The Adventure

Winter 2003/2004

08/16/06

Our Dreams.  The beginning of New Dawn.

            We returned home from our honeymoon with plans to go sailing in the next couple of years.  We also big boarded our dreams- big boarding is writing down all the things we have ever wanted to do or learn and then writing down all the steps to make them possible.  After a month at home, I turned to Ross and asked, "How soon could we really go sailing around the world?"  We sat down and decided we could leave Anchorage by May of 2004.   Only 7 months away.  Wow! How wonderful to make life changes so quickly.

            Of course one of the first things we needed to accomplish on the list was to identify and purchase an ocean worthy ‘blue water’ cruiser.  Since 95% of all sailboats are not intended to travel beyond the sight of land, this was not an easy task.  Luckily, Ross had been dreaming of sailing since he was in diapers and had several web sites bookmarked on his computer.  After reading a few books and hours scouring the web, we fell in love with Valiant 40s. With Pacific Seacraft and Cabo Rico considerations if we could not find a Valiant 40.  

           We found “New Dawn” on the Internet and quickly sought her out to be ours.  She is a Valiant 40 with all the redundant systems and beauty we could hope for.  We traveled to San Diego to check her out, fell in love and She is now living in Bellingham, Washington waiting for us to get there and start fitting her out for her voyage.   

Our Move To Bellingham, Washington.

      We are in the process of quiting our jobs and selling our houses and packing up to move onto our new home, aboard New Dawn.  We leave Alaska March 3, 2004. 

      So in the meantime, we are busy packing and seeing friends and packing and last minute details and packing and (how many boxes of china do we have?) and … moving.