There and back again
Oh yes, it’s Hobbit time and like the good fellow Bilbo Baggins we are about to embark on a memorable journey. After a few months of maybe here, maybe there, we got the official word this week that I am transferring back to Austin, TX. But hey, I got a promotion so… That does put a curious wrinkle in our plans, given we just sailed Shearwater 3300nm to Europe this summer. Oops.
Never fear, we can generally put an interesting twist on life-changing events. So, here is the plan:
In late March we will sail Shearwater from Porto, Portugal to Palma de Mallorca, Spain via a stop in Gibraltar. Total distance is around 1000nm. We have a week or so to do a little exploring of the Balearics and then…
In April Shearwater will be loaded on a big yacht transport ship (likely through SevenStar) and shipped to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Transport time is expected to be about 1 month. The nice thing about SevenStar is that the boat can be shipped with the rig up. They just pluck the boat out of the water, set her on custom made stands, strap her down, and away they go.
Meanwhile we will fly with the pups and as much as we can carry on an airplane to Newark, NJ where we will rent a mini-van and drive back to Austin. This odd plan minimizes the time the pups have to spend in an airplane cargo hold and eliminates any plane transfers where things might go wrong.
Then when we get word Shearwater has arrived in Florida, we will pop on over, sail her down the Keys to Key West and then more or less straight across the Gulf of Mexico to Corpus Christi. Total distance is around 1025nm.
Shearwater’s new homeport will be Corpus Christi for the time being. Only 3 hours from Austin and renowned for strong breeze much of the year. It will be great place to do some sailing because in 2014 we have even more interesting plans… (see next blog post)
I can’t tell you how excited to have easy access to “relatively” inexpensive marine gear and a garage to do some boat projects in.
Another adventure certainly! Sounds like a bit of work packing up and moving but the worst thing is that I’m sure there are places on the Europe side of the pond that you have yet to discover. I lived in Italy for three years and when I got the notice it was time to return to the world, I realized I hadn’t seen anything! Oh, I hit all the hot spots but it was little spots I really missed. It sounds like you have four months or so keep us apprised, thanks for the update! Fair Winds. -Buddy
Buddy,
You are absolutely right. We saw a whole bunch of Europe, but not nearly what we hoped to see on the boat. I could have definitely said for many years, but it was not to be. I’m particularly sad not to get to Scotland and the Swedish Archipelago with Shearwater. Oh well, just a good reason to come back some time in the future. In the mean time… We have plenty to look forward to.
Wow, that’s a big wrinkle. Why don’t you plan to stop at our place when you fly to Newark? We’re only about an hour and a half from the airport and more or less on the way southwest. Feel free to spend the night if you have time.
Wow–your life is never dull! Sounds like a reasonable plan–good luck with all the details.