Suggested routes for 14 month trip

Just starting to plan a 14 month trip originating on west coast USA- plan to sell the boat at the end of the 14 months. Will be starting in late June. What routes might you all suggest? Thanks!

Hey poppop
Do you have the boat currently? What is she capable of?

Down the left coast , stops along the way, thru the Panama Canal, out into the Carib

, OR to the USA and if inshore travel is your bag , round the Loop. 6 months of inshore.

I would suggest the AICW to the loop with a reversal at Chicago , then the Rideau thru lake Champlain to New England.

End up in DC or CT for the best cash price for your boat.

Bon Voyage!

Gabe n Em said:

Hey poppop
Do you have the boat currently? What is she capable of?

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We don't yet have the boat- looking at 55' nordhavn's-

Sounds like a wonderful journey is in the works, nice!

That boat draws a bit much for loop fun, in my opinion anyway.

Since no boat yet-buy one in Pacific Northwest-head north and do a portion of the Inside Passage-be back in Washington early September then head south.

Or, do it the other way-head south first-Mexico, Central America then the following spring make the trip north into Washington, British Columbia, Alaska and back down in August which will be the end of the 14 months.

Alaska to Fort Lauderdale.

With a boat like a Nordhavn I can't imagine leaving Alaska out of your plans. I certainly plan to go back there.

Richard

Thanks. We'd hoped to be able to work our way through the Panama Canal and over to Europe- but may be too ambitious- and bad weather timing with a June departure out of SoCal.

check out Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes.

Leaving Socal in June puts you in Hurricane territory for the next 5 months.

Also crossing the Atlantic needs to be done in July, the mid Atlantic get problematic by mid August.

Any reason for the exact 14 month time frame?

End up where the boat will sell if that's what you want to do......

Thanks for the help- We are doing the 14 months with our son (home schooling) and we would like to get him back in time to begin his school year in late summer 2017.

May-June for the best weather in Alaska. By August it's getting pretty snotty and you want to be through Mexico by the end of August to avoid the Hurricane season there. The best weather in Alaska seems to be coming a little bit earlier every year, and fall weather seems to be likewise coming a little earlier too. Climate change

...

This one is a classic. Educational, too.

QB said:

This one is a classic. Educational, too.

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Cook?

Starting in June head north up the wet coast...keep going....August-September do the NW Passage, end of September Greenland, October across to Norway, then south, Portugal for Christmas, in spring head into the Mediterranean, Summer in Turkey, August back across to Ft. Lauderdale to sell the boat.....

N55? Head to Hawaii then on to Japan. Slow cruise the Orient and South Pacific ending up in Australia and sell the boat.

Edit: Circumnavigation of Japan, New Zealand and Australia are foregone conclusions. Enjoy the trip.

I don't think we are helping.......

14 months is not a lot. Whatever you're planning, double the cost and triple the time.

Tad Roberts said:

Cook?

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Yes, the third voyage. Red is before, and blue after, that little unpleasantness in the Sandwich Islands. Most cruisers these days shouldn't have the same problem.

With a family, I'd probably lean away from ocean crossings, so unless you have a real yearning for Europe, I'd stay around North America.

I'd head north first and explore the Pacific North West. How far north you get will depend on where on the West coast you begin. Alaska would be great, but BC is amazing too.

Then I would head south for the winter exploring Mexico and S America, go through the canal, explore the caribean and/or Bahamas.

Then come May or so I would head up the east coast as far as time allows, including Nova Scotia if possible.

Wrap up the end of August and head back to school with the kids. Sell the boat in Boston or somewhere on the east coast.

That's a lot of ground to cover, but I think would be a great experience for all involved and show you a wide variety of different places.

If you are looking for spend less time moving and more time exploring each location, then I'd go north the first summer and explore Puget Sound and southern BC, head south for the winter, but don't go through the canal. Then go back north the next summer and focus on northern BC and Alaska. Then sell the boat in Seattle and send the kids back to school.

A Nordhavn 55 would be a very comfortable boat for that trip.

Having done a similar trip to this one in 2014-15, here would be my recommendation for consideration.

June, July and half of August to Alaska. Not just the SE portion, but all the way to at least Seward, Kodiak and Valdez. Then back to Vancouver, Victoria and some of the Canadian Islands and all of Washington. October head south. Spend two months in Oregon and California. December to Mexico. I would spend two months down the coast including Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, Mazatlan, Vallarta, Acapulco, Bahias de Huatulco, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama City. That brings us to February. February and March, the Panama Canal, the Caribbean Coast of Panama and a side journey to Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

April, on up the coast to Belize, Puerto Aventuras and Cancun. June a quick trip across to Key West. Then May and June exploring Florida and the Bahamas. July on up the East Coast to the Chesapeake area or so as remaining time permits.

There are many ways to do it, but there is so much to see in all those areas. You could hurry some of the other areas and leave more time for the East Coast and perhaps time to explore the Gulf of Mexico and the coast there.

14 months seems like so long, but when you do it you realize you can only schedule so much.

What 14 month itineraries would you all suggest if we launched from Florida/ east coast rather than from California? Since we haven't bought the boat we could start elsewhere. Thanks for the help.

We did the same planning a few years ago when contemplating and negotiating for new Ns or the N55 used. Twistedtree is one to certainly listen to but have you gone to the Nordhavn site and looked at all the trips already logged in, hundreds if not thousands of them.

The journey is an investment into a large vessel that will eventually be sold. How you go about buying, equipping, after trip refit as required and then selling is as much a part of the journey as anything. We had a 3 year business plan with the ending point being Dana Point and Nordhavn being the broker on both ends.

Where you go is limitless in scope but 14 months is way too quick unless you stay on one or both US coasts. The Ns are slow so distance is severely time limited. Have you thought of a faster blue water vessel so the 14 months is with more ports of call over say 50% additional distance?

Assuming the same June start. I wish you had more like a March or April start.

I'm not going to make an assumption on where you buy the boat but just outline areas by the time of year. You'd have to adjust based on starting location.

The following areas are best for May through September.

I'd want a month in Massachusetts, between Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, Hyannis, and Boston and ending around Plymouth with a trip through the canal to perhaps North Falmouth, South Dartmouth and then to Newport RI. From Newport, I'd want to head to the Long Island Sound and spend at least a month between Newport, Long Island Sound and New York City. A couple of weeks along the New Jersey Coast from Atlantic City to Cape May, then to Ocean City. While Ocean City is a bit out of the way to what I'll suggest next, it's more than worth it. Then I'd take the Delaware and the canal with perhaps a stop in Chesapeake City and into the Chesapeake. That brings us to around 12 weeks.

There is so much to see in the Chesapeake. I would go to Baltimore, then Annapolis. Then you hit the smaller towns. The Eastern Bay, St. Michael's is a don't miss to me, Kent Island, Tilghman Island, Oxford and Cambridge, both on the Choptank, Chesapeake Beach, Solomons. That is at least 5 weeks. I'd want two weeks up the Potomac and to DC. Then one of my favorite stops is Cape Charles before going to the Tidewater area of Norfolk, Hampton, Portsmouth, Newport News. So that's 20-21 weeks I've labeled North of Virginia. This is the area you're going to want to see during the summer months and perhaps May and September.

For North Carolina and South Carolina you probably have two more months of pleasant boating. Now recognize you're going to have two summer periods to use if you start in June for 14 months.

Out of NC, SC, and GA, while we love them all, NC has more different spots to see. Between Beaufort and Portsmouth, VA, you have Coinjock, Belhaven, New Bern. Manteo, Elizabeth City, Washington, NC., Oriental, Wanchese, Hatteras, and Ocracoke. That's three weeks minimum. Total to this point 24 weeks.

Beaufort and Morehead City merit an extended stop. We're not a fan of the ICW between there and Wrightsville Beach but others are. I'd allocate at least 4 weeks for Beaufort, Morehead City, Wrightsville, Wilimington and the Cape Fear, Bald Head Island and Southport. Sub total 28.

South Carolina, the next stretch south is Myrtle Beach, Georgetown, and Charleston. Perhaps a couple of stops between. Beaufort, SC, Port Royal, Port Royal Sound, lead you to Hilton Head. I'd allow 4 to 5 weeks for SC. Sub total 33.

Georgia is interesting with islands like Tybee and Jekyll and St. Simons. Then there are two mainland towns I think of. Savannah is worth going up the river and into the downtown area and spending days. Brunswick is a nice water oriented small town. I'd allow 3 weeks for GA. Sub total 36.

I'm going to cover Florida's east coast in sections. First is Georgia Border to Melbourne. Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island are worth a couple of days. Then there is Jacksonville and the St. John's River. A couple of days for the city, a couple for the river. Next major stop is St. Augustine and it's worth the better part of a week. We like a day or two stop over in Palm Coast. Then two or three days in Daytona Beach. Perhaps a quick stop in New Smyrna and then you're to Titusville and Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. I give that entire area of Northeast FL at least 3 weeks. Sub Total 39.

Now, Melbourne to the St. Lucie Inlet. Vero Beach and Ft Pierce are brief stops. However, the St. Lucie River brings you to Stuart and it brings you across to the West Coast of FL. At some point you'll probably want to loop South Florida taking the route around the Keys one way and the Okeechobee across the other way. So, we'll a week for this section of the coast and the trip across. Sub total 40.

From Jupiter to South Miami is continuous water pleasure. Between the Palm Beaches, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and the Biscayne Bay, I can't imagine spending less than a month. Then from Miami you have a multitude of sounds and islands, places like Key Largo, Tavernier, and Marathon Bringing you to Key West. Counting several days in Key West, I would allow 6 weeks for this section and we're to 46 weeks. I'd spend at least six of the remaining weeks in the Bahamas. You won't even touch them. Just hit on Bimini, the Berry's, Nassau, Grand Bahama, the Abacos, Eleuthera, Andros and the Exumas. That brings us to 52 weeks

For the remaining 8 weeks, I'd include the west coast of Florida and the gulf. We love Naples for 2-3 days, Sanibel for a brief stop, Ft. Myers for a couple, the Charlotte Harbor for 1, Venice for 2 or 3 at least, at least 2 or 3 in the Sarasota area, a brief stop perhaps at Longboat Key. Then you reach Tampa Bay. The better part of a week between St. Petersburg and Tampa and then a few more days at Clearwater. That's at least 4 weeks. That brings us to a total of 13 out of your 14 months.

Sadly, I don't think it likely leaves time for crossing to Carabelle, Panama City, Pensacola, Mobile, Gulfport and New Orleans if you're running under 10 knots and definitely not enough to fit Texas in.

It can be a wonderful trip. How does it compare to the trip around and through the Panama Canal? Both are wonderful. On the Panama Canal route you're seeing more countries, a greater variety of culture and scenery. But the price is that you're spending more time traveling on the water and not seeing things. Taking the East Coast trip, you see a tremendous portion of the US. You'll see the sights of history from much earlier than you've seen from the west coast. If you haven't traveled this area, you'll see places you're read about only in history books. I do not like reading history, but I like hearing the story of the lost colony in Manteo or seeing Plymouth Rock or the sight of the Boston Tea Party or Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty or seeing where the Wright Brothers made their flight and where space travel originated in the US. Seeing the Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, and White House. So many different kinds of beauty to be seen. There's a lot similar and then so much different. Then toss in the Bahamas which are like a vacation to your vacation. I still can't believe that in moving to South Florida we got this playground right off our coast of hundreds and hundreds of islands.

Who knows. By the time you make your trip, you may even go 90 miles out of your way and visit Cuba.

I think either of the paths you've thought of would be great. It's really a matter of what would you and your family like most to see. It will definitely be a time you're never forget.

Costs

Thanks to everyone for the feedback- you all are an invaluable resource.

We have penciled in the Alaska to Rhode Island itinerary for 14 months starting late 6/2015.

What should we roughly expect in terms of expenses during the 14 months? Is there a rule of thumb when budgeting expenses? Obviously repairs can change everything.

Thanks again.

Forgive me if this has been answered and I missed it but do you own a boat yet? 5 months ain't long to get a boat ready for a 14 month liveaboard trip.

bigpoppop said:

Thanks to everyone for the feedback- you all are an invaluable resource.

We have penciled in the Alaska to Rhode Island itinerary for 14 months starting late 6/2015.

What should we roughly expect in terms of expenses during the 14 months? Is there a rule of thumb when budgeting expenses? Obviously repairs can change everything.

Thanks again.

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Can't really answer that if we don't know what type and age and condition of boat. Nor do we know how you intend to live. Do you plan marinas every night or anchoring? Meals on the boat or five star restaurants? Explore the towns inexpensively or visit every high priced site? Buy souvenirs at each stop? Then there's the loss you'll take on the boat and the maintenance. Use agents for each country or try to go without except where required? Don't overlook that there are significant entry charges plus the charges for going through the canal.

How do you normally live? Frugally or extravagantly? Now many will say this won't be much different, but this is a long vacation and most people spend more time on vacation. At home, we don't eat out more than once a week. Traveling we want to at least try one restaurant in every city we visit.

Experience to date?