Many of you have been kind enough to be asking to know more about my sailing schedule for the next while and where I’m going to be when. You’re about to get more than you ever wanted to know!!
Keep in mind, that this is all a grand experience and life adventure for me. I’m not out to “prove” anything to anyone or myself. I don’t need to purposely snub my nose at Mother Nature and try to sail upwind or do things the “hard way”. For me, life is for living, learning and loving. It’s all about the journey and so for me it is all about having a phenomenal ride for as long as I’m privileged to be here. Therefore my goal is to be in the right place at the right time and equally not in the wrong place at the wrong time when it comes to sailing and living aboard. This approach and attitude of timing my arrival and stay in a country or region to match the best time to be sailing there, drives all my planning. (or at least as close as I ever get to planning given my use as serendipity and synchronicity as a strategy in life) After much research and talking with many other cruisers to get their first hand experiences, I’m finally getting better sense of my schedule and wanted to share my current best guess of my routing and where I’ll be when for the next year or so, and that’s what you’ll find below.
As you look this over, also please keep in mind that with sailing and as a full time live aboard world cruiser now, my time frames are VERY different than they were when I was a land lubber. A month is now a pretty high degree of precision for me rather than days and minutes as is the norm on more typical life on land. So I can tell you where I expect to be within about a month or two or three and not for 14:35 on a Tuesday!
And as you’ve probably figured out by following my grand adventure up to now, all this is subject to change at any time, just as it has all along the way so far. I’m pretty much driven now by weather, seasons and my goal to be in the right place at the right time and enjoy the ride called life. So for example I’ve timed my itinerary such that I’ll arrive in French Polynesia about the beginning of April 2009 which should be right after the hurricane season ends and the start of the good time to be there. This will give me the maximum time in French Polynesia as there is SO much to see in the region and I have been SO drawn to this area for so long for some reason. As my route and/or schedule changes I’ll be sure to let you know and update the list below.
You’re going to be Where??
I’m not sure how good a geography student you were, but I know I was pretty terrible. So you may want to either get our your atlas or fire up either Google Earth (you need to download and install this free application but I would STRONGLY recommend you do just for general coolness and fun!) or Google Maps (no download required) or Microsoft Virtual Earth which is the map I’ve used here on the right or some combination thereof.
* Click on the map on the right to open up a new window with an enlarged and interactive map that you can follow along with right now if you’d like.
Maps tend to be a bit faster as you can view them right in your Internet browser and maps are more familiar. But for a true almost the same as being there experience, you owe it to yourself to try out Google Earth with full effect of satellite photos and 3D realism.
I suspect many of the places I’m about to mention will be either new to you or not quite sure where they are or their relationship to each other, so having the maps or satellite photos right in front of you really helps and I live on them these days. I never have really shaken the teacher in me and part of the purpose of the great Learnativity venture is learning, both mine and yours!
Visiting the good ship Learnativity:
Several of you have asked about coming to join me, either to enjoy an area I’m anchored in or to sign up for some sailing from one spot to another, or both. If so just send me an Email at wayne@learnativity.org or call me at +1-707-803-3579 and I can fill you in on the details and we can work something out. I enjoy the company and the chance to share this phenomenal grand experiment and planet with special friends and family. Just remember that flexibility is the key to success when planning such things and again, the schedule below is subject to and likely to change at any time, BUT WITH notice to you here!
Estimated Route & Schedule for s/v Learnativity (up to date as of August 28, 2008)
AUGUST 2008
- My niece Julia (17) and her girlfriend Kierra who are from Comox on Vancouver Island are here visiting with Ruby and I in El Salvador for two weeks. I’ll post some more details and photos of our adventures in another post. They’ll be here till the 28th when they fly back home via Dallas and Seattle.
- stay tuned for more article and pictures about our time together here in later posts
SEPTEMBER 2008
- I’m going to go to Guatemala for 4 weeks of immersion Spanish language schools.
- I be going to 2 or 3 different schools in different cities to get the max. experience.
- Guatemala has been really focusing on this language school and instruction as a major “industry” and part of their economy and there are literally hundreds of schools all over the country.
- Instruction is typically 1:1 till about 1pm then afternoon activities, excursions etc. with the option of some weekend trips as well.
- I’ll also go for the host family option that provides room and board living with a local family.
- Spanish is the 3rd most popular language in the world (after Mandarin and English) so it is a smart thing to have I figure. Plus being close by, pretty affordable, a great experience in itself and will help with the rest of my sailing and living in Spanish speaking areas.
- I’ll leave Learnativity in the wonderful safety of marina Barillas here in El Salvador**
** Great chance for someone to come to El Salvador for the month of September and have free use of this floating 2 bedroom condo called s/v Learnativity!! Call ASAP if you’re interested.
OCTOBER 2008
- Once I’m fluent in Spanish <g> or at least after I’ve completed the Spanish schools in Guatemala I’ll come back to the marina here in El Salvador at the beginning of October
- I’ll get a bit more boat work done and then I need to fly out about the 2nd week of October for a series of business trips, initially to Miami, Orlando.
NOVEMBER
- I’ve scheduled my business meetings and keynotes all into one big trip to Miami, Orlando, Toronto, San Francisco, Yokohama and then back through Miami to El Salvador about the beginning of December.
DEC-FEB 2009
- Get back to Barillas marina in El Salvador, get Learnativity all sea shape and head out sailing south again along the coast of Central America
- Hard to believe and an example of how changing and flexible my schedules are, I’ll have been in the Marina Barillas in El Salvador for SEVEN MONTHS (since May 30th) by this time! And I thought I was just pulling in for one night’s rest to escape the pending hurricanes.
- I’ll be headed for Ecuador and the Puerto Lucia Yacht Club but will take my time going down the coast to enjoy Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Columbia along the way. It’s all about the journey remember!
- Get some of the major boat jobs done at the yard in Ecuador.
- visit with some business colleagues in Guayaquil, Ecuador
FEBRUARY 2009
- Go back to full time sailing!!
- Head out from Salinas Ecuador to experience the wonders of the Galapagos islands about mid Feb. (about 550 NM = ~ 4 days)
MARCH 2009
- sailing from Galapagos to Easter Island (about 2050 NM = ~ 17 days)
APRIL 2009; island hopping from: (fire up those maps and Google Earth!)
- Easter to Pitcairn (about 1150 NM = ~ 9 days)
- Pitcairn to Gambier (about 300 NM = ~ 3 days)
- Gambier to Marquesas (about 850 NM = ~ 7 days
MAY-JULY 2009
- Explore overall French Polynesia region; Marquesas, Tuamotus, Tahiti, Bora Bora, etc.
- likely fit in a business trip
AUGUST 2009
- Fly back to CA for Lia’s wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (see previous posts for details)
SEPT-OCTOBER 2009
- Continue exploring South Pacific islands such as Cook, Somoa, Kirimandi, Tonga, Fiji, etc.
NOV-APR 2010
- Head South for New Zealand and hole up there for the 2009 hurricane season (Nov-Mar)
- Explore the country
- Look after some business trips
- Get any major work done on the boat I can afford
- Possibly fly out for some business if Autodesk still keeps me and I’m still working with them!
So there you have it folks! Hope you have had some fun following along and joining in this look ahead with me at least virtually. I’m working on putting this into better formats and putting markers and trails in Google Maps and Earth so you can see this more easily and I’ll also be adding my “tracks” of where I’ve been or am at any point in time. I’ll share this and any updates and changes with you here on the LTY blog as I do so.
Wayne & Ruby the wonder dog
aboard s/v Learnativity
Marina Barillas, El Salvador
13º 15’ 47.18” N 88º 29’ 26.00”W
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