I have a plan also, to circumnavigate the earth, and at the same time have a lot of fun while I sail headlong into the final sunset on a on a warm sea breeze falling over the edge of the ocean again and again like one long endless day…..

First you have to have a boat and……

Back in 1972 I found myself in Gambrills Maryland for a time. One day I stumbled upon the Dickerson boatyard in trapp and watched them building boats all afternoon. At the time they were finishing up some 40 ft. center cockpit, aft cabin, ketch rig’s.

Bill Dickerson was in the process of selling the boatyard and the new owners were going to switch to fiberglass production. All of the earlier Dickersons were mahagony on white oak frame with lots of plywood on deck and inside.

I saw these boats and you could say I fell in love, then and there, and I knew that one day I would take one of those used boats to some back water port and emblish her with exotic hard woods fom the tropics. You see I was dreaming then of the caravel style and wanted to build a boat and I saw the Dickerson as a hull and sail plan I didn’t really like the plywood that he used for the deck and interior so I knew deep inside that I could change and modify one of these boats one day!

That was then……I finally settled down and started a family and learned to lay bricks and worked as a bricklayer and raised three kids and started an herb farm and got into local politics and ran for office then sent the children off to college the last one is busy graduating in a year or so and I retired.

Indending to find the “dreamboat” and having time on my hands I searched the internet for Dickerson boatyard. To no avail then one day I found a site that cross referenced many other sites and found the “Dickerson owners club” a site that no longer was up and running but it lead me the owners forum which lead me Dickersons for sale and that in time lead me to my boat.

Second you have to have a plan………

My ultimate plan is to leave the chesapeake bay in may 2012 and cross the atlantic to Brest France for the wooden boat festival held every 4 years in July. Then sail the med. until fall and then go north to Amsterdam for November. Then after hurricane season start to sail south along the west coast of Africa round the cape and sail the Indian ocean north along the east coast of africa around Madagaskar to the equator and then along to the straits and into the south china sea visiting the Islands, and Thialand and Viet Nam. By then it should be march or april of 2013.

The sail continues north past Tiawan and Japan and on northward to the Aleutian islands sometime near the summer solstice then follow the sun south along the pacific coast of the U.S. following the whales south to Cabo san lucas Baja then sail the gulf to Guymas Sonora then back out and on to Puerta Vallarta and ports “mas del sur”.

By this time it is time for thanksgiving tuna somewhere near the trades and time for the decision do we head west following the southern cross to the marquesas and fall in love and continue on into the sunseting on the south pacific???? Or do we turn to port and cross panama through the canal and winter in carribean Guatamala along the Rio Dulce sailing by day and dancing in moon light by night. Then sailing north and following the sun through the islands back to the chesapeake.

3rd. before the big plan you have little plan’s…..

Every thing else being equal the main plan is 4 years away and in the meantime the minor “PLANS” must unfold.

The minor plans are many and may not be in exactly this order….
1st. Haul out the boat and survey the bottom and rifit the the through hulls and install a transducer for the sonar. Repair and repaint. 
2nd. Put together a crew this may or may not be the final crew but my first thoughts are that if someone signs on early they get more say when the real voyage begins. That means if you help outfit and sail the boat over the
over the next four years you get a warmer welcome aboard than a green crew member who has to prove themselves would get. Plus you already know the other crew members. Who ever they may be!
3rd. Sail south for the winter at least to the keys following the ICW to Beaford N.C. then depending on the weather go outside, stow the iron jenny and sail south along the coast under full sail. Weather not in favor continue on
under power. Stop in the keys resupply stores live aboard and decide if Cuba and the Carribean or Bahama and the islands would be best for the winter…..some
choice.
4th. Bring her back north and arrive back to the bay by mid- April.

Everything depends on both finding willing compatable crew and outfitting the boat for 2 years of cruising. To me that means making the boat compatable to each crew member as well as pracitical for cruising. Things like privacy, personal hygene habits, diet, general health, work ethics, personality, and many not mentioned items have to be taken into consideration.

For instance you are a writer and as a writer do you require privacy? or silence? or calm? or electricity? or the internet? these are all bridges that have to be crossed if you need any of the things the words describe.

The cost of the refit and operation of the boat have to be considered also. I already own the boat and I am paying for the haul out and bottom and transducer and survey and relaunch. So that cost is out of the picture.

I am also planing to take her south this winter, crewless if I have to, so if I am going it alone I’ll be paying everything by myself anyway.

Well like I told Bob, my friend who helped me bring the boat back to the bay, when he asked me how much would it cost him to go south for the winter? I repilied Man if I’m going that way anyway it will not cost you any thing as long as you eat the foods I bring aboard and drink the grog I bring aboard. If you don’t like my food and or drink or you want to shower with hot water or wash clothes or go to a bar or restrauant well bring you should bring your own money. But if you just want to go well then welcome aboard but you must help out along the way.

The money thing is revelant only to what you desire. My friend Bob and his son David helped me bring her back from Hilton Head S.C. and we lived aboard for 12 days. During that time I learned that Bob had not been exactly honest when he told me he had experience on sail boats. He may have been aboard before in the past but he had never left the relative safety of the harbor or so it seems. When we entered the Bay out of Newport News channel and headed east to the shipping lanes Bob got nervous more and more. He would not say why but it was obivious he was agitated an as it turned out he feared losing sight of land. So we had to time the trip so we could tie up at a marina to shower and get on land each night and that cost $60 or so each night and it would have been nice to share the cost. But this was my return trip so as revelance goes I paid but I told Bob “when we leave and head south again costs will be shared by the crew”.

Well you just cannot go blue water without giving up land now can you capt?? Or you cannot expect a free lunch either if you want to be independant.

My point is that Bob may help up to the point of really sailing somewhere but as crew he cannot afford to join as he will constantly have to go somewhere to earn money to move on. So I cannot count on him for crew and he has got to see the land so I cannot count on him if I want to go further than the keys. When I go further he will want to leave and fly to where ever the boat is if he wants to rejoin the sail.

So as it stands today I have no permanent crew other than myself. I have other friends who will help me along the way for 1 or 2 weeks but to go blue water for any length of time I must locate compatable crew. Willing to work toward the Brest circumnavigation plan.

I have to go but if you seem to like the plans get back with me. 

Fair Winds Capt. Lee

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