Hello all-
I will soon be off on another sailing adventure, lasting maybe 30 days, and you are on the list to receive my (hopefully) daily updates during the voyage.
So what is this adventure?
Well, its a long sail. A delivery of sorts actually, of my Beneteau Cyclades 51.5 sailboat from Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands, all the way down to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its a distance of about 4700 nautical miles, and we expect it to take about 28 days. It could be 24 days if things go really well and the wind gods smile on us, or it could be 30 or even 34 days, if mother nature chooses not to be so cooperative. We are planning a non-stop voyage, departing Tortola around June 27. The route will likely take us south through the Leeward and Windward islands of the Caribbean to Trinidad, then along the coasts of Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Brazil and Uruguay before sailing up the Rio de La Plata into Argentina. The first 4000 miles will be tropical and hot, but the last 700 miles or so could cool off as we sail into the southern hemisphere winter. And to answer your next question: Yes, I wish I had the time to stop and cruise all the wonderful and exotic places along the way (like tropical Brazil, the Amazon river, Rio, etc.) but I don´t. But hopefully, I will soon…
Joining me on this adventure are Steve Felte and Marianne Wheeler, two of the most trusted, reliable, experienced and competent crew anyone could ask for, and I am delighted they will be along for the ride. They have both raced and cruised with me numerous times over the years, along the coasts and across the oceans from Alaska to Mexico to Hawaii, the Caribbean, South Pacific and the Mediterranean. In fact, we were together in France just a few weeks ago. We are comfortable with each other and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and habits, and it all makes for smooth sailing.
As our departure date draws closer, I will try to provide a bit more detail about the boat and crew, but to get you started I have attached a basic map. It covers the entire route we expect to sail, and shows latitude and longitude lines all along the way. With each email update, I will include our position using Latitude and Longitude, and you can use that info to mark our location on the map and follow our progress. The map is marked in 1-degree increments, and remember that are 60 minutes in a degree (not 100), so if for example our position is 10.30N, that means we are halfway between the 10 degree North and 11 degree North lines of Laititude. Once you look at it, it should be pretty easy to figure out.
As we are now about a week away, we are making our lists, checking them twice, and trying to think of what we are forgetting…
-David Kory