Vicky and Gary have been full time cruisers for just a year (since August of 2011).  I guess that would make this a pretty good sight for seeing cruising from the newbee’s perspective.  As you go through the journal you will see how our perspectives (and hopefully skills) changed over just a few months.  The key being to try and not make mistakes, and try to learn from those that we do make.

We had been working on this dream to go cruising for about 5 years before we set off. We came up with the idea when gas prices went so high that an RV became less and less feasible. Gary had sailed on day-sailers since his early 20's and in 2006 we both joined a sailing club in Tacoma where we each took lessons. For 2 years we sailed the club boat (a 27 foot Catalina) every chance we had. Gary took additional courses in navigation and coastal cruising, and sailed an Ericson 38. 

We put the house on the market in the spring of 2009 and Gary left his job in November. The sale of the house took a lot longer than anticipated, and the sale price was considerably lower, but we still had enough to buy a nice boat and start living the dream. We bought ‘Independence’ on July 29th, 2011 and cast off the lines on August 14th to head north up the east coast, taking our cat Buddy along with us. We plan on cruising for at least two years, traveling the east coast in the summer and heading for the Bahamas and Caribbean in the winter. In  the winter of 2011-12 we made it as far south as Georgetown, Exumas in the Bahama’s.  We hope to get an earlier start this coming winter and make it further down into the Caribbean.  Over this summer, we’ll head north, staying in Deltaville, VA for a couple of months to catch up on things like medical and dental before continuing north.  It's beginning to look like we won't makke it much farther north than New York this year.

We are making an effort to share our adventure through the journal, so click on the journal links above and come join us.

Current Status (03/11/2013):  We set anchor in Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas on 2/13/2013 and haven't moved since.  Vicky returned to the states to be with her mother who was hospitalized.  Her mother is much better now and Vicky will be returning on the 18th.

Current Location:  We are in Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas.  The link to see our location is not currently being updated since we haven't moved in a month.  I'll turn it back on when we start to move again. To see our current location click here.