving within two weeks! Our plan is go to where it is warm...south! We will be in Ft Lauderdale near Callie and her family at Christmas and eventually start exploring the Keys and Bahamas. That's the extent of our plans to date. We'll return when it gets too hot down there! Don't worry about our cat, Yeoman...he's going with us!
No, we've never cruised like this before...but we'll learn along the way. Camp has a lot of sailing experience and Lisa has been a first mate during all of our recreational sailing for a couple of years when we first met. But the best way to learn is by doing so we'll gain a lot of knowledge. We know the Coast Guard requirements and are fully compliant!
We will be traveling on a Nauticat '33, built in 1985. This is not our boat but a stock picture from the Nauticat website nauticat.com. These boats are made in Finland and are very seaworthy and good for living aboard. Ours looks very much like this picture. Her name is DULCINEA.
Camp has spent 9 years replacing/updating all systems so much of the boat is new (yes, 9 years...he's Dutch and can stick to a project like no one I know). We have installed navigational systems that will keep us safer and make boating easier. We are going to travel down the ICW with our friend, Dowl Bond, who has done it many times before. When we cross the ocean to the Bahamas (just a one day or night trip) we will go with a group who has done it before. So, we've done about as much as we can to ensure success.
If you would like to follow our travels please visit our blog: http://elbarcodulcinea.blogspot.com/2014/11/blog-post.html. In the right hand hand corner is a gray bar and you should be able to subscribe with your email in the 'followers' box. If you do, you will receive an email to let us know that we have written a new post. El barco means 'our boat' in Spanish.
