So the whole thing about not loving the Brazil idea anymore got more traction the more we thought about it. The Brazil to South Africa and into the Indian Ocean would be the fastest way to get to India, but not the easiest. (All things being relative, of course.) The Northwest Passage isn’t famously easy either, but it’s a road less traveled which makes it attractive.
Meanwhile.
As we went through our groceries, the cliff hike became more and more arduous.
And so did beaching the dinghy in that round rock.
On our last trip ashore, I (Dena) had the weirdest experience. A young woman approached the back of the truck, where I was already sitting, and hauled her toddler up by the arm and…handed it to me! I was taken aback but relieved the pressure on the kid’s shoulder, remembering a story about having my arm pulled out of the socket by my mom at about that age…
We took a hard look at our finances and all that we could expect to make from publishing and Patreon…and it’s not enough to keep us going indefinitely, or even until James’ social security kicks in (if that even still exists then). We know we can work in the US and never have been able to figure out the work-abroad thing so here we are.
We’re sailing for Martinique! Now there are a lot of things that direction so it won’t hurt us too badly if we don’t hit that exact spot, but the weather is good for it.
The idea is to work our way west to Haiti or Jamaica, around the west end of Cuba, and up to Key West while it’s still to cold to go farther north. If we find only shit jobs paying crap, we’ll do those jobs until April (or May if necessary and/or lucrative) and take the Gulf Stream to the Chesapeake in time for the boating season’s start.
As beautiful as Porto de Ferreira is and as much as the Tantum beach and town have been good for us, it’s time to get underway again. This trip is a little over 2000, just over the distance between San Francisco and Hawaii. We don’t anticipate huge storms so we probably won’t make it in 20 days like we did that time. (Plus, we’d just painted the bottom and that Gulf 32 performed marvelously on that trip.) I’m telling people 4-6 weeks but I do have a little hope that it’ll be slightly less.
Not excited about going back to the US, especially right now. Horror at the election and real fear for what emboldened assholes will take it upon themselves to do to other people are part of it…a big part. A really big part.
Also, though, we don’t want to do this. We don’t want to pause this circumnavigation and on the other hand…we want to be able to continue it in good condition for as long as our bodies allow once we have some independent income.
So there it is. Next stop, Martinique. I’m actually excited, at least I’m excited to get underway!
