There had been a running gag among my friends and family. Allow me to explain.
It seems it had taken my completed passage from Ontario to Halifax with my sailboat, Makina, to earn my lawyer's respect as a sailor. He has been a lifelong avid sailor and did not take my plans seriously to buy and sail back a boat from Ontario to Nova Scotia. Once back in Halifax, Nova Scotia he openly expressed how it had impressed him.
When sharing with him my plan to head off to Bermuda in the spring of 2025 he asked if he could join. He had already made the passage from Bermuda to Halifax twice; so there was little hesitation on my part in excepting him as crew.
There is a movie about Hunter S. Thomson going on a journalistic assignment to Las Vegas with his lawyer which ends in a drug debauchery. It is called Fear and Lathing In Los Vegas. The running gag among my friends and family was that my upcoming passage with my lawyer should be referred to as Fear and Loathing in Bermuda.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vagas
Regular readers will know that instead of striking out for Bermuda last spring, as planned, the summer was spent sailing along Nova Scotia's South Shore. My lawyer still wanted to join the passage for its planned autumn departure. Unfortunately he has run into health issues and had to withdraw his offer to accompany me.
With only about 6 weeks to finish up all the upgrades and repairs on Makina, outfit her, sea trial the upgrades and find a new crew seemed very rushed with no guarantee of success. It was decided that as Makina is on the hard anyway that she should be left to winter at the East River Shipyard.
It also has given me pause to reassess my overall goals and through analysis realized how those goals had slowly changed over time.
My original intention was to visit El Salvador. This idea started long before having the idea of getting a boat. Having been following crypto since 2013 the idea of El Salvador making BTC legal tender excited me. It seemed the logical place for me to be.
My bitcointalk.org profile
The plan was to book on a container ship to Panama and then travel overland to El Salvador. Most container ships have 5 or so passenger cabins. If El Salvador seemed agreeable to me then relocation would follow.
More researching about El Salvador led to my concern with the means by which President Bukele turned the country from the murder capital of the world to safer than the USA. At first it was more of a practical concern; like what if there was a major outbreak from the new high security prison containing 70,000+ violent gang members.
That was when the boat idea came to mind. Having a means of getting away fast would be a great investment. 😁
It would, also, offer me a place to stay while in El Salvador. Makina came to my attention when researching boats for sale on the internet. It was love at first sight. An internet romance if you will. 😍
Time moved on, as Makina was purchased and she slowly made her way to Halifax.
Since getting back to Halifax, El Salvador had remained on my radar. Instead of the practical issues there were now moral ones beginning to arise. Bukele began to look more like a benevolent dictator than a democratically elected President. Perhaps he had to be, so as to deal with the gangs. So it was reluctantly excepted by me.
However Bukele 's visit to Washington D.C., this year, to take some illegal deportations off of Trump's hands (with a dollar figure on each one); to be housed in his new prison. Many of them were not even citizens of El Salvador. At that point he lost his “benevolent” status for me; instead coming off as a political thug. My subconscious mind moved the destination of the passage from El Salvador to Belize; with me going overland to 'do my business' when asked by friends and family.
Although not perfectly conscious to me at the time, it seems clear in hindsight that it was no longer my intention to relocate to El Salvador. Getting south for warmth and sunshine in Belize seemed to have replaced my original goals. Funny how goals can subconsciously shift and change over time like that.
My lawyer's health issues gave me pause to re-access my goals. There is always the joy of sailing through all of these thoughts so take that as a given.
Otherwise there are a number of islands to visit in the Caribbean. The truth is that islands do not appeal a great deal to me. They make me feel claustrophobic. Six weeks in Jamaica had me aching to return home. A winter in the Canaries with its duty free spirits had me wondering if there was a drinking problem on the rise. You get the idea.😁
Then there is the enforced scheduling around hurricanes. One can’t find that comfortable place to settle in beyond the ‘season’ when south of the 40th parallel.
Are you sitting down? This re-assessment led me to a very different goal. Time was spent contemplating what destination would be my preference for Makina if not the Caribbean?
This summer had shown that Canada's East Coast was top of the line yet when thinking where to avoid the hurricane or winter schedules then the Mediterranean came to mind! 😲 My time spent travelling around the Med's landmasses on both the European and North African side had been very enjoyable in the 70's.
Research shows that the Viking Route would be the one that may best suit my passage to Europe. That would be sailing along the NS coast to Cape Breton, probably stopping in the Bras D’or Lake for a tour and then on to Sydney, NS. From Sydney one can then strike out for Newfoundland with a stop at St. Pierre and Miquelon. The next steps are Greenland to Iceland and finally Scotland.
The longest passage in those steps is NL to Greenland which is a little over 700NM. The nice part is that it can be all done in summer under potentially pleasant weather. The longest leg is only about 1/3rd longer than the NS to Bermuda passage with icebergs instead of hurricanes to avoid. One has the advantage to re-assess things at each leg of the passage, which is something one does not have as an option when striking out directly across the Atlantic.
The most recent plan is to spend the winter researching the passage in more detail and studying further on skills, from knots to navigation. With that in mind Tom, at the Shipyard, has been notified that Makina will winterize at East River and my Daughter and Son-In-Common-Law have agreed to put up with me for the winter.
Makina on the hard at East River Shipyard
My only regret is that we took Makina out of the water too early; missing what has shaped up to be a lovely fall for sailing.
So that's the new goal. We shall see how it pans out. Certainly Nova Scotia to Newfoundland, with a stop at St. Pierre and Miquelon, sounds very doable. The further passage can be re-accessed as time moves forward.
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May the wind be at your back!
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A listing of my sailing posts:
@novacadian/categories-of-novacadian-s-sailing-seasons
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