Please take a moment to vicariously join me on a sailing trip around the world.

We'll be going East about, and following the historic routes used by the Clipper Ships of the 17 and 1800's and even a bit into the 1900's.  Very seldom will our course take us directly from one point to another.  Instead, we'll be using currents, historical weather patterns and what many a sailing ship Captain calls the "game of little squares" to speed us on our way.  Perhaps one day I'll explain that game. 

With about 3 tons of food, supplies and equipment safely stowed in every compartment and locker, this could be one scenario of how the voyage might progress. 

Following cast off on a cool November morning, once clear of the breakwater, the sails are set, a course of  210 degrees is laid in, and roughly 3 or 4 weeks later we’ll be astraddle of the Equator.  We’ll pause here with the bow in the Southern Hemisphere and the stern in the Northern to toast King Neptune with a glass of Champaign while offering him an equally abundant amount.   Then we set a new course just East of South.   About the time we pass Easter Island and its great monoliths, it will be time to start slowly bending our course to port thus following the currents and weather systems.  Soon we’ll pass Cape Horn and be a little more than 55 degrees south.  It’s January and the middle of summer, but we need to be on the lookout for icebergs.

Once past the Horn, I could in keeping with the lore of the sea, wear an earring in my left ear.  I think I’ll pass on that custom!  If we stay at 55 south, the trip around would be much quicker, but the weather that far south can be a killer.  It’s time to head NE to about 40 to 45 south and then East to the Cape of Good Hope.  I’m looking for 3 to 4 weeks to cross the Southern Atlantic Ocean.

With the Cape of Good Hope slipping by the port rail we are now in the Indian Ocean and headed NE towards our first antipode.  To be a true circumnavigation, we’ll have to cross at least one point (an antipode) that is exactly opposite of another point along our route of travel.  This one is exactly opposite of our point of departure.  Once we’ve made our antipode, it’s time to head south again.  Tasmania is just a mere 6 weeks away.  Depending on weather, I may elect to either go north or south of Tasmania and then NE through the Tasman Sea.

Where now, why Paradise of course!  But I have a reason for this route.  I’m a Marine, I respect my elders and I honor those who served before me, many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice.  I take this route so that I may honor my father who served in the South Pacific during WWII and was a plank holder on the USS Nevada.  I would also like to honor all of our service men and women who served in the Pacific Theater.  My course will take me past New Caledonia, Vanuatu, then into the Solomon Islands where Guadalcanal and Bougalville are located.  Then NE to Tarawa and the Gilbert Islands.  Before heading east towards Hawaii we’ll sail past Kwajalein in the Marshall’s and then past Wake Island.  So many young men and women who had the courage to stand in harms way and even today their eternal spirits stand guard over some far off island so that we may live free.  In sight of each of these great moments in history, I will stand tall and with the ships colors dipped offer a sharp salute to all who served for I am humbled in their presence.

Now it time to head east towards home yet passing close enough to Pearl Harbor to extend the same courtesy to all who served and especially to those who perished.  Very likely we’ll be home in late June. 

This journey will cover roughly 30,000 miles and about 8 months.  It will span a winter and then two summers in a row and will be accomplished solo and non-stop.  With the support and spirit of a California High Desert Community this baby boomer Grandfather with two factory built knees and a handicap placard in his pickup truck will accomplish a feat that few have achieved.  Being a senior citizen, does not mean that you have to accept retirement as the time in life to feed the birds in the park.  The horizon is there so that you can cross it day after day, without ever really putting it behind you.  Each of us must reach for a goal in life that can be completed without ever really reaching the next horizon.