The Plan

Long Term Plan: Sail Freebird back to the Pacific Northwest

  • Initial Preparation – (Nov 2019) We purchased the boat and then had it delivered to Florida. There were definitely more repairs than expected. Isn’t that always the case with boats?! In Florida we repaired the Tri-Nav Light on the top of the mast and the Garmin Wind Transducer that shows both wind speed and direction to the Nav Computer. Plus a whole ton of little things. However, with so many countries restricting due to covid policy , we had to just get our boat from Key Largo and implement plan B… South Carolina where Emma was attending college and playing soccer. Now we love Beaufort and have made that our home port for a while.
  • Major Refitting – 4 years – (May 2020) The Charleston area is fantastic for workmanship. We decided to use that as the location to continue major upgrades. So far we have fixed or upgraded the following:
    • Saildrives – reconditioned and new boots
    • Standing Rigging -new bob stays, new main halyard,
    • Professional rig inspection/tuning from Charleston Yachting
    • Stanchion repair and new lifelines
    • Lithium Ion System – Victron charge controller, inverter, monitor, Expert Power batteries (400ah)
    • New Flexifold folding props
    • Re-wired shore power correctly
    • New fresh water tubing and pumps
    • Redid gray water system, y-valve and through hulls
    • Added front through hulls for future head off the master suite
    • Started replacing the old canvas and restoring to a color closer to the original
    • Re-covered cushions
    • New epoxy countertops
    • Stove top welding and repair
    • Galley renovation
    • NMEA backbone installed and upgraded to WIFI
    • New transom shower
    • Installed new watermaker
    • New solar array
    • All new B&G electronics to include radar, AIS, autopilot,and forward looking sonar
    • Still on the list to do…
      • Recondition engines to replace old hoses, seals and repaint
      • Upgrade alternator
      • New hard top
      • Purchase spinnaker
  • Prep Years. This part adventure could be a decade for all we know while everything is updated. A decade of sailing to the Bahamas, Canada and maybe even Scotland should be plenty of time to learn to speak Spanish before heading through the Panama canal!
  • First Leg – South Carolina to the Bahamas. When the day comes we will sail out of Beaufort for Miami for the last time… although we have become open to a swing over to Europe first… why not?!
  • Second Leg – Bahamas to Panama. This will be a long run with a stop perhaps in Jamaica for provisions. Once we are in Panama, we will go through the canal and then end up on the Pacific Side. If time permits, we will get some cruising in here, as well and perhaps make a long term mooring in one of the great Central American spots.
  • Third Leg – Central America to Hawaii. This leg takes advantages of winds and currents, rather than trying to go against it all up the west coast. It will be long, perhaps a month or more just for the first half. We can’t make the run until after the cyclone season again and because it is so long, we may not be able to do this until sometime in 2024.
  • Final Leg – Hawaii to Coos Bay or Astoria Oregon. This route will take us north before we head east, again taking advantage of currents and trade winds. Coos Bay will be the home port. Once there we will be sailing for fun back up into the Puget Sound during summer time and Freebird will be back close to the waters she was built.