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Email us at windom [at-sign] windom dot netrack dot net
or on-board radio email at kg4eyp [at-sign] winlink dot org
Update on plans
Well, it's late September; the leaves have changed in Durango, and there is already a dusting of snow on the mountains. We have been looking at our old sailing photos and waxing nostalgic. Time to go cruising again - or at least, we sure would like to. We're thinking the NW Caribbean this winter, maybe via the Bahamas and Jamaica. Doesn't that sound nice?
At the moment, there are a large number of frustrating obstacles in our way. First and foremost is Britt's work; the project he's working on originally had an earlier target date, but as more has been added to it the date has been pushed back into our planned cruising time. We're not sure what we can do, because as a contractor he's dependent on the goodwill of the companies that hire him - and in any event, he's invested in doing a good job and completing his tasks. But we might have to go out to the boat, get it ready, move it a bit farther south, and then leave it for a while so that Britt can work some more. (It would be great if he could work from the boat! We shall see...)
Another problem we've got is insurance. Last year's hurricanes scared the insurance companies so much that they've canceled a lot of policies - including ours. (Our reason for being canceled was that we don't live near or on our boat.) I've started looking into getting the boat insured again, and, yikes! So far I have a quote from Boat US of around $4700 - which is $2000 more than our current policy, and it only covers the US Atlantic waters north of Florida. If we want to go to Florida and the Bahamas, it's double that.
And then there are all the little things: getting the house maybe rented (which is difficult when we don't know when we'll go, or if we'll have to come back for a while), getting someone else to do the financial stuff for Britt's company, getting taxes taken care of, getting all our commitments rearranged, and, of course, getting this blog back off the ground. Oog.
In the meantime, for those of you who didn't follow my personal livejournal during the spring and summer, here are a few links to our spring and summer non-boat adventures:
Backpack in Slickhorn Canyon, Utah (April) (pictures only)
Backpack in Dark Canyon, Utah (May)
Climb of Jupiter Mountain, Colorado (July)
Doug and Judy
in Lakeland, FL
Living aboard and cruising as a lifestyle is a choice punctuated with an alarming need for self-sufficiency and self-reliance. As scary as it is to consider losing so much as your boat, without the happy umbrella of financial protection, it is a method preferred by many savvy cruisers.
You must also consider the truth that the insurance industry now has some enormous tools to use against you. Even is you have done EVERYTHING right, and the loss is by no means due to any fault of yours, the insurance industry is now allowed to volleyball your claim from department to department indefinately, and create such a tangle of denials and counterclaims, that it will take your lawyers years to untangle the mess and in the end, you will gladly settle for two cents on the dollar. Thank you, Mr. Bush.
Cruise conservatively and safely. Avoid crime areas and rash weather judgements, and consider Europe and the Mediterranean. By the way, Venezuala is now a hot spot for violent thugs with guns who board and attack you AT THE DOCK and the local police refuse to help. I cannot speculate as to why this is true, I only know that it is.
Hawkeye, aboard the schooner Falcon
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