Hello all!

[Tigerlily]

My name is Kenny, I live in Madison Wisconsin, and my girlfriend and I are saving up to buy a boat.

Our plan is to sail down the mississippi on a small liveaboard sailboat, and make our way to south america. We don't have a boat yet, we have some charts for planning and a sextant. We don't know any specifics yet, just that we are going down the mississippi and sailing to ecuador. I have been saling since I was little and know the basics, but we are both learning about real coastal and offshore cruising. We are reading lots of good books such as Sensible Cruising, and books by the Pardeys and Slocum. Our departure date is july of 2006.

We are spending all our free time researching for this trip and any help and advice from fellow cruisers would be a much appreciated. We have never ending questions regarding these topics:

cruising sailboat design
safety of destinations
weather patterns and conditions
hurricane season safe spots
navigation
buying charts
diesel engines
natural gas engines
creating an income
communications

I intend on using this blog intensively to answer some of these questions and to find some friends who can help support our cause. I have never really used a blog like this or participated in an online community before, so I may need to learn a few thigs first. Well, that's all for my first thread. See you all down the road.

-Kenny

[NoTies]

Welcome Kenny, congratulations on the beginnings of living the dream. You'll find this forum an exciting place to learn and I'm sure with your experience you will have a lot to contribute as well.
Pete

[delmarrey]

Kenny,
Welcome aboard! There's alot to learn here and maybe you'll become addicted like a lot of us has. ........................._/)