It would be even cooler if... A plan evolves...

All throughout my life plans have started small(er) and long before departure have grown into expeditions. This one was no different. What started as a plan to sail to Hawaii from California and probably pay a delivery crew to bring her back to the West Coast has now evolved into a multiyear arctic journey. Hmmmmmm, sail to a tropical paradise, swim with turtles and mingle with tourists vs frolicking with polar bears, dodging orcas and seeing no one. Seems comparable. I blame it on Brian and Kevin. And maybe me..........

Step 1 - Decide to do something (Hawaii). Start the boat work to make it happen

Step 2 - Start recruiting similarly deranged but competent crewmembers

Step 3 - Talk to Brian. Somehow end up completely focused on the NW Passage over the top of Canada to Greenland. Still fuzzy how that happened. Brian in.

Step 4 - Talk to Kevin. Kevin in. Hawaii gets axed mercilessly. As I said later "It's like climbing Pikes Peak. Let's work hard to get somewhere that feels like the place we left behind at the start".

Step 5 - Kevin and I begin the new boat modification plan. Follow Kevin's blog posts on the Boat Build. Pretty extensive refit (except actually really extensive).

Step 6 - Bring Josh onto plan. He doesn't have sailing experience, but he can climb stuff and is an expert at outdoor suffering over long periods...

Step 7 - Scott throws hat into ring, brings ton of real, deep expedition experience (think 'crossing Greenland'. Suddenly we feel the impact of actual expertise and delegate all life saving medical responsibility to Scott. I've already discussed Botox with him to keep my fresh, youthful look... I hope he was kidding about not being a doctor.

Step 8 - Canada says "DENIED" for 2021 - appropriately given the variants and the vulnerability of the Inuit and other populations in the north. Can you say "delivery of lemons".

Step 9 - Lemonade time. The Aleutians plan is hatched and NW Passage is moved to 2022. Suddenly it becomes a surf, ski, fish and dive trip through the Aleutian chain. But then where does the boat go for the winter?

Step 10 - After calling every marina in Alaska, I managed to find one of the three last slips for Kailani in all of Alaska - all three at the Valdez Small Boat Marina - just expanded and remodeled. Awesome place right at the base of some of best heli-skiing anywhere. Also a place to store Kailani on the hard for the winter.

So here we are, a team of 5 about to embark on a journey starting with 3-4K nautical miles (5 nautical miles = roughly 6 miles) across the center of the pacific (south and around the pacific trash gyre. Boat is almost ready, crew is almost ready...game on.

Rusty