2006 has truly been a year of transition for Judy, Bryan and Ursa Minor. After our most successful charter year yet, we're now officially retired and have become full-time cruisers with plans for some extensive cruising - out to the Pacific and then hopefully on around the world.

Modifications to turn Ursa Minor into a better blue-water boat began almost as soon as we returned to St. Thomas November 2005 from our normal summer layover in Trinidad. Before we left to sail south again to Trinidad in early July 2006, we had downsized the family car (our rigid inflatable dingy) to one we could more easily stow on deck for passages, installed a Monitor wind vane (her name is Lizzie, and she's like having free fuel!), and modified the sailing rig to support an inner stay for heavy-weather sailing. We also replaced our mainsail and cruising headsail (genoa) with smaller, bullet-proof Doyle sails. A whisker pole has been added as well to increase our down wind sailing capabilities in the Pacific.

We departed St. Thomas in early July. Sharon Allen (s/v Winifred) was kind enough to throw us a delightful bon voyage party as well as giving us a great "ditch bag" (holds goodies we might need if we are forced to abandon ship), and Peter and Pat Stoeken (s/v Independence 44), supplied some beautiful general charts of the western Caribbean. It was very sad saying good-bye to all our dear friends, but we do hope many will be able to visit us along the way.

The trip down to Trinidad was slow and leisurely. As the weather cooperated unbelievably (no big storms or hurricanes), we were able to spend extra time in some of our favorite haunts from Martinique south. We felt we'd really gotten into the cruising lifestyle when we spent an entire month in Grenada, much of it in a lovely comfortable anchorage in Clark's Court Bay which we had pretty much to ourselves, but which was within a few minutes of several great cruiser activities. A short dinghy ride took us to the newly opened Whisper Cove marina, which only had one small dock, but lots of great happenings including Monday night pizza with a free movie, dominoes on Saturdays, hikes into the surrounding hills, and lots of other events and amenities for cruisers. The delightful young couple running the marina , Shelly and Phil, couldn't do enough to make life easier for the cruisers, and we highly recommend stopping there. Also only a few minutes away by dinghy were Clark's Court Bay Marina with great Friday night potlucks, and Hog Island with super Sunday barbecues and live music, as well as some of the best snorkeling Grenada has to offer. Judy started honing her cruising skills, making bread from scratch, becoming familiar with her new pressure cooker, and we both worked on fabricating a new awning and water catchment and anchor lighting systems, among other things. One of the highlights was discovering the Grenada Chocolate Company where they go from cocoa bean to finished bar using traditional methods combined with solar power to create a sumptuous dark chocolate to which we both became addicted.

Ursa Minor was hauled out at Power Boats in Trinidad on September 20th, just after our 5th wedding anniversary, and work to complete our preparations for the journey west began immediately. There are countless projects yet to be finished, but we won't dwell on them in detail. Of the lot, the most important include adding 1,200 lbs. to our keel for more stability, upgrading our short-wave radio communications capabilities, installing a second alternator (free electricity!), modifying our refrigeration system to give us a very dependable freezer, and improving our diesel fuel tank situation. Hopefully, all major projects will be completed by the end of January 2007 so we can 'splash'. Depending on weather and Trinidad carnival, we'll leave for the Panama Canal sometime in February. Our plans include stops in the Venezuela offshore islands and the ABC's with an eye towards reaching the 'big ditch' (Panama Canal) by late March. We hope to transit by early April and head for the Galapagos.

Backing up for a moment, we said fond farewells in Trinidad to our charter buddies Dominique & Michelle (s/v Blythe Spirit), Franz & Diane (s/v Hanalei Bay), Charles & Leslie (s/v Phaedrus) and Laurie & Gary (s/v Silent Partner). Judy left Trinidad for Michigan in late October to help her dad through hip surgery. Bryan left the second week in November and met Judy in Tampa to visit Gwen & Don from s/v Tackless II. We traveled from Tampa to Melbourne, FL in the Tackless II motor home to attend the Seven Seas Cruising Association annual meeting. The three-day experience was invaluable as we attended seminars and met scores of people who share the world-wide cruising experience. We also had the chance to spend a delightful evening with Judy's old friends Terry and Karen Galvin, formerly of St. Thomas.

We flew back to Michigan the week before Thanksgiving and then drove to the east coast to spend the holiday with Bry's mom, brother and sister and families, stopping on our way home in New Jersey to visit Judy's adopted family from the Marshall Islands. This was probably our last chance to see all of them for quite some time.

Back in Michigan we're putting our time to use. Bryan was tested and has qualified for his General ham radio license. He will henceforth be known by his call sign, NP2NH.The morning after testing he flew out to California to spend a long weekend in the Bay Area with his daughter Jen (a veterinarian at Cal Davis) and his son Jeff (a software genius, but we don't begin to understand it). Jen, hopefully, will join us in Panama for the canal transit, along with some friends from St. Thomas. While we're waiting out Christmas and New Year's we're stocking up on all the items we may need, but may not be able to acquire again for a long time. Chief among them are medicines, cameras (Judy is now a published photographer in Latitudes & Attitudes magazine), and electronics.