The Idea for a second Grand Voyage

A little over four years ago, I left Chattanooga aboard my 36-foot sailboat, Agaliha, on a 2,101 mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico and around the Florida coast.  I called that trip my bucket trip (see my blog: ronsbuckettrip.blogspot.com).  I came home, didn't "kick the bucket," and I've been thinking about another trip ever since I finished the last one.

I learned on that trip that a sailboat is not the ideal vehicle for a coastal trip.  I motored a majority of the time and the height of the mast and depth of the keel made navigation more difficult.  Also, my wife Linda joined me on several stops of that trip.  After a week in Key West in a marina, she said, "The next time I spend a week with you, I want to be a part of moving the boat."  A few weeks later she loved the trip from Marathon to Palm Beach and so did I.  So, when the first trip was over, I sold Agaliha to a friend and Linda and I bought a vessel more suitable to our style of cruising together.

We wanted a boat big enough for the two of us to live aboard (three counting Olive, our Jack Russell Terrier), yet small enough for the two of us to handle in all kinds of conditions.  We also wanted a boat that could be trucked easily without any major disassembly.  We wanted a generator to run Linda's hair dryer, twin diesel engines, propane cooking fuel and a "walk-around" V-berth to sleep in.  We found a boat in Naples, Florida meeting those requirements -- a Sabre 36 Express.  For non-boaters, her style is called "Downeast."

The boat had been owned for 12 years by another former sailor.  He bought the boat new from the factory in Maine and named her "Freedom."  We re-christened her "Invictus" -- the subject of future blog -- and have enjoyed getting used to her for the past three years on the Tennessee River.

We immediately started to dream of another Grand Voyage that we could do together.  We considered becoming "loopers" and doing the "Great Loop," but decided that we really didn't have much interest in doing the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.  Ultimately, we decided to pick up where I left off, at the Florida-Georgia line and go Northeast until we get tired of it.

So, the title of this blog comes from those decisions. We are going Northeast in a Downeast cruiser.  Northeast by Downeast.  We are making plans to truck the boat to Savannah in early April.  We hope you will join us via the miracle of the internet.

Ron, Linda and Olive

 Inside Invictus

Invictus at anchor in the Tennessee River