Our Plan

Currently we don't have a plan that satisfies most people who ask.

We've learned that trying to predict more than a few weeks ahead is pointless. So I can tell you that in general we spend the winters in Mexico on our sailboat, and the summers traveling the US in our trailer. 

The rest just happens. 

I can say that this journey ended up being much more spiritual and healing than I every imagined! We have changed fundamentally since 2017 when I first started this blog. 

Our values, goals, relationships, all shifted as we stepped away from a common lifestyle and embarked into the unknown.

This blog is about mostly my (Yona) process of integration. Sharing my thoughts, feelings, challenges and joys as we travel this great earth. 

Thanks for being here!

Written in 2017

We've always said, the "Sail Away Plan" does not rule us. At any time we can adjust the plan to suit our budget, comfort levels, and health.  This said, we do have a secret desire to escape conventional living for an alternative lifestyle. (This does not include trailer living.)

We chose cruising. Sailboat cruising for now. Where we end up depends on life. However, the dream is to sail to Mexico for a few years where we spend our winters enjoying the warmer climate and the summers back in Washington, working, upgrading our rental homes (sold!), sailing with friends and living in our little trailer. After that, if we still feel brave, it's west to the Pacific Islands and still west to New Zealand and Australia.

Hopefully we will get to spend a good amount of time traveling by land in these awesome countries. Shay has eluded to the possibility of buying a goat farm and settling down in New Zealand. I would love to see the Great Barrier Reef.

We don't have a dream of sailing around the world, although if that happens, I'd love to sail the Med. Since pirates stand in the way of that happening now, I think we'll stick to the Pacific Basin.

For now we need a sailboat. And lots more practice. And then some more practice sailing around Mexico. We'd be happy with that for now. Or in 2 years time.

As I don't intend to live in this trailer for much more than that!

Our Checklist

1. Remodel House - Check
2. Buy Shay a new back - Check
3. Sell House - Check
4. Buy Trailer -Check
5. Sell belongings/Store the rest - Check
6. Move into Trailer - Check
7. Buy Sailboat- Check
8. Sail Sailboat- Check
9. Refit Sailboat- Check
10. Ability to afford good tequila- all the money went to the boat!
11. Sail sailboat to Mexico- Check

Through the looking glass

Many sail blogs begin with the journey, when a couple or family push away from the dock and begin a long anticipated cruise to Mexico, the Caribbean or around the world. 

For us, however the journey has already begun. Long before the cast off, it's still years away, and it's been years since we began in earnest. We didn't realize when we made a commitment to this dream of cruising that there would be so much to go thru before we even bought THE boat. Letting go of "stuff," selling a house, changing lifestyles to essentially a gypsy like one has many challenges. 

For us, it's clearly not just about sailing, but about pushing ourselves in new ways and readying ourselves for an adventure.
I suppose many people wouldn't want to begin their cruising blog before they "left," just in case they never left. However, I think what we are learning about ourselves and each other are good and valuable regardless. So our adventure has begun, only right now it is on land, in a trailer with the hopes of owning a boat very, very soon!

Thanksgiving 2013
As we prepare to view sailboat #46 a 39' Freya Cuttter in San Francisco, my mind races between thoughts of "this could be the ONE," and "don't get your hopes up, it could be a dog." 
When the list of sailboats we've viewed in hopes of purchase gets close to fifty, even I start to wonder what is going on. That we are a little picky is not in dispute. Possibly crazy too. But I figure anyone who wants to go offshore in a small sailboat has to be a little crazy. 

We've performed our usual ritual of gathering photos and specs, pouring over anything we can learn online, from forum reviews and comments, to spec analysis, boat history, designer, builder, etc, ad naseum. Before we even step onto a boat we know as much we can about that boats weaknesses and strengths. 

We try to use our heads, not our hearts. Sure, there are certain qualities of a sailboat that have the power to steal our hearts. For me, a dark blue hull with a certain classic line, and a pristine engine room. For Shay, a comfortable cockpit, a spacious layout and un-cave like berth. 
We do have our checklist's of course. Must be headroom for me, good winch and traveler positions, no teak decks, etc. We know we need a safe boat. A comfortable boat with at least some modicum of speed and easy sailing. And it must be affordable. 

Our budget constraints mean we are looking at older boats with typically full keels or modified fin keels that were the performance boats of the 1970s and 80's: over 40 years ago. It is what it is.

So we have done our homework on the Freya, have been interviewed by the owner, and the boat has made it thru Phase 1 of the buying process: the pre-viewing-information-gathering phase.

Phase 2 - setting foot on board. How many times have we gotten to Phase 2, excited and chattering on the way to the viewing, reminding ourselves not to get our hopes too high?

Although I couldn't remember all 46 boats, here is a partial list of sailboats we've viewed. Some we've ruled out that specific boat, and other's the entire model, like the S&S Comanche. We just don't like the layout, deck, etc enough to view another one. But a Crealock, an Endurance and an Allied Mistress would all be worth viewing if one magically showed up on the West coast for sale in our price range.

Boat list

Pearson 35
Islander 36
Pearson 365
Pearson 424
Crealock 37
Tartan 37
Tayana 37
Hans Christian 38
Alberg 37
Niagara 37
Islander Peterson 40
Allied Mistress 39
Bristol 39
Cape Dory 36
C&C landfall
Cal 39
Endeavor 42
Endurance 35
Ericson 38
Gozzard 36
Halberg Rassy Rasmus
Hardin 40
Moody 39
Southern Cross 39
Corbin 39
Valiant 40
Alajuela 38
Ingrid 38
Waquiez Hood 38
CS 36
Union 36
Cheoy Lee Off shore 38
Comanche 42
Whitby 42
Morgan 38
Morgan OI 41
CMS Cutter 39
Bavaria 37
Cascade 42
Coast Cutter 34
Young Sun Cutter 35
Union 35
Gulf Pilothouse 32


A forty year old boat has a LOT of history, and modifications, and half finished projects and bilges's full of decades of sludge. By this time in its life every system should have been overhauled. But most have not. They all have many stories to uncover, many owner's hands at work with half-finished electrical and plumbing issues, ancient engines, rotten decks, old port lights, stuck thru-hulls, blisters, and worse, owners that see these issues thru rose-colored glasses, that see only the vision in their heads; of the way she looks if the boat was bristol, with all the projects finished. 

I can't tell you how many times we've heard, "Well, that would just take a few hours to finish," in response to a comment about the 20 wires sticking out from the electrical panel, or a hull with blisters, or a soft spot in a deck. 
I've heard owners wax on about how beautiful their boat is, how bristol the condition, how ready to shove off from the dock. Only to show up for a viewing and from the parking lot spot her at the dock and know, with a heavy sigh, that the owner wears very thick glasses. 

We have developed a tag team approach. One of us stands with the owner on the dock to do the meet and greet, while the owner gestures lovingly at his sailboat, while the other gets aboard and does a quick inventory, peeking here and there at the hidden spots to determine the general maintenance level of the boat (which we have found to be the best indicator of a boats overall condition), which then determines the length of our visit. 

After about 10 minutes we exchange looks, imparting to one another wether the boat is a dog and if the owner (or broker) is honest and upfront or someone to be wary of.

At this point we either say goodbye and good luck, or start video taping and taking photos of the boat. Walking around the deck and cockpit, looking at hardware, rigging, stanchions, windless, etc we quickly assess the condition of the sails, the ground tackle, rigging, the layout and safety of cockpit. If all that passes our mental checklists, only then do we go below. 

It is easy to fall in-love with the gloss of beautiful woodwork, the lovely layout of a Hans Christian interior, a queen size berth, a large galley, oh how easy it is to forget, in the comfort of a beautiful salon, what makes a sailboat sailable; the rig, the deck, the hull, the cockpit. 

However, we can't ignore the engine. We'd like to believe that we will be great sailors who do not rely on a diesel engine. We envision ourselves sailing into a protected bay and anchoring without use of our engine - a Lin & Larry move.
The reality is quite the opposite at the moment, so we hold our breath while the companionway steps are moved aside and we get a glimpse of the beast hiding within. The final test of phase 2. 

Is the bilge clean or dirty, how many hours on the engine, is there a maintenance log, does she even start?

Lest you think we are perfectionist, let me clarify.

We are hard workers, who don't hesitant to put on hazmat masks, roll up our sleeves and squeeze into a 2ft hole in order to sand upside down for 3 hours straight. No problem. 

Most 40 year old boats have not had upgrades on every system. Our job is to figure out what systems need upgrading and how big a job it is on that particular boat. Old boats have a boat load of potential issues involving every system and if we aren't careful we could easily spend as much on a refit as on the purchase price. Is the engine at the end of its lifespan, original tin wiring throughout, needs new rigging and sails? Is the price reflective or the owner have awareness of these issues? Often not. 

Old boat shopping is not for the faint of heart. At least for those intending to travel out of sight of land. Many of these boats would be perfectly adequate to sail around the Puget Sound. But it's a different story when you plan on going offshore. Every system needs to be in good order for safety's sake. No doubt we will be refitting whatever boat we end up purchasing. It's a matter of choosing our refit projects.

I've calculated that 1 in 60 boats looked at online make it to phase 2 - a viewing, and so far our ratio is about 15 viewings to 1 offer. 

So as we approach our viewing of the Freya, it is with a mix of anticipation, frustration, hope and stubbornness. What choice do we have except to continue forward with hope? If nothing else our perseverance attests to our absolute love of sailing. 

We look forward to sailing with our friends, taking long weekends in Puget Sound and bringing forefront into our lives our passion for sailing. Our love of being on the water, hearing the sails snap in the wind and feeling the boat rise under our feet as we grip the wheel, smiles plastered on faces, eyes lit up with joy; this is our version of heaven. Oh, we have fallen down the rabbit hole for sure.