The planning for the delivery of Dad’s Dream from St. Thomas in the USVI to Bayfield, Wisconsin began seven years ago when she was purchased and added to the VIP Yachts charter fleet in St. Thomas. We knew the seven-year contract would expire and we would be left with the option of rolling the boat into a new sailboat or pulling her from the azure waters surrounding the Virgin Islands and bringing her north. We chose the latter.

Dad’s Dream is a 40-foot Jeanneau Sun Odyssey completed in December of 1999 and sailed to the USVI in early 2000. The name Dad’s Dream is in honor of my father, who when I was a child, put down a significant amount of money on a beautiful teak ketch with the dream of sailing the world with my mother. Mother was less than enthusiastic about the idea. In fact, after enough of a down payment was provided, mom absolutely refused to even go see the boat, much less set sail on her. Dad lost his deposit and eventually died before fulfilling his dream. Upon his death, he provided us the funds to satisfy his dream as well as ours.

She provided us with seven years of a limited income and some wonderful sailing experiences with family and friends. But during the final year of chartering, we really had to get serious about bringing her home.

The first question we had to answer was, “what route?” The more that question was researched the more options were discovered. Immediately, sailing came to the forefront and seemed to be the “easiest”. The other options disappeared far into the background. I mean, who wouldn’t want to sail for 60 days, up the St. Lawrence Seaway and through the Great Lakes? Proceeding with blinders on, volunteer crew members with a variety of sailing experience were soon acquired. Then, after all was said and done, suddenly 60 days at sea seemed like a mighty long time to be away and besides, Dad’s Dream was needed in Bayfield, Wisconsin at Superior Charters for the summer charter season. Now, 45-days through the Erie Canal came to the forefront.

The 15 day reduction in en route time seemed like the weight of the world was lifted off our shoulders. Now the 45-day trip was the only way to go. Charts, videos, and books were purchased for the ICW and serious planning began. But then, while 45 days was far more appealing, dropping the mast prior to entering the canal and then re-stepping it five days later soon began to detract from this most appealing option. Sixty days/forty five days: which way to go?

The third option sort of crept into the “options” list. Sail Dad’s Dream to an east coast or Gulf Coast port and truck her the remainder of the way to Bayfield. There was even talk of putting her on a “Dockwise” vessel and having them transport her to Ft. Lauderdale or even Ottawa, Canada. That option however was soon discovered to be for rich people only. With Dockwise eliminated as an option, we had to find a port to sail to where they could de-commission the boat, place her on a flatbed, and bring her to her new home.

The first call went to Cross Country Boat Transport, Inc to determine how their rates worked and their thoughts as to which mainland port to arrive. While I tried other overland boat haulers, Cross Country Boat Transport, Inc provided the best customer service and was very responsive to all of my questions and concerns. Naturally their rates included a base fee and then a mileage charge. Logically, sailing Dad’s Dream to the closest port made financial sense. Or did it? Now it sounds like its time to do a cost/benefit analysis. A what?????

More options to consider: Would sailing further, taking more time away from the Bayfield charter service, save more money? Should we hit the closest port, save time but add more cost to the project? Then there is the cost of the decommissioning of the boat. I wasn’t prepared for that cost. Ultimately, Sail Harbor Marina and Boatyard in Savannah, Georgia was selected because of, once again customer service, and prices for their service.

While all of this was going on, Dad’s Dream needed equipment to make this adventure safer. It’s sort of funny how the electronics came up first. Maybe it’s a “man-thing”. So I bought a state-of-the-art navigation system (until the following day when it became “out-dated”) with XM satellite weather and three-dimensional mapping. I bought inflatable vests and a life raft. I bought tethers, paper charts, a bosun’s chair, tool box, thru-hull plugs, and oh, did I fail to mention brand new sails and an autopilot? Then with all of the electronics installed, naturally I need chips for the GPS NAV station. Over $20,000 later, I’m ready to get down to planning the actual trip. Oh, now I see I forgot to mention food and drink!

So now the calculation begins: five people times 14 days en route times one gallon per day comes up to 70 gallons of potable water in one gallon jugs! And that is just for water! Storage becomes an issue especially since food has yet to be added. Then comes the fuel!

Dad’s Dream does not have a generator and so in order to charge the batteries after a long night at sea, or heavy autopilot use, or using the new electronic navigation unit, we may need to run the engine at 1600rpm for two hours a day. So that means approximately one gallon per hour, at two hours a day, and arriving in Savannah we would have SIX gallons left to motor up the river to the harbor! Now we need to consider buying jerry cans so maybe we can motor across the Gulf Stream and up the river to the harbor. And if we hit doldrums, we need to motor in order to attempt to maintain the two-week allotted time. But putting the engine in gear, at five knots, now we’re looking at three and half gallons per hour! Now we’re looking at dragging a barge behind us to carry enough fuel! Actually we ended up agreeing on strapping eight, five-gallon jerry cans to the lifelines. Tis’ better to be safe than sorry….or out of fuel on arrival.

The most important aspect of the entire trip however is the crew. While I had many volunteers for this entire trip, four friends were added along the way.

Rusty has been a friend of mine for many years as we both worked for Northwest Airlines until both of us retired. We met mainly electronically in messages sent between his flight and my computer and soon we found common interests in sailing in particular. As it turns out Rusty is also a “delivery captain” and sailing instructor! Naturally I knew he would be a tremendous resource for information. Never in my wildest dreams had I anticipated him sacrificing two weeks out of his life to help me trudge across an open ocean. When he volunteered to go with me, naturally I said yes and told him, “You’re in charge”.

Steve has been a friend for many years. I used to drive a ski boat with the Prior Lake Water Ski Show Team and Steve was a stand-out water skier. Eventually Steve expanded his horizons and became an active member of the Lake Harriet Yacht Club. Soon Steve was taking sailing courses for cruising and eventually Coastal Navigation offered through Northern Breezes Sailing School. Steve is handling some of the communications that we will be using to communicate with family and friends while en route.

Scott and I first met ten years ago when we were assigned to a special project at Northwest Airlines. That project call Crew Resource Management turned out to be the most rewarding aspect of my 32 year career with the airline and through that, Scott and I remained friends even after the project was up and running. Determining watches for four crew members was Scott’s responsibility. We came up with options and Scott displayed those options in graphics form. Naturally after that was finalized we changed it by adding a fifth crew member!

Lora kept a close eye on my wife and me during I time with the Prior Lake Yacht Club. In fact if you think of the PLYC, you’ll think of Lora along with her wonderful husband, Mike. While we were talking about something totally unrelated to sailing, I happened to mention the delivery. After switching ears due to a ruptured ear drum, Lora related to me that she had just received her Coast Guard Captain’s rating for inland lakes as well as the opportunity for a delivery for a friend in 2009! While I felt that five would be too crowded for two weeks at sea, the remainder of our crew felt otherwise.

Soon Lora, Steve, and I were enrolled in Northern Breezes, ASA endorsed Coastal Navigation course; a course I’ve always tried to avoid. Steve and Lora excelled in the course while my partner, Lora carried me through. Now that the course is over and we all passed, I’m looking forward to getting to the actual planning portion of the trip. To make matters even more interesting, Rusty is bringing down two sextants for us to work en route. (I just know my first fix will place us on the dark side of the moon.)