Lynn and I had developed two main objectives for this “Grand Voyage”; one, to enjoy each other's company on our three-year anniversary, and two, to show that a couple over 50, with no boating experience, can, in a reasonably short period, gain the knowledge and experience necessary to take on a long range voyage of this type, safely and comfortably.
“We’re casting off. We’re finally on our way, sailing into the unknown, … to strange lands, and unknown adventure.” We were told we shouldn’t do it without having years of experience to which we said, “Rubbish”. And we know that many of our fellow boomers could do likewise.
Even though we were both over 50, we were able to accomplish this “Grand Voyage” on our own boat, a 1970 DeFever Alaskan trawler, and went out onto the oceans of the world. We took on the naysayers and skeptics and took on this grand voyage upon the seas, the same seas that have witnessed the history and development of our race.
Come with us in this exciting adventure as we tell of our travels, our discoveries, and the people we met. And give a listen as we describe and outline all those ins and outs of planning, preparing and successfully completing such a long range voyage. We tell how we accomplished this safely and comfortably, as well as describing many aspects of Long Range Cruising that we could not find in any of today’s sailing and trawlering books and articles.
Now that it’s over we can honestly say we feel just a little larger than life, but a little more humble, a little more complete, and a little more in awe of that which God has created and allowed us to witness. It has changed our lives, our view of the world, and has opened and enriched our hearts to the wonderment of friendships.
So, sail with us as we depart from San Diego, California, and head down through Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, through the Panama Canal, then up to Isla San Andres, and Isla Roatan, to Belize, to Eastern Mexico, then on to Key West, Florida. We then travel up the ICW to New York, up the Hudson River, the Erie Canal and on to the Great Lakes, down to Chicago, the Chicago River, The Mississippi River, The Ohio and Tennessee Rivers, down through the Tenn-Tomm to Mobile Bay, then back to Florida and home.
We hope our experiences are helpful, and "We wish all of you who cruise, fair weather, and may the wind always be at your back. But we know better, and that's just part of the adventure."C
Lynn and Les Cotton consider themselves just regular folks but adventurous at heart. Lynn retired as a registered nurse after 30 years of service at the University of California, Irvine. Les retired after 30 years in upper management of electronics manufacturing. Les felt that Lynn was the better writer, but he had the desire and ambition to write their story. So they conspired to set into words their incredible journey through romance and adventure, through new wonders and experiences. And they made this writing both an adventure and ‘How to’ dialog for all the seeking knowledge of sailing off on the oceans of the world. And with their combined ‘mine and yours’ families, they are blessed with 6 children and 6 grandchildren, it’s the only thing keeping them from taking off and doing it all over again.