For a variety of good reasons, it is time to leave the cruising lifestyle. It looks cool from a distance to some people. They are right and as it turns out, I found it to be way better than it looks. I don't regret any of it, and as strange as it may seem having said that, I don't need to do it anymore.

Uhuru has been sold to someone in Colorado who dreams of cruising on a classic ketch. That is as it should be.

There are some that have said that the happiest two days of boat ownership is the day you buy it and the day you sell it. Those people must have been doing it wrong. I can think of literally hundreds of better days (and of course there were a few worse).

Over five years, some of those days happened in these places.

California
Harbor Island/Shelter Island San Diego, Mission Bay, Two Harbors, Avalon, Oceanside, King Beach, Morro Bay, Half Moon Bay, Aquatic Park, San Francisco

Mexico
Ensenada, Bahia del Tortugas, San Jose del Cabo, La Paz, Bahia Falsa, Bahia de los Muertos, Mazatlan, Mexico, San Blas, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle Puerto Vallarta, Yelapa, Tenacatita, Manzanillo, Zihuatanejo, Huatulco, Chiapas

El Salvador
Bahia del Sol

Costa Rica
El Golfito

Panama
Isla Parida, Bahia Hondo, Panama City, Shelter Bay, Portobello, Turtle Cay

Colombia
Cartegena, Isla Grande

Jamaica
Port Antonio

Bahamas
Mathew Town

Florida
Miami, Fort Pierce

South Carolina
Charleston

And a few more I don't remember the names of.

Of course there were dozens of local outings with dozens of friends all along the way. There was a lot of help from a lot of good people too. The lesson is clear, go do your adventure. It doesn't have to last forever, in fact it won't. Go do it anyway. Personally, I highly recommend doing epic shit.

I'll be in the mountains on a new adventure with Debra. Two adventures become one.

Finally after way too much time on the hard and way too much hurricane season S/V Uhuru is underway again. First stop Portebelo Panama, short motor over from Shelter Bay. Will stay here on the hook for a few days enjoying some friends then move on more or less in the direction of Cartegena. We have heard varying reports on places to stop along the way, but only good stuff about Cartegena from people who have been there recently. May very well head straight to Cartegena from here.

With the Uhuru back in the water and new crew signed up for November, Brian took off to do the Camino de Santiago. Pictures, etc are at: https://briansway.tumblr.com

Brian will return in early October to work on a couple of smaller projects before taking off for a new cruising season in the Caribbean.

San Francisco to Panama, what a fabulous journey it's been!

Uhuru was hauled out on April 28th in Shelter Bay Marina, Panama for some boat work and new bottom paint and will stay in Panama for hurricane season at the least. The temperature and humidity are quite high for the duration of Uhuru's stay so it is time for Debra to say goodbye and head back to the states to start a new land based adventure (and life) in high places. Brian will be spending time in Panama getting Uhuru ready for the next cruising season, looking for new crew, plus spending some time in Europe for business and a bit of fun.

It's been fun sharing our experiences with you. We hope you've enjoyed them.

Updates to come on Uhuru as boat projects are complete and new crew arrives.

Transiting the Panama Canal is an amazing trip. The engineering, the canal, the massive locks and the whole process is very impressive. We all had a great time. And then, just like that, you’re on the other side of the continent, in the Caribbean Sea! Just awesome

When the final lock was opened, the momentum of the water being pushed behind us by the tanker propelled us forward at 3 knots so along with our boat speed, we were moving along pretty fast at 6 or 7 knots. Welcome to the Caribbean! Haha.