While this journey began years ago for us, most people will recognize September 17, 2016 as the beginning. That’s the day we cast off our docklines in Racine, WI for the last time.
How did we get here? For me the dream started in childhood when a local man built a cruising boat in his back yard. I learned to sail and by the following weekend I had my own MaGregor 16 Catamaran (designed by Roger MacGregor), followed by a Hobie 18 (designed by Hobie Alter and Ted Turner), and eventually, after many turns and stumbles a Chrysler 26 (designed by Halsey Herreshoff)
How did those humble beginnings lead to quitting our jobs, moving aboard and cutting the dock lines? Here is how we did it:
I read and studied, dreamed for 30 years. We made our escape plan when we were still sailing Copacetic, our Chrysler 26. Together we made more plans, we studied and read all we could. We spent 10 days on her, which made us realize two things. It is possible for us to live on a sailboat, and we need a bigger boat.
Next came Gin Rhumby, our Columbia Payne 9.6 (designed by Alan Payne). We did a lot of work and even more planning, but about the time we realized we’d made a mistake, we spent some time with our friend Jon on his 40 foot Bristol Sea Lion. That opened up our minds to some advantages of a larger boat. I’m not saying a 32 foot boat isn’t a fine liveaboard, but it has to be one built for cruising, and ours was really built for racing.
By pure luck, we found a great deal on an Endeavour 43
(designed by Robert Johnson) which we named Pearl Lee. You can start reading about our delivery trip from LaSalle, Ontario to Racine, WI here: Homecoming – Part 1. We have put a lot of work and money into her, but still feel she’s a great boat for us. For a list of some of what we’ve done getting her ready, look here: Moving Aboard or for general information about our equipment and living conditions aboard you can look here: Details, Details, Details
As our date approached things went into high gear. We had a massive yard sale. We moved aboard July 1, 2016 so that preparing Pearl Lee could become a full time job. We had a goodbye party at the dock to say “see you later” to friends and family from Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin many of whom had never been aboard a boat like Pearl Lee. Of course the hardest part was saying “see you later” to Jake, but he’s a fine young man and will find his way as we did.
With lots of hugs, a few tears and a final send off from our friends at the marina we headed south to Chicago where we would enter the river system that would eventually take us to the Gulf of Mexico.
Stay tuned for the “rest of the story”. Next up: Our Route