Welcome and thanks for checking out our new website! The posts to come will include details of our voyage, as well as photo and video content as it comes. Right now, the crew of Winnie is all packed up, and we are waiting on some final engine work to be completed by the boatyard in St Louis, MO. It has been a long time coming (around 4 years since first notion of the idea), and it is super exciting that we are finally about to put Winnie back in the water and make our way south to the ocean where she belongs!

Lately, we have been feeling a little antsy, but have found plenty of projects to accomplish. We have been finishing up last minute purchases such as a life raft and camera gear, as well as putting the ship’s name and port of call on the stern. We’ve made several trips to the boatyard to pack up gear, install equipment, and check on the progress of our new engine. It is exciting loading Winnie with all of the possessions we have carefully chosen. As we line the shelves with our shared collection of books and pick our closet space for our backpacks of clothing and shoes, we become more thrilled and eager to make this modest 35 foot sailboat our home.

Kassie, Kyle, and Dylan all quit their jobs and sold their cars a little prematurely, since the plan was to get out of here mid-December. If everything comes together as expected, we should be pushing off right around February 1st. Since we are departing a little bit later than originally expected, we will have less time hanging out in the gulf, and try to make decent time towards Panama, in order to catch good trade winds. We have also been monitoring the ice flow on the rivers, and we might catch a good weather window clear of all ice.

On an upside to being delayed, we were able to fit in some winter fun before spending several months in the tropics. The lake where we live froze over and we were able to fit in several days of skating, ice hockey, and a fun afternoon of Kyle trying out a windsurfer with ice skates…worked out better than we thought it would.

This weekend we will be back at the boat for more packing and hopefully a running engine! Photos and video to come.