Leaving date

So last year I did a post about how I was hoping to leave on my round-the-world trip in September 2017, with Spring 2018 as a backup date. Obviously this is in like 2 months, so it’s no real surprise to say that I won’t be going in September.

The good news is that leaving Spring 2018 is extremely doable, and in fact if I leave at the end of May I’ll have actually have MORE money than my target amount. Hooray!

So why am I putting it off? Simply put, not enough savings and I’ve not finished all the stuff I want to do yet

Money-wise I was looking at having 35k in savings before I leave (not including RRSP). If I left in September I’d have 20k – doable, but I’d really have to be super careful and it’d rule out a lot of cool destinations like the Galapagos islands.

Workwise – I still haven’t installed my lithium batteries (the BMS is in the states), I still need to build my new fibreglass dodger, I need to finish the windvane, the boat REALLY could do with a paint job and there are a host of smaller things, like redoing the engine hatch, adding midship cleats, etc. None of these are really vital but would make things way easier if they were fixed. At the same time I am very conscious that you will never get EVERYTHING fixed before you leave.

So, next year it is. This also has the advantage of giving me an extra six months to get better at sailing, as I still kind of suck at it.

Leaving in May rather than September means going right down to Mexico isn’t a great idea what with the hurricane season, so I will head up the inside passage for the summer. The PNW is a beautiful place and it will be nice to see it at length and at a leisurely pace before I leave for a few years. I may even find out where I want to come back to!

And that’s about it from me right now. Here is a nice sunset picture!

Matt

7 Comments

  1. So exciting to be so close! And definitely go north. It would be a pity to see the rest of the world without having seen our beautiful west coast. We will be out that way again next April/May—maybe we can meet up and say hello/goodbye…

  2. Nothing wrong with leaving a little later – it’ll give you more time to experience all the great local cruising grounds we have.

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