May 10, 2003
"After almost running into a rower, seeing many cute little and some big cities, exploring new places and going through numerous locks, we have reached Le Harve. The place where mom is going back to the states for two weeks and we are going to do many boat jobs including stepping the mast. We are sad to leave Paris and sad to end our adventures down the river but we eagerly await our time this summer in the Mediterrean!"

S.P.

May 6, 2003
"I always have a problem finding where to start something like this. I write down all the wrong things and end up sounding tacky. However, due to the fact that we're coming up on a lock I'll scribble something down quickly. If I can read it when I go back to type this I'll consider it an accomplishment, if not...too bad. So, in a few words we left Paris about two hours ago. We missed the 10am lock out of the Arsenal otherwise we would be farther down the river. It was kinda sad going through Paris and seeing the Orsay, Invalides, Pont Nuef and all the other places that have been "in our neighborhood" for the last time. No, more like the last time in a while. It has been a great winter. May 8, 2003 1:53pm Yesterday's "mosey down the river in the sunshine" turned out to be anything but moseyish. Don't get me wrong, the sun part was great, as long as you were under the dodger. We raced down the river a 7 1/2-8 knots. With two locks we ended the day at 8pm after 115 kilometers, roughly 52 miles. Today we are aiming for Rouen (pronounced row-on). We should be there in a couple on hours. In the mean time I'm working on my Biology final exam.
Position
49 degrees 19 minutes North
001 degrees 02 minutes East
Track: 069 degrees
Speed: 9.6 (don't be fooled we have the current and tide with us. That is just our speed over land not our speed in the water)"

Katie

Paris
December 31, 2002
"Happy holidays from the Crew of Grace!.....As Katie mentioned in her recent update, we are wintering in Paris. We had a great passage from the Azores to Falmouth, England in August, stalling out only during the last 48 hours when the wind turned against us. We thoroughly enjoyed Falmouth once again. It has a terrific blend of yachting history, with none of the pretentions so often found in sailing capitals. We also had a good passage down the English Channel and across to LaHavre, France in early September. Lots of wind, all of it from the right direction.....After taking our mast down in LaHavre had an idyllic 5 day jaunt up the Seine to Paris. If what we saw is any indication, rural France is every bit as lovely as Paris.....Paris, as all of you know, is as beautiful as any big city in the world. Whatever reservations one might have about French politics, this is a people who cannot be criticized for their instincts around good living. They seem to have a very balanced view of life, one in which romance stands on an equal footing with productivity. They have a highly evolved sense of the aesthetic: beauty, flowers, art, cuisine, and a very playful brand of sensuality. They seem to understand that living well is much more than sheer accumulation. We are thoroughly enjoying our time here, and learning as we go.....The kids continue to thrive, and are deep into another academic year. Evenings and weekends are for strolling the streets and neighborhoods of the central city. Grace is resting for the winter, moored across from the remaining wall of the Bastille. She has more than earned her keep, including two ocean crossing in 9 months. John is writing 5 days a week, working on articles and another book. We are waiting to see if a major publisher will purchase his first book, the rights of which have been sold to a small New York press. Barb, for her part, has been more than a little busy working with the girls on their academic endeavors and trying to figure out how to say baking powder in French.....All of us are smiling at our good fortune in this fifth year of family adventure. More evidence for the possibility that we can all thrive on less money, more time together and no TV. Who would have guessed? Far from feeling flippant, we remain deeply grateful for this great gift. Each of us, in our own way, is paying the bill by attempting to be wide awake - to all the beauty the day affords. Now to relish this opportunity would border on blasphemy.....At a distance of 4000 miles, you are with us as we leap into 2003.

Love from the Crew of Grace"

Horta, Azores
August 19, 2002
"Greetings from Horta.....We arrived here two weeks ago, capping an almost perfect 14 day crossing from Bermuda. We did spend four days wrestling with two gales, hanging on for dear life some of the time. Fortunately, they were heading in the same direction we were, speeding our passage. Grace performed magnificently. We were never in danger. Just tired, real tired sometimes.....Katie and Erin picked up right where they left off in our Nov./Dec. crossing, staking out the night shift, waking us at dawn. Barbara and I would only look at each other in sleepy amazement at the wonder of long stretches of sleep. For their part, the girls entertained themselves by dancing in the cockpit, memorizing their favorite songs, writing some of their own, telling scary stories, and talking about boys. Lots of talking about boys these days. Do we dare take these two to Paris? ...... Yes, we do. We are leaving tomorrow, weather permitting, for a 1400 mile march to Falmouth, England or directly to LeHavre, France. Then we'll drop the mast, and make our way down the Seine to Paris. The marina at which we are wintering is one quarter mile from Notre Dame, smack in the heart of Paris. To say we are excited about an extended stay there is to dramatically understate how we feel.... We finished our 4th year last week with a family celebration. It has gone so fast, reminding us to be as wide awake to the only time we have: right now. We also know that this is all a gift, more than any one could earn or deserve. We remain deeply grateful to so many of you who have inspired us, and to some very special friends who actively support our living this dream. You know who you are. We could not do this without you. Thank you.....In the great stillness of this adventure, all of us are called to see what is to be seen, put our hands on it, taste it, inhale it, let it take us over and transport us beyond our most parochial selves. To witness what only is, knowing it to be more than enough. You don´t have to be on an ocean to do it. It is always there, always available to each of us....

Love from the Crew of Grace"

Bermuda
July 13, 2002
"Just a note from the weary crew of Grace to let you know that we arrived safely in Bermuda after a largely uneventful, 7 day passage from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Winds were light for most of the crossing, with two dynamite 170 mile days to close.***** Days of provisioning and repair, eyes on every weather update. We hope to leave for the Azores sometime this week. That passage will take us out of the hurricane belt, but through the Azore's high so famous for its punishing calms. We are eager to get on across before September.***** Hope this finds all of you deeply ensconced in summer's warmth. Less clothing, more ice cream, books to read, beach time to log, and the kind of relationships that only make you smile.

The Crew of Grace"

Ft. Lauderdale
July 3, 2002
"July 3rd, and the thunderstorms continue to boil in from the southwest. Record rainfall, almost monsoon-like. Whatever anxieties we harbor about another Atlantic crossing, we are ready to go. It has taken some time for a decision to emerge, but we are pointing Grace back to the east: Bermuda, the Azores, and either Ireland or England. We hope to cross the English Channel in early September, drop the mast, and amble on down the Seine to Paris for the winter. Right now it still has a dream-like quality to it, nowhere near as available as the rain laden clouds that are pouring over us.***** Tomorrow we go, barring something of hurricane proportions.***** A dear old friend, long out of touch, recently asked "Where are you, and why?" We have many answers, the most obvious being that we are with our two youngest kids - twenty four hours a day - because time is short and precious. We are going back out there - reservations and all - because we are not done with Europe, and because time at sea is so beautiful and so terrible that it calls us to a level of attention rarely available shoreside. Like holding a hot wire sometimes, but wide awake. When people ask us about it, we mostly look at each other, shake our heads, and laugh. A gift for which words seem even less adequate than usual.***** Obviously, awareness is not a geographical issue. Nor is attention, the capacity to be wide awake. Each of us is capable of it, where ever we are in our individual adventure. Let's shake ourselves awake, each of us, to the beauty that is everywhere available.*****

The Crew of Grace"

Ft. Lauderdale
June 10, 2002
"First of all, we would like to apologize for being out of the loop for so long. All excuses are simply that: excuses. Who need 'em? Grace is back in the US for the first time in three years. Ft. Lauderdale is a wonderful town, but Grace tells us she would like to get back into the ocean. More of that later. We made a November/December passage across the Atlantic, making landfall in English Harbor, Antigua. No trip of this length and duration is uneventful to our way of seeing. This one had more than the usual share of surprises. 500 miles out of the Canaries (and 2400 miles from Antigua) we lost the rudder for our windvane. It cycled down into several thousand feet of ocean at about 2:00 AM. Needless to say, this darkest hour made the prospect of hand steering the rest of the way dire indeed. The girls recognized our discouragement, huddled for a few minutes, and announced that they would hand steer the "night shift" portion for the duration. While we appreciated their stepping up, neither Barb nor I expected that they were capable of delivering on such a hardy proposition. We were wrong. For 16 nights of variable winds and squalls (a distant hurricane sucked all of the power out of the otherwise dependable trade winds), Katie and Erin took the helm at 11:00 PM and steered through until 7:00 or 8:00 AM. For 16 nights. To do this they had to navigate two to five squalls nightly (20 to 30 minutes of 20 to 30 knots). Down below, Barbara and I would listen to the hum of the propeller to ascertain the boat speed. As the wind nudged us up past 6 knots, then 7, then on up to 8 and 9, it would take all of our willpower not to race up the companionway and take over the wheel. We didn't, preferring to let the kids make their own decisions. That they didn't ask for assistance - after a single query on the first night - still amazes us. A special sort of coming of age for a 9 and 13 year old, one that should serve them well in difficult circumstances up the road. That we are proud of them and what they did is an understatement. Awe better discribes the way we feel about them and their performance during this crossing's days of adversity. Our primary rational for coming back to the states involved the steep decline in my father's health and our desire to be more available to him. He died, mercifully, in late January. Fortunately, we were able to be back in Michigan during the last month of his life. Since February we have made our way up through the islands, around Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic, and on through the Bahamas to Florida. In the next week we will be deciding whether to head up the east coast for the summer and fall or head back across the Atlantic to Ireland, England and France. For the first time on the trip we are feeling somewhat out of sync, an ocean away from an Europe we have just begun to explore. Italy, Greece and Turkey seem especially fetching, like unfinished business. Our reservations about sailing back so soon have less to do with any gigantic fears about the Atlantic than they do with our knowledge of how tiring a crossing always is. The issue is not do we head for Europe, but do we head for Europe this June or next April. Our friends quite rightly deride us when the unanswered question contains even a hint of whine. Whichever decision we make, it is a choice between wonderful options. Either way, we win. The simple, bottom line reality of our life is that stepping back from what we use to call normal - in order to spend time with each other and the girls - is the best decision we have ever made. All of us are thriving, looking forward to the next stage of the adventure.

Crew of Grace"

Gibraltar
November 9, 2001
"September 11th changed everything. We were pulling away from the dock at Gibraltar when a friend ran by and shouted something about a plane hitting the Twin Towers. We got further information when we swung into the pull out berth 5 minutes later. It was very interesting receiving minute by minute updates when 5 of the 6 men helping us take Grace out of the water were Muslims from Morroco. Very somber. Not just us; they also. We stuck with our plans to sail to North Africa on the weekend, spending 3 days in the Spanish enclave at Ceuta, on the north coast of Morocco. Hard to make eye contact, and important to - all at the same time. When we quit making eye contact, the terrorists have won. They will not win. Our wonderful summer in the Med will be retrievable in the future. For now, it is obscured by the still settling dust of NY. Given the unrest in the middle east, and John´s dad´s precarious health, we have decided to postpone our planned winter´s stay in Turkey. We are sailing across the Atlantic - leaving tomorrow - in order to be closer to our families during this time. There are worst places than the Caribbean for the winter. And worst places than the New England coast or the east coast of South America for the summer. Hopefully, we will be heading for the Panama Canal and the Pacific in the spring of 2003. Between now and then, there is much beauty to inhale, in great, deep drafts. It is everywhere available. Join us there.

Love from the Crew of Grace"

Sevilla
May 10, 2001
"Dear Friends, A few hurried words before we spill out into the Atlantic once again. It is difficult to leave Sevilla for many reasons, starting with the infectious warmth and aroma that is an Andalucia spring. And quite a spring it has been! While our primary focus has been on completing the children´s accelerrated school year, we have been more than a little entertained by longstanding Spanish celebrations. The first involved Semana Santa, a week long run up to Easter. It has taken centuries to fine tune the religious rituals involved in night long processions from the various churches sprinkled throughout the city. Rituals seems like an empty description for processions as magical and (by western standards) fervant as those of Semana Santa. Candles, incense, immense and diverse crowds, penitents in pointy hats, dancing Madonnas, and the almost delerious springtime 3:00 AM. Like a dream world, mostly. After a two week refractory period, there is a week long blow out called Feria. Originally, a horse fair/market, it has developed over time into an amazing 7 day (and we are talking 24 hour days here) party, complete with aristocratic lords and ladies astride equally aristocratic stallions, and half a city´s population dancing in florid, ruffled, hallucinations of native dresses, swirling in a long standing mimicry that reminds one of the mating dances of exotic birds. Breathtaking. People come from all over Europe to attend Feria. A flotilla of 80 foot, floating hotels came chugging up the river to moor alongside Grace for the week. A bedlum commenced each early evening, with the party goers demonstrating astounding stamina, carrying on with song and dance until sunrise. For seven long days and nights, circles growing darker under already dark Spanish eyes with each succeeding cycle. Our eyes also. Beyond the normal anchor inertia which accumulates during every long stay, leaving Sevilla has it´s own special pathos. It has been an incredibly warm and generous place for us. Its beauty is incomprehensible and indelible, backdrop for the development of personal and familial rhythms that are easy and almost sensual. More than the usual comfort of routine. This is offset somewhat by the excitement that always accompanies another extended stage of sailing. We are thinking that the summer will take us deep into the Med, with possible stops in the Balearics, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy, the Greek Islands and maybe Turkey. All subject to change, as always. Slowing down and appreciating what we have always seems to overtake any prearranged allegiance to schedule. If the life of cruising means anything, it means relinquishing plan in the service of whimsy. The object in all of this is to be wide awake and reverent in the face of the beauty that is ever available. Anything less is a rejection of the gift within the gift. It waits for us, just beneath the surface of things. Shimmers within what is obvious and opaque. It beats within each of us, larger and overarching, enfolding our parochial, smaller selves. It is silent and eloquent at the same time, forever ready to be discovered. Barbara is making pasta tonight, lush Spanish onions, tomatoes and mushrooms, more than a touch of garlic. When we sit down together, you will be with us.

Crew of Grace"

Sevilla
November 19, 2000
" Dear Friends, Greetings from sunny Spain! (in the 80s again today. There were a few clouds this afternoon) More specifically, greetings from Sevilla. We have come to light here for the winter, almost as much a surprise to us as it may be to some of you. We had planned to head for the Canary Islands in November and to transit the Atlantic in December, in preparations for a Panama Canal entrance in Feb. 2001. We have decided to stay here in order to be more available to John´s parents, particularly his father. His ongoing struggle with Parkínson´s is taking it´s toll. We don´t feel comfortable doing the long passages required in the Pacific under these circumstances. Since we last reported in, made a North Sea passage from the Fresian Islands to Cuxhaven, Germany. After spending several wonderful days with Peter Forthmann, in Hamburg, we sailed the Kiel Canal and into the Baltic. We thoroughly enjoyed the islands of the Baltic, dawdling there much longer than we anticipated. Consequently, we didn´t get any further north than Copenhagen. Again, we dawdled (is there a theme here?), trading pleasure for our schdule. As Erin aptly points out these days "the journey is the destination." This without the benefit of many fortune cookies in her life. We sauntered back through the islands of Denmark,could have stayed there longer. I guess that is true of any of the stops we made in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Could have stayed there longer. Hope to, if we are given the time, at a later date. The clock was running by this time, middle of August with the Bay of Biscay to cross before the Southwesterlies make it dangerous. So, reluctantly, we made a series of long passages, first through the Baltic to the Kiel, later across the North Sea from Cuxhaven to Den Helder. After catching our breath, we stretched it our down through the English Channel, hard right at Dover, and down the south coast of England to Plymouth. We took another brief break in Plymouth, long enough to get familar with the city from which Barb´s maternal grandmother emmigrated. Then we made a dash through the available weather window, arriving at Bayona, Spain 5 days later. It was like sailing into a fantasy land, complete with fog enshrouded mountains coming out of the sea. We ended up staying there (again) longer than we had planned, making new friends with fellow adventurers. Then another sprint down to Lisbon, Portugal for another deep draft of hospitality and warmth. Once again, time enough to read the menu, maybe an appitizer. The full meal will have to wait. John went home to spend a couple of weeks with his parents while Barb and the girls stayed there. Time to get this year´s boat school into high gear. When John returned, we made our way down the coast of Portugal, eventually finding our way up the river to Sevilla. Barbara´s Dad came to visit, always a source of pleasure for us. When you spend even a little while with him, the gene pool secret of Barbara´s wanderlust becomes obvious. The guy does get around, his 70 some years a skateboard rather than an excuse. Excuses aren´t everything they are cracked up to be. John has been spending 5 or 6 hours every day writing away. It is going to be interesting to see what he has come up with. Always comes back with a smile on his face, even on days he describes as difficult. "It doesn´t get any better than this" he keeps repeating. It is hard to argue. Cruising World is publishing one of his articles in it´s December issue. Yachting Monthly, an English step-sister, is intent on publishing three or four of his articles in coming months. The kids continue to amaze, blistering through boat school in order to get to their afternoon athletics, which this fall include sailing, kayaking, basketball, soccer, swimming and paddleball. "Heh, Dad, hows about we throw the football around for awhile?" One of our goals is to roll out a level of athletic confidence that will compliment the intellectual confidence we hope they are gaining.(I have no confidance in my spelling of confidence.) Irony everywhere. Anyway, the kids are doing great! Barbara and I continue to pinch ourselves (and each other) in amazment at this great gift that has been laid out in front of us,largly unearned. It is all very humbling. Our compact with the universe on this one goes something like this: you roll it out, and we will try to be there. More than be there, we´ll try to show up wide awake, bearing both gratitude and awe in the face of all this ongoing, incredible beauty. The least we can do, eyes wide, grinning. You travel with us wherever the dream may go.

Love, The Crew of Grace"

Ireland Waves
August 2, 1999
"Greetings from Ireland. Our final leg of the Atlantic passage has brought us to Schull harbor in southwest Ireland (thereafter to be known as God's country).

Although we anticipated the most difficult leg of the Atlantic crossing (to quote the cruising guide "invariably cold, gray and wet"), we were delighted to get great winds and weather all the way to Ireland. It did blow 20 to 30 knots for four of the ten days we were out there, but the winds were never on our nose. We did several 180 mile days, and saw very little rain or cold. Our engine predictably failed to start when we approached Schull harbor, but we had a fresh breeze to take us into a very ample anchoring ground. All in all it was a very good passage.

We can't rave enough about Ireland. The weather has been sunny and warm, uncharacteristically so. We met a woman over dinner last night who told us we really hit the weather right "as it has been raining here for 5 years". One of so many examples of Irish humour. The people here are as warm, engaging, playful, as they are stereotyped to be. They are Ireland's national treasure.

That is not in any way to diminish the physical beauty of this place. After being knocked over by the beauty of Faial, we have been knocked out by Ireland's south and west coast. Neither of us can remember being in a more beautiful place. The Irish have done a terrific job of maintaining the historical artifacts that date back to a thousand years BC. There are castles, Norman towers, and ancient burial sites everywhere, well marked and documented. The place reeks of history. There is also a blend of natural beauty here that is unique in our experience. If you get a chance, come to Ireland.

As John's maternal grandfather was born in Ireland, we are looking into the possibility of applying for dual citizenship. Besides being something of great importance to him personally, it would also open up all the countries of the EC (European Community) to all of us for purposes of longer term residence and employment.

We are not at this time sure how long we are going to stay in Ireland and England. The only real deadline we have for departing for Spain and Portugal involves the potentially horrific weather that arrives in the Bay of Biscay in September. Even with three day weather windows, you can get hammered by the notorious Southwesterlies that come in off the Atlantic. We want to stay here as long as possible AND avoid a Biscay gale.

The girls continue to thrive. They became stronger sailors during each of the three ocean passages, and are now brimming with confidence about their capacity to be at sea - and to take what it dishes out. Their progress in this regard parallels our own. They continue to do well academically, although we have had difficulty keeping school routine during passages. We have used those passages to read aloud, talk about places we have visited and learn about places to come. Needless to say, they are getting an on site history lesson in Ireland by visiting castles and ruins.

We still do not know if we are going to stay in Europe for the winter or head for the Caribbean and a Panama Canal transit in February of 2000. We want to get into the Pacific badly, but we also are reluctant to rush through any part of what can be a great experience here in Europe. The American penchant for hammering out a schedule and sticking to it seems to run counter to the easy does it / make it up as you go spirit of the most successful cruisers we know. We are trying to sort it out for ourselves. Stay tuned.

We do hope to get home for the holidays from wherever we drop our anchor in December. We miss our family and friends and will thoroughly enjoy spending some time together. Hope to see some of you then.

Apparently this communiqu finds you thoroughly baking back in the states. We hope that you're able to enjoy the summer in spite of the heat. We also hope this finds you all happy and healthy.

In the Wind,

John, Barb, Katie and Erin"

Bermuda to the Azores
July 10, 1999
"Greetings from the crew of Grace, currently harbored in the Port of Horta
on the Island of Faial, Azore Islands. We arrived here on Friday, June 25th after a very stimulating passage from Bermuda. Equal parts of calm and storm, with winds on the nose until the last 36 hours. Our engine went down 1000 miles from Horta (fuel injector/starter) which gave us an opportunity to do it the way the old timers did. It is, after all, called sailing.

We are really pleased with the way both Grace and her crew performed, mistakes and all. We are proving to be resilient, which may be the chief prerogative of long distance cruisers. We love the ports of call, but continue to be amazed at what it is to spend long periods on the ocean between them. Most of the sailors we know fall strangely mute when trying to describe what it is like out there. We are no exception. Breathtaking, immense and terribly beautiful are the words that come to mind. They are not enough, however. Something happens out there that draws you back out again after the bowls of chilly and bottles of beer have been enjoyed in the next harbor.

The kids seemed to be thriving both intellectually and emotionally on this seafaring diet of ours. We are also, although our exuberance probably registers a few decibels lower. Our confidence about both our ability and my health is growing slowly but persistently with each passage we make. We are still choosing to plan the next leg only after financing the last, but envision a long stay out here.

We were greeted in Horta by a large crowd of friend and well wishers, an experience we found very moving. We continue to be amazed at the quality of the people in this cruising community, their awareness, moxie, and generosity. By definition, they are "out there," each having sailed half an ocean to get here. We thoroughly enjoy the time we spend with these new friends from all over the world.

We have fixed our engine, reattached the windvane which fell off our transom, rested thoroughly, over eaten, and laughed as deeply as ever ... and seem to be about ready for the next stage of the adventure. Heading for Ireland feels like going home, blustery northern head winds and all. We hope to spend the warmer months there and in England before following the summer south down the coast of Portugal and Spain. Then again, we could change our plans between here and there.

Where ever we go we carry warm feelings for all of you. This way of communicating them seems a little impersonal, but that is not the way we feel about you. We hope this finds each of you happy, healthy and up to your armpits in a summer full of fun and adventure. We'll touch base as soon as we can, probably when we arrive in Ireland.

In the Wind,
John, Barb, Katie and Erin (John Ryan and Shiva, our Michigan Crew)"

Ft. Lauderdale to Bermuda
May 21, 1999
It was easy and hard in that order. We had wonderful wind and weather for the first four days, then got caught just south of the collision of two low pressure systems. Good strong variable winds and heavier seas, punctuated by thunderstorms and squalls. And one monstrous rainbow.

Boat and crew handled everything well, although Barbara and I did get pretty tired towards the end. It was a wonderful and challenging experience for us as individuals and as a family. We would be remiss in not giving special accolades to Katie and Erin, who showed us their true metal and resilience.

We are loving Bermuda, resting up, and over eating. Laughing a great deal and occasionally tearful with pride about what we have done as a family.

We are now making repairs to the boat (windvane, inner forestay, stay sail, bimini, boom vang --none of them major) in preparation for the next (and longest) leg of our north Atlantic crossing. Approximately 1900 miles to the Azores, with Horta as our destination.

There were many moments of exquisite, ocean beauty into which we would have liked to "beam" all of you. Hope we can somehow translate some of that beauty, even in the subterranean forms. Words are obviously not adequate. We regularly sit with our mouths agape in the face of this immense, ever-changing ocean landscape. It is a prayer of mute astonishment and a great gift that we know we can never deserve. But here we are, eyes wide open, brains awash, senses overloaded, and deranged little grins on our faces. Ecce quam bonum.
Planning to take the next open weather window back out into the unfolding mystery of it. Will try to keep you posted - anyway we can - as to our progress during this next, long leg.
In the Wind,
John, Barb, Katie and Erin

Ft. Lauderdale to Bermuda Way Points
DATE TIME
- 5-10-99 15:00
Cleared channel at Lauderdale
- 5-11-99 13:00
N 27 54
W 79 27
- 5-12-99 16:00
N 28 38
W 77 30
-5-13-99 08:57
N 29 00
W 76 04
-5-14-99 09:30
N 28 57
W 73 42
-5-15-99 15:20
N 28 47
W 71 00
- 5-16-99 08:10
N 28 43
W 69 26
- 5-18-99 11:55
N 31 05
W 66 06
- 5-19-99 01:00 - First sight of Bermuda lights on horizon
10:00 - Enter Harbor at St George, Bermuda

The calendar is easy. In 1984 we started the clock running on a five year plan to take a year off and go sailing with our son, John Ryan.

In November of 1985 we purchased a used C & C sloop which we accurately named "Outrageous".

In the summer of 1986, '87 and '88 we began to learn to sail, making every mistake along the way.

In September of 1988, our first surprise child, Katie, arrived, and proceeded to go with us on a sailing vacation two weeks later. It snowed. Katie slept (an easy transition from the embryonic sea to that other, larger sea). We relaxed.

From May of 1986 to October of 1990, John Ryan, Katie, Barb and I did a sabbatical sail-about, with tours of the Mediterranean and Caribbean preceding a return trip to the Great Lakes.

While returning from this first sailing adventure, Barbara and I began planning a second, longer cruise. For the next eight years we lived frugally and saved fascistically in order to breathe life into that dream.

In April of 1992 Erin arrived on the scene, expanding our crew list and reinforcing our dream of a larger, more powerful boat.

In October of 1995 we discovered and purchased Grace, a 50-foot, cutter rigged, sloop that we recognized as a gift from the universe and dubbed "our last, 40 year boat". In the process we sold our beloved Outrageous to our dear friend and trusty sidekick, Dan Henderickson.

In 1997 I had three angioplasties and open heart surgery, all of which failed. It was "heal or die" time. Tethered to the love of Barbara and the kids, supported by friends and family, and pulled along by our dream of sailing away, I am healing.

On August 15, 1998, we left Whitehall, Michigan on the sailing adventure which has so far taken us through the Great Lakes and New York canal system, down the Atlantic coast, up Delaware Bay, down the Chesapeake Bay, around Capes Hatteris, Lookout, Fear and Canaveral. Then down to Miami, where we are currently provisioning for our next leg...

Like I said, putting the calendar together is easy.

Chronicling, evaluating and sharing the ongoing adventure is more challenging.

But that is precisely what we are going to attempt to do on this web site, devised by John and Rhonda Liskey, and supported with the ongoing contribution of a growing number of friends and acquaintances with whom we want to share our dream, pitfalls and all.

While I am the official family blabber-mouth, the content of this web site will be a family affair, with regular updates by Barb, Katie, Erin and John Ryan (who will be taking leave of work and college to join us episodically).

With a little luck, it will also evolve into a community bulletin board with tasteful and less tasteful tidbits from our growing community of friends. Yes, that is an invitaion.

So, while this adventure really started back in 1984, the organic adventure which is this web site begins here, today, with us and you.

As in all adventures, ïf you have to know (where its going), you canÍt goÍ. ThatÍs because the very nature of adventure is that you donÍt know how itÍs going to work out. You simply forge ahead, resonating with your deepest instincts, and report back from the ever-changing front.

That is what we plan to do- never sure of where it will take us or how it will turn out x but with a clear sense that the universe will grow us if we only show upƒ.and keep on showing up.

We are going to try to do just that. For as long as it is fun.
We invite you to join us.

Your wayward pal,
John Otterbacher