The GW (God Willing) Itinerary

Acknowledging that God is the only One who knows the future we are adapting a flexible attitude. This actually fits very well with the whole cruising philosophy; you don't go anywhere in a hurry and you stay as long as you like once you're there (weather permitting, of course). To put it another way, you go where the winds blow you! Not knowing what tomorrow brings is part of the adventure and actually it's no different on land if you think about it realistically. We are excited about what God has in store for us and know that He will guide us along the way. We know that there will be great pleasure in exploring new parts of the world. We'll be meeting other cruisers and locals, experiencing new cultures, seeing new sights, indulging in new foods as well as facing new challenges. All of these things will touch us in different ways. We also desire that God use us in some way throughout our journey. At this point, we don't know what that will look like, but stay tuned for updates!

Our plan is to cruise nine or ten months out of the year over the next three years. Barry initially negotiated for five years, I agreed to two and we settled on three. The bottom line is that we'll do it until it isn't fulfilling anymore. So, as the saying goes, "Time will tell!" Staying connected with family and friends is very important to us so we plan to fly back to California once a year during the summer months. We'll leave Blew Moon in port or in a yard if she needs work and fly home for two to three months. We'll spend time visiting various parts of California and Colorado. We've already warned everyone that we'll be mooching off them during our visits since we sold our home in September 2003. We will keep our vehicle in storage in San Diego for use during these visits. We'll then return to Blew Moon and continue another cruising leg.

After our extended cruising adventure we plan to build a home at El Dorado Ranch. We bought half an acre 7 miles north of San Felipe, MX (it's on the northeast part of the Baja penninsula on the Sea of Cortez, a 2 1/2 hour drive north to the US/Mexico border at Mexicali and another 2 hour drive to San Diego). It's an American/Canadian community nestled between the Sea of Cortez and the Sand Pedro Matris mountain range. We plan on buying a small RV so that we can "cruise" on land when we get the itch to visit family and friends or just want to explore the Baja penninsula, the states or Cananda. The cost of living in Baja is so reasonable that it will allow us to continue to travel which we both really enjoy. We look forward to visits from our family and friends. There are lots of recreational opportunities in the area, i.e., water sports, fishing, hiking, off-roading, horseback riding, golf, tennis, strolling on the beach or just relaxing.

Now that you know our overall plan, here is the initial general itinerary with some of the stops we plan:

12/04-6/05 (S.D. to Costa Rica) S.D. -> Ensenada -> San Quintin -> Bahia de Turtugos -> Bahia de Magdelena -> Cabo San Lucas -> Mazatlan -> Puerto Vallarta -> Acapulco -> El Salvador -> Costa Rica

9/05-5/06 (Costa Rica to Western Carribean through the Panama Canal)

9/06-5/07 (Back through the canal and sail north along Central America and Mexico into the Sea of Cortez)

Click here to view a map of the areas between San Diego and El Salvador. Click here to view a map of Central America.

We will either dock Blew Moon in the Sea of Cortez or back in San Diego. We'll decide that down the line. Wherever she is it will be a nice "2nd home" for us.

How It All Began

Barry and I met in the Spring of 1990. Early on, he made it known that his goal was to retire at age 55, buy a sailboat and cruise the tropics. That sounded very intriguing and adventurous to me at the time. I thought, "I love to travel and to write so that could work for me!". He was 44 years old when we married in October 1990 and I was 33. Barry spoke often about his dream to cruise but because eleven years seemed like a long way off to me I didn't give it too much thought. As the years passed he spoke in more definate terms about his dream to cruise and brought it up more frequently. Over the years I got more and more comfortable with our life "on dry land" and just wasn't catching the vision of this life on the water. Admittedly, as Barry grew closer to the magic age of 55 I grew increasingly anxious about the whole idea. Afterall, it wasn't MY dream! It became increasingly obvious that this was no passing fancy of his and that this could become a major conflict in our marriage! I adore my husband and did not want to stand between him and his dream. So, I did what any wise Christian should do-I prayed. I asked God to change Barry's heart if this was not in His plans for us OR to change my heart and give me the desire to live this dream with my husband. This was a continual prayer for a couple of years because the answer did not come quickly. For those two years or so, Barry was just as commited to his dream and I was feeling increasingly anxious. But, I kept on praying knowing that God is faithful to answer the prayers of His children-just not according to their time frame! Beginning about three years ago God began enabling me to see that fear had a stronghold on my life-fear that was robbing me of the freedom and joy that He intended for me. It wasn't just the fear of sailing off on a boat, it was much deeper and pervasive than that! It was a fear that permeated my whole existence. God has been in the process of removing these fears from my life. It has been an incredibly freeing and exhilerating experience. In the overall process God began to specifically deal with the things that were keeping me apprehensive about sailing away with Barry. Fear of what "could" happen certainly was one of my fears! God has been calming my fears over these last two to three years. He first got my attention when Barry returned from a men's retreat with a t-shirt for me that read "Master Yachtsman" beside a beautiful sailing vessel. When I read the inscription, "Even the wind and the waves obey Him" from Mark 4:41 I knew God was assuring me of my security in Him no matter where I am! That was only the beginning of the process God has been bringing me through. I now have peace in my heart about living this dream with Barry. I am now excited about what God has in store for us!