Leaving L.A. to begin the adventure

Here's a picture of me with my loaded-up car ready to drive away to the east. I stayed at Bruce Perry's home for the final few days. It's difficult to see how full the car is because my suit is hanging next to the window in the back seat. I need a suit only for one occasion I know of, and that will be Katie's graduation in mid June.

I am staying with a friend now in Cincinnati, prior to driving the final segment to the boat in Maryland this Friday. I made it here in three days, with some pretty long days in the driver's seat - 760 mi, 892 mi, and 680 mi. Luckily, Hwy 40 was clear and the weather good. No delays until I was a few hours from Cincy, as a tractor trailer overturned and forced a detour, but then the detour came to complete stop for a few hours as a motorcyclist on the detour route was injured and they brought in a helicopter to deal with him.

This week the boat yard is removing the shrink-wrap, bottom-painting the hull, changing the oil (for the first time since it was new - it has only 50 hrs on it), adding a "spur" to the propellor shaft that will cut any tangled lines or weeds that might get caught in the prop during my adventure, and a variety of other maintenance items. Then they will put Breaking Away into the water by Friday or Saturday, ready for our arrival. The electronics guy will be taking me on a four-hour training cruise to teach me how all those devices work, and the dinghy needs to get installed.

I'll post again to let you know how all that goes. Now I'm leaving on a bike ride. It's sunny out there!

Cruise plan in general

To help you picture my intended course, I will describe a general plan. One of the luxuries of taking a year or more to complete this adventure is that we won't need to go out in bad weather (well, as best the weathermen are able to predict). And, if we like a particular spot, we can stay longer.

Starting, and most likely ending, marina is Lippincott Marine, 3420 Main St. Grasonville, MD 21638. It is in Eastern MD, not too far beyond where the Chesapeake Bay Bridge connects on its eastern side. Grasonville is in an area called Kent Narrows, where the bay culture is rich and crab abounds on menus. Remember that you're all invited for the Bon Voyage weekend on May 1 and 2. Drop in any time for an "open boat" party.

Here is the basic cruising schedule:

1) Depart middle of Chesapeake early May, headed north.

2) Enter NY Harbor late May.

3) Arrive Albany up the Hudson River mid June.

4) Leave for Seattle to attend Katie's graduation June 10-13.

5) Erie Canal and then arrive Lake Ontario early July.

6) Trent-Severn Canal across Ontario, arriving Georgian Bay late July.

7) Arrive Lake Superior mid August, including Mackinac Island

8) Arrive Chicago early September. Move on to Illinois River.

9) Arrive Mississippi River late Sept.

10) Arrive Ohio River a few days later.

11) South into Kentucky Lake and Tennessee River through October.

12) Arrive Mobile, AL early Nov.

13) Arrive Tampa Bay mid Nov for Mercurio Thanksgiving on Breaking Away.

14) Arrive Key West mid December. Store boat for six weeks while visiting family and friends.

15) Leave Key West early February.

16) Arrive Georgia early March.

17) Arrive North Carolina mid April.

18) Arrive Chesapeake Bay early May.

19) Arrive at starting point ("cross my wake") mid June.