Sailing to Central America

As the weekend approaches, we've been thinking a lot about where we could be this time next year. It is very possible that we will be 2 months into the journey, and we suspect we will be somewhere in Central America.

Central America consists of Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. We've been to Honduras before and found it to be exactly what we would expect of Central America. It has friendly people, absolutely beautiful landscapes, and a lot of poverty. The cost of living in this region of the world is very, very cheap.

Honduras is part of the Central America Border Control Agreement (CA-4). The CA-4 consists of 4 countries, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala. As American citizens, we can enter any one of these 4 countries and stay for 90 days without any entry/exit formalities. If we need to stay longer, we can fill out some forms and then stay an additional 30 days.

For Belize, we can stay 30 days without a visa.

For Costa Rica, we can stay for 90 days without a visa! Wahoo!!

For Panama, we can stay 30 days without a visa.

If you sum up all the days just in this region, without doing anything formal, we could spend 240 days in South America, soaking up the culture, waters, and life style. This may be the best area for us to hang out as we start this journey ... figuring out what the heck we are doing.

Calverts Boat Home Schooling Curriculum

KJ, the eldest of our 2 daughters, will be 5 when we set sail, and in the fall of 2011 she will need to be enrolled in kindergarten. Since we will be voyaging around the world at that time, how do we handle her formal eduction? We've elected to home/boat school her. In the boatschooling world, the most well known system is Calverts.

Calverts provides a fantastic eduction for those on the road all the way up to 8th grade. The system is designed for people who don't have immediate access to the Internet, and for people whom want to teach the learning approach of self paced/self taught learning. Interestingly, if you review all their materials carefully, you see that everything a child would need to pass the GED is taught to them by the 8th grade. At this time, you can't take the GED until you're 16, but it is nice knowing that the material will be in KJ (and Dy's) head. Thousands and thousands of children have followed the program successfully and gone on to college. KJ and Dy may just join their ranks.

We have a number of options after the 8th grade too, like enrolling them in universities that allow for remote education, such as Brigham Young University and the University Nebraska (these 2 schools are favorites of those roaming the world). Will we do that? We won't know until KJ is older. Our immediate issue is, however, kindergarten.

The cost of the kindergarten package, new, from Calvert is $585, a value in our opinion. However, we bought a Calvert kindergarten package from a seller on eBay for $98!

With Dy being only 2 years behind KJ, Dy should be able to reuse the material without an issue. We suspect that KJ's learning sessions will naturally spill over into Dy's consciousness anyway. The boat is only so big, plus Dy is always curious about what her sister is doing.

This is a most excellent way for us to dip our toe into the water of boat schooling. We're glad to have found this system, and to have purchased it cheaply.

Bubble Sorting Boat Modifications

Once we acquired Ariel, our list of all the things we wanted to do to her to make her ready for sailing around the world began to grow. It grew and grew and grew and grew. Over the past few months, we began to question all the items on the list. How many were "must haves" ? How many were "should haves"? and how many were just "desires"?

Our list contained 80+ boat modifications. But how many were absolute needs? To identify this we did what is called a "Bubble Sort" (wow, a computer algorithm I learned in college is paying dividends!).

To do the Bubble Sort, we listed our 80+ items one by one straight down a page. Then, starting at the top, we asked our self "Is item 1 more important than item 2?" If yes, then no change. If no, then item 2 goes above item 1 on the list. We then ask the question, "Is item 2 more important than item 3?" If yes, then no change. If no, then item 3 goes above item 2. We then ask the first question again (since there is now a new item 2). This is best expressed by example.

Let's use this simple 4 item task list:

1. Replace main sail
2. Replace rusted bolts holding engine to boat
3. Fix navigation lights
4. Replace batteries

We start with, "Is replacing the main sail more important than replacing rusted bolts?"

Our answer, "Well, the main sail works fine. It has one small tear that Val can fix ... but the rusted bolts can break and the motor would fall into the ocean. So, number 2 is more important than number 1"

The example list now stands as:

1. Replace rusted bolts holding engine to boat
2. Replace main sail
3. Fix navigation lights
4. Replace batteries

Is fixing the navigation lights more important than fixing the main sail? In our case yes, our navigation lights are turned 90 degrees plus the steaming light is out.

The example list now stands as:

1. Replace rusted bolts holding engine to boat
2. Fix navigation lights
3. Replace main sail
4. Replace batteries

Is fixing the navigation lights more important than fixing the rusted bolts? We answered yes, so that moves the navigation lights up the list.

The example list now stands as:

1. Fix navigation lights
2. Replace rusted bolts holding engine to boat
3. Replace main sail
4. Replace batteries

Then we ask if replacing the batteries is more important than fixing the main sail. The answer is yes.

The example list now stands as:

1. Fix navigation lights
2. Replace rusted bolts holding engine to boat
3. Replace batteries
4. Replace main sail

Is replacing the batteries more important than fixing the rusted bolts? We answered no, so we can now stop.

When we applied the bubble sort to our list of 80+, we ended up with a priority order of everything we wanted to do. Then we walked up the list, from the bottom, asking ourselves if something was required to be done for us to start our voyage. Once we hit the first item of something we believed was critical for starting the voyage, we noted that from this point up the list as "must do to sail." We resolved that there are 12 such items.

Here is our current list of must do items, in priority order:

1. Replace mast navigation lights with LED ones (steaming light is out)
2. Bottom Paint (currently covered for lake life, not ocean life)
3. Fix fiberglass fractures above waterline
4. Replace splashwell steering plate with a fiberglass one (one is rusted)
5. Replace all rusted bolts (one is on the motor mount)
6. Replace batteries (ours are 5 years old and swollen)
7. Install Radar system (already bought, just needs to be installed)
8. Troubleshoot and fix windvane
9. Inspect standing rigging and replace as needed
10. Install fuse between 30amp shore power receptacle and circuit breakers
11. Replace engine fuel line (it is a bit weathered, it will soon start to show signs of cracks)
12. Add manual windlass

We've agreed that we should still have the funds to complete all 80+ items, we just won't spend the funds until something goes from a "should have" to a "must have."

The Bubble Sort technique is fantastic since it allows you to apply whatever rules you want in determining priority. If you change how you pick priorities, you simply run through the list again. You could do the sorting based on costs, you could do sorting based on safety, you could do sorting based on your skills for doing your own repairs, and more. You can even run the bubble sort in each different priority picking mode, then compare lists, and then identify which items always appear near the top and simply work on them.

Going After Big Challenges

We received a very nice email from someone looking to make a life change. The sender shared, in summary, that getting from where they are to where they want to be (sailing around the world) is too big of a challenge and change for them; they were seeking advice.

We've found that if you want something bad enough, you will go after it regardless of the size of the task ahead of you. Whether it is sailing around the world, or owning an exotic car, or visiting the Great Wall of China, when you find what you really want, you will go after it and not even see the challenge.

Here are some general comments:

• When we formally committed to this in September 2007, we predicted that we wouldn't be ready until April 2016. Still, we went forward and we've found that the possible sail date has slowly crept inward. First the date pulled in to April 2012, dropping 4 full years, and now it sits at December 2010. Maybe it will pull in even more! We don't know.
• Focus on your daily actions, not so much on the end state condition. The latter will provide you mental fuel to remind you of why you're doing what you're doing, but you can't change the future state ... you can only change and control the now. So do something now. Focus on right now. I once heard a story about Dr. Livingston, the famous explorer of the 1800s, that, while it may be folklore, demonstrates this principle perfectly:

When Dr. Livingston was asked how he could possibly have made it to the interior of Africa given how much jungle he had to get through and the huge distances he had to travel, Dr. Livingston responded that he just focused on one vine at a time and he didn't know how far he had to go... and that if he did know, he may not have made the journey in the first place.

• As far as we know, we will only get one ride on life's merry-go-round, and we refuse to spend it floating along. We will always move towards what we want.
• People around you will want you to spend your life as they do, but we are going to spend our life as we want to. Often times the obstacles seen are illusions placed in the path of goal achievement by others, sometimes on purpose but more often than not simply out of ignorance. As you punch through each illusion, you will gain more confidence to challenge and knock down the next illusion.

As we get closer to making our voyage, under 275 days, the reality of owning life and being able to change it to whatever we want becomes more and more clear. Unfortunately, I cannot find the right words to convey the empowerment feeling, the true power of owning life, that we are gaining. Like love, it must be experienced to be understood.

Lining Up Your Dates - Early Bird Gets the Worm!

When I was growing up, I was fortunate to live next door to my grandparents. My grandmother was always saying "early bird get the worm." Recently, while setting up the different appointments to have our boat hauled out and shipped I was reminded of this saying.

Around the beginning of February, the decision was made to move our Gemini 3200 to the Atlanta coast in April, instead of September. This gave us two months to complete the boat moving task list. After selecting a destination marina and boat transporter, we turned our attention to setting up all of the appointments for hauling out/power washing/blocking, step the mast, transporter pick up, and receiving boat at destination marina. Bill expressed his desire that the appointment be made as soon as possible. So one afternoon, I went about the task of coordinating with the two marinas and the transporter and making all the necessary appointments. Since I was making the appointment almost 2 months out, I had no problem getting our first choice of dates and times. All the appointments were made and everyone, except the transporter had been notified. Everything was going great until I talked to the transporter and give him the pick up date. He didn't take issue with the date, as much as the day of the week. See, I had scheduled pick up and deliver for a Friday. The transporter's concern was what if something happen and he is not able to deliver the boat to the Sail Harbor Marina before the boat yards last appointment time/closed. Most boat yards are only open Monday through Friday. If he didn't make delivery by the last appointment on Friday, no one would be around to unload the boat until the following Monday morning. Not good.

It was a good thing that I was making the appointments almost 2 months in advance. All I had to do was call the marina and change the pickup appointment to Thursday morning. No problem, it took just a minute. The lady, at the marina, that was helping me stated it was a good thing that I made the change as quickly as I did, because if I had waited a couple of weeks the change might not have happen so smoothly.

So, early bird gets the worm!