Our Route Plan
As with any journey, it is best to make plans in the sand, at low tide.
Full disclosure:
I mean, you have to make a plan, but we aren't married to this plan or anything. It's a loose idea of what we would like to do and where we would like to go.
We've found that so many variables can change while you're on an adventure and it's best to just roll with it - so take these ideas with a grain of salt.
Since we are already on the west coast of Canada, we will stay in the Pacific, heading down south towards the Baja and the sea of Cortez. We’ll make the jump from Seattle down towards San Francisco (maybe jump in the Coho hoho rally) and then from there towards the Baja in another jump. From there, we continue south, either further down the Mexican coast, or start to think about making our way towards the Galápagos Islands.
This will be the first of the long stretches in the open ocean. Of course, we’ll see how we’ve done heading down the coast and reassess as a family. If we don’t feel up to it, we will find a way to bring the boat back north (though this is apparently a miserable trip, albeit, not impossible).
From the Galápagos, we keep heading west towards French Polynesia - another big ol’ leg of open ocean. There is the chance we might want crew to join us, but again, we’ll keep assessing as a family and see what is the best decision moving forward.
We might continue west towards the Cook Islands, or begin heading north towards the Hawaiian islands. After Hawaii, we continue heading north towards Alaska, then we bop down the coast all the way back to the west coast of Canada once again.
We might be oversimplifying this adventure, and we surely have very little concept of what that sort of journey might entail, but it’s a loop that has been done before, and for the most part, follows the currents of the ocean naturally. And we have to start somewhere, right? We are certainly fine with taking it a day at a time and even more fine with changing plans, but it’s nice to have an idea at least.
Further reading...
This book, published in 2013, but written of an adventure that happened to this family in the 70's has been a great source of inspiration. Their track is very similar to what we are thinking, leaving from the same coast, and it's a fun read. The technology available back then was limited to charts and a sextant, so it's encouraging to know that 50 years later, in theory, this journey should be a little more predictable.
It's important to remember that there are currently so many families out there on the ocean right now doing these kinds of adventures. Some are documenting their adventures online or putting them into a book, but many aren't. They are just going for it. We're not alone in these big dreams and ideas - there are lots of folks who have done this journey and have shared their knowledge and experience and we intend to glean as much of that info as we can.
Feel free to share any resources, books, links or social profiles you find inspiring.
