The last two weeks I have been overwhelmed with options…
It started in Georgetown about two weeks ago when we were deciding whether or not to go to Conception Island with Celebration and Family Business. Conception Island is a third of the the way to Turks and Caicos which when we left Canada was our goal by the end of June. The problem is we really have no desire to see Turks and Caicos except that it is on the way to Dominican Republic. DR is only a stop off for getting to Puerto Rico and the rest of the Caribbean. Georgetown to the British Virgin Islands is 800 nm, 1-2 weeks of straight travel. Not something we felt like doing… now what?!?
We had met a few boats who said that if you wanted to experience culture and interact with people that Cuba was better than Dominican Republic. Even my Dad after spending time in DR wasn’t really that impressed with the people there… so we said let’s go to Cuba before the Americans ruin it. This changed everything!
“Our current plan” says we should be in Turks in 5 weeks which is easily achievable, but it also says we should have been to Cuba and Andros Island already which we haven’t done. I would say this plan was a little aggressive and naive considering how long it took to leave Florida, weather patterns (the weather this year has had way more cold fronts than the last four years) and ignored our crew composition. Sooooo
What is the “plan” now?
We don’t really know but one decision has been made: We intend to spend the entire year cruising.
Our next destination will be Cuba and we would like to get there very soon. Cuba is different than other countries in that you must stay in marina’s when on the north coast. Thankfully these marinas are very cheap so we aren’t too concerned about the cost. We intend to travel through the country in rental car which should be an adventure. It is 800 km to Havana from where the boat will be left so we will be making a few stops along the way. We are not sure how long we will stay in Cuba. If we have a good time it is likely we will move the boat from the eastern marinas to the western marinas on a multi-day passage to Varadero.
We are not sure what we will do after Cuba, options include:
- Sailing around the west side of Cuba to Jamaica and/or to the Yucatan.
- Exploring the Florida Keys
- Heading from the Keys to the west or east coast of Florida
Somethings that are currently on the radar for the latter half of the year:
- Disney world
- A launch at Cape Canaveral (if they still do them there)
- Hooking up with Celebration on the Okeechobee
- Anchoring out in Sarasota at Elizabeth Pearls house.
- Cruising the Suncoast (west side) of Florida for a while.
- Chilling on the canal in Key Largo and reconnecting with Surreal and the gang.
We have not yet made any firm decisions about our final itinerary and that is the beauty of this lifestyle.