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Early on in the process of formulating my plan, I had focused on getting back out west. I loved my years living in Tacoma in the late 80’s-early 90’s and I had gained experience racing and cruising the waters of Puget Sound and Vancouver Island. I still have many friends out there and it seemed right to look west for my relocation. However, I grew up in New York and New Jersey and spent many summers sailing in Maine. My parents and brother still live out east and the parents are aging, gracefully, but aging nonetheless. There is more interesting cruising out east, in my opinion and the winds of Puget Sound are fickle in the summer. After spending 24 winters in Minnesota, I want to find warmer climes when much of the north resembles Hoth. While the downside to Atlantic-coast cruising is hurricanes, and they are getting more frequent and stronger, the ability to head to the warmer waters of the south-east, or to the Caribbean appeals greatly to me. It’s true that Pacific coast cruising provides access to warmer waters as well but I don’t relish the prospect of biannually transiting the California coast, beautiful as it is, but with far fewer spots to duck into and explore from a boat than the Atlantic.
The kicker here was the new job. I had anticipated being assigned the western territory but after my counterpart, Rich and I were hired, I was assigned the eastern half of the US. Rich is a California native and it only made sense that he take the west. It took some adjustment in my thinking to get used to the idea of going back east but the more I thought about it, the more right it felt for me. I started to limit my boat search to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts with an eye kept on the Great Lakes for suitable vessels.
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