Okay, I have officially decided that I want to become a Travel Writer when I grow up (i.e. in my retirement). Yes, that means I have to write, AND it means I have to travel. So, I am going to blog about the process. So, here's the long-term plan as it now stands. We (yes, I got married in February, so it is now a "we") would like to have a summer home on Lake Superior. In the early fall, we will travel on our boat (preferably a 50 ft or so catamaran) along the Great Lakes, up through the St. Lawrence Seaway, down the East Coast of the US, and spend the "winter" in the Caribbean, Bahamas, or some other island. Or we might travel through the Panama Canal and stay in Costa Rica. Then, in the spring, we will reverse the trip and head back to MN. Of course, we would visit MA and ME along the way, at minimum. Sometimes we might continue up the West Coast of the US, go to Alaska, and maybe even cross the Atlantic (no Pacific crossings for us! Reading about Magellan's voyage taught us that!) to visit Africa and Australia. Anyway, that is all, obviously, a LONG way off. In the meantime, we have a LOT of work to do to get to that goal. Buy property, buy a boat, get scuba certified, buy a lot of equipment... oh yeah, and learn to SAIL! Minor issues. That is what I have decided to use this blog for now. Sure, I might occasionally rant (or even rave) about something... Wouldn't be fun if I didn't, now, would it?
Here's my first rave: I LOVE learning about navigating a boat. It is amazing how much there is to know. Sure, I went out on boats all the time as a child, and have even .. driven?... sailed?... piloted?... ah, heck, taken them out... as an adult, but tooling around on a lake on a motorboat to go fishing is nowhere NEAR what's involved in sailing. To begin, I have enrolled in an
online sailing course (I know, how funny is that?!?) to learn the theory. I chose NauticEd and I like what I have seen so far. (Use the promo code "hamiltons" if you decide to take one yourself and want a discount. And yes, we will require all crew to take courses with them, so if you want to join us at any point... but you have some time...) I ordered my navigation tools from Landfall Navigation. I can't wait to receive them. I'll write more soon!
