We chose to take our time and savor the islands. We only went as far south as Martinique. Once we got there, we enjoyed it so much, we decided to go no further. We spent exactly three months together on our fantasy adventure. Karen flies back to Annapolis on the 23rd.

The voyage has been divided into three segments based on crew availability. Segment 1 will be sailed by me and Ray Strong. Ray is friend from Annapolis. Ray recently sold his Hylass 54, which he and his wife sailed in the Caribbean for seven months. Our first leg from St. Martin to St. Croix is 100 miles and will require an overnight passage. From there we will head north to the Island of Vieques. Vieques is part of Puerto Rico (PR), and until recently has a been used for traget practice by the US Navy. It is still riddled with ordanance debris. We will then take day hops alone the southern coast of Puerto Rico until reaching Boqueron, where we will be joined by Mike Ellison. Mike sailed with me on both legs from Annapolis. Since Ray is fluent in Spanish, our time along the coast of Puerto Rico should be much fun. The three of us will sail across the Mona Passage from Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic. Our intention is make landfall in the DR at Luperon on the north coast about 240 miles from Boqueron. Depending upon the wind, this should take about two days. Ray will leave at this point and fly home.

Mike and I will continue on Segment 2 of the trip. We will sailing north through the Turks and Caicos, a tiny group of islands belonging to the British. We will leave the Turks and Caicos in short order and enter the waters of the Bahamas. The Bahamas are comprised of hundreds of islands spread over 500 miles of ocean. Mike and I plan to take two weeks to visit such islands as Mayaguana, Acklins, Rum Cay, Conception, San Salvador, Exuma, Eleuthera, New Providence (Nassau), finishing up at Marsh Harbor in the Abacos.

Around the end of May, a third crew member, Jim Openshaw, will join us in Marsh Harbor for the final segment home to Annapolis. This will a long open ocean passage of nearly 900 nautical miles. We hope to take advantage of the Gulf Stream current of 1.5 to 3.0 knots to accelerate our trip home. This has some risk, since the Gulf Stream can generate some nasty weather.

6/2/06 - Amazingly, all went according to plan!

The trip stretched over seven months, covered over 4000 miles,and touched 37 islands. We had broken ribs and crushed hands, but no sunburn. It was a great adventure. We did overnight ocean passages with five, four, three, and two persons. In the end, I preferred making passages with a crew of three. Will I do it again next winter, probably not. November is only five months away. I have too much to do with our new house and too many things to catch up on. Our next big adventure will have to wait until 2007.