Where to go?

      The Earth is 70% water, so there are lots of potential places to go sailing.  But a good sailing destination needs to have these attributes:   Lots of little islands to sail around, explore, and break up the waves.  Lovely scenery.  Fair and steady winds.  Warm temperatures.  A good sailing and boating community. 

     And here is the clincher:  it needs to be someplace we can get to with reasonable expense.  The British Virgin Islands, of course, is one of the world's best places to sail, but it costs a pile of money to get there.  (Actually that pretty much describes the entire Caribbean.)  Ideally, we want to go someplace in the continental United States.  An added bonus to that was:  no international customs and immigration hassles.

      And so we chose the Florida Keys.  The Keys are a 100-mile long string of coral islands, stretching in a long southwesterly-curving arc from the southern tip of Florida.  U.S. Highway #1 ran the entire length of the island chain.  Bordering the tropics, the Keys were blessed with the northern-most fringe of the ever-constant easterly trade winds.  All the cruising books agreed:  this was one great place to sail!  And we could fly from Houston to Miami and back on a song.

      Regarding our vessel:  it needed to be large enough to accommodate the whole lot of us, possibly as many as nine people.  All the crew (except me) was very adamant that it must include proper creature comforts, such as air conditioning and nice big beds for all.

    All of these requirements, and more, were met by our chosen vessel, the 44-foot sailing catamaran Rainbows End.  It was owned and operated by a company in Key Largo called 360 Yachting, who made us an offer we just could not refuse:  a ONE-WAY option from Key Largo to Key West.  We were hooked.  This was sure to be one exciting adventure!

      Next came the task of figuring out just where amongst all these islands to go, a true Labor of Love if there ever was one.  Planning an itinerary for such a trip requires much research and a lot of map plotting.  The foremost task was figuring out where to spend each night.  It had to be a suitable place to moor or drop anchor, with proper depth, seabed, protection from weather, and boat swing room.  And it needed to be interesting, or at least picturesque.  And ideally, you want each daily "leg" of the trip to be about equal in length.  And of course, we need to have interim stops along the way to get provisions and such.  

      The first big decision was deciding which side of the island chain to sail upon:  the southerly Atlantic side, or the northerly Gulf of Mexico side.  Each side seemed to have its pros and cons.  And here is the big issue:  you see, the Rainbows End has this freakishly tall mast, at 72 feet.  And all along the route are bridges and power lines that are too low to traverse.  There was, according to the map, only one place to cross between them, a tiny channel called Snake Creek where U.S. Highway #1 had a bascule (hinged) bridge, not far from Key Largo.  Once we crossed, there was no going back until we got to Key West.         

I knew ahead of time it was going to be great!

       After much deliberation, I chose the northerly Gulf route.  It seemed to be more interesting, more diverse, had more marine wildlife, and gave us the opportunity to really "get away from it all" once we reached the lower Keys.   Of course, this "getting away from it all" concept including making sure we had all the provisions needed for the last part of the trip once we left our last opportunity at Marathon.

      And so, with my cruising guide, the Internet, and five full-sized NOAA nautical charts at 1:40,000 resolution, I meticulously plotted out seven nightly stops, including the final one in a Key West marina where, as agreed, we would drop off Rainbows End at the conclusion of the trip.  We were good to go!