OK...OK...OK. Yes, we have to admit that we've been at it again trying to plan our escape. While we pride ourselves on writing our plans 'in sand at low tide...and all that', the reality is that we've been racking our brains about how we can cut the lines sooner rather than later. And, we think we've come up with a step that, while not the final one, will more us a little closer to our dream.

WE ARE MOVING THE BOAT TO FLORIDA. We think that by re-orienting the boat from a northern-clime summer home to a southern-clime winter home we will be accomplishing some important intermediate steps that will allow us to cruise full-time sooner. This will allow Cindy to continue working and Wayne to carry on preparing the boat while using the boat as a winter get-away from the Canadian winter.

We will continue to work and live on the boat this spring and summer in Whitby and sail on weekends in our home waters. Then on the labour-day weekend of 2010, we will set out for Oswego, NY where we will drop our masts (yes two, remember we're a yawl) and start down towards the ICW. For those unfamiliar with the route, we will travel through a series of locks called the Oswego and Erie Canals that takes us, first up and then down, the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains and deposits us in the Hudson River near Troy, NY where we will put the masts back up.

Cindy has arranged to take 7 weeks of holidays from work and so we can take our time enjoying some of the lovely anchorages and incredible scenery that the Hudson provides in the fall. By following the Hudson River, we will end up in New York City (one of our favourite cities) and plan on spending a few days seeing the sites. The 79th Street Boat Basin is a marina that offers transient boats (that would be us) moorings a few short steps from downtown and at a very reasonable rate, and we plan to take advantage to play tourist, once again, in the 'city that never sleeps'.

Upon leaving New York we will travel down the Atlantic coast and make our way into the Chesapeake Bay where we will eventually join up with the Intracostal Waterway in Virginia. For the non-sailors following this blog, the Chesapeake is the Mecca of sailing on the east coast of North America and provides incredible sailing, untold opportunities to explore, and an abundance of safe, secluded anchorages. We will enjoy all the Chesapeake has to offer for a couple of weeks before sailing into Annapolis to take in the boat show on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Those of you who are familiar with us know that we have travelled to this boat show from Canada for many years and we are looking forward to attending the show while our boat sits anchored just a couple of blocks away. To do so, will fulfill a wish we have had for many years.

After the boat show, Cindy's holiday time will begin running out and we will face the reality of her having to return home. We have planned with several friends to rendezvous with the boat and help Wayne move it further south. From Virginia south the ICW begins and provides a protected, although shallow, highway all the way to Florida. This trip will wander through Virginia, North & South Carolina, and Georgia arriving in Florida in late November or early December.

The first task upon reaching the Sunshine State will be to research suitable marinas and mooring fields which will provide an inexpensive spot to live on-board; offer convenient road and air connections; and, allow for the easy completion of any remaining (or, as always, new emerging) boat projects. This likely will take several weeks to find the right location and fully establish the boat as an advantageous southern base for us.

Once we are established in Florida, Wayne will spend considerable time onboard completing the necessary upgrades on the boat and return home as necessary. Cindy will travel to the boat several times throughout the winter to warm-up from the Canadian chill.

This not only provides a wonderful fall vacation for us but also accomplishes several important things that contribute to our goal. Among the advantages are:
• We no longer will have to forego winter vacations (as we have over the past 5 years as a cost cutting measure) and the boat will provide an inexpensive holiday home.
• Cost of maintaining the boat will drop slightly because of the greater availability of year-round moorings in Florida not available in Canada.
• It provides access to a wider range of products and expertise in Florida that is not readily available in Canada that will help us ensure that the boat is indeed ready to go.
• The boat is sitting on the doorstep of the Caribbean with the Bahamas merely an overnight sail when we finally can go.

So that's the latest plan of attack. Stay tuned and we'll let you know how it turns out. In the meantime, we still have lots to do.