Steve and Deborah, husband and wife co-captains, are now cruising on our sailing vessel ARGO, a Valiant 42.  She was built to our custom specifications and delivered to us in April 2002.  We left Houston in March 2003 and plan an open-ended cruise. 

PART 1:  After 2-¼ years, we had to return briefly with ARGO, arriving in Houston May 30, 2005.  During that 2-¼ years out, we logged 7,200 nautical miles (8,300 miles).  Our travels have been mostly in the Bahamas, Eastern Caribbean and South America.  We have visited 24 countries, 58 separate islands and anchorages too numerous to count.  We have endured a couple of tropical storms and narrowly escaped hurricane Ivan.  Our journey has included 38 overnight passages.  We have met (and logged in) over 400 cruising boats (800 people) that we have met along the way, and continue to stay in touch with many.

PART 2:  We again departed Houston in March 2006 and plan on spending a few years in the Western Caribbean / Central America.  After that, we'll see . . .

To find out where we are now, or to keep track of us during passages, click the above Position Report button.  Additionally, the Where are We? page has other links, some showing awesome, zoomable satellite views.  Our position is updated every time ARGO moves.  The Pictures/Journal and Route/Maps pages are updated periodically.

For those new (or old) to our website, check out our .  .  .

Favorite Pictures Slide Show

"Retire early and go cruising!"

Update at a glance . . . August 15, 2008 from Bocas del Toro, Panama:  Read updates from Panama at Pictures/Journal page 31.  We will be visiting the USA all of September and October, so we look forward to seeing our stateside family and friends soon.  After we return to ARGO, we plan to spend a year or two in Panama, the San Blas Islands and Cartagena, Colombia.

July 25, 2008 from Bocas del Toro, Panama:  We left Guanaja, a Bay Island of Honduras, in early May and arrived in northwestern* Panama (Caribbean side) mid-June, covering about 850 statute miles.  Enlarge the map at right to see our route and anchorages.  We had a lot of fun traveling down with four other boats - Texans, Australians/Croatian, Brits and French/French Canadian.  Our trip down included a stop at Trujillo on mainland Honduras; a nasty passage "around the corner" of Honduras/Nicaragua which included being closely chased by a water spout (tornado over water); and a stop at Vivarillos, two very small cays (islands) off Honduras' southeast coast.  We spent a week at Isla Providencia, a very neat, colorful French-feeling island.  We stayed several days at the very remote Albuquerque Cays which are two small islands - one home to fishermen and the other an outpost for the Colombian army - thick with palm trees and surrounded by extensive reefs and turquoise waters.  Although Providencia and Albuquerque Cays are owned by Colombia, they are located way off the coast of Nicaragua in the middle of nowhere.  As of Albuquerque Cays, ARGO has put 10,000 n. miles under her keel.  On June 18 we arrived in Bocas del Toro, Panama, a large area with lots of islands and coves to explore, and are currently in the Bocas Marina.  See Pictures/Journal page 30 for related updates.

Michael Rock, Guanaja, Honduras	Vivarillos, Honduras	Isla Providencia, Colombia	Albuquerque Cays, Colombia	Bocas del Toro, Panama

* I feel stupid admitting this, but we were surprised to discover that Panama actually extends west to east - like an "S" laying on its side -  and the Panama Canal runs north-south (ok, guess we're more geographically challenged than we thought!).

After arriving in Panama, we traveled inland (south) with Texas-cruiser friends (Randy & Mary Ellen, s/v Wanda Jeane) who have their home in the coffee mountains of Boquete with the Baru Volcano in their backyard.  We had a very personal tour of the beautiful area including Volcan, Cerro Punto and David.  Parts of it reminded us of Colorado or European alpine country with wood A-frames and masses of colorful flowers everywhere, and perfect all-year-'round temperatures usually in the 70's.

May 4, 2008 from French Cay (Fantasy Island), Roatan (Bay Islands), Honduras:  We're about ready to move on to the eastern-most Bay Island, Guanaja, where we will stage for our trip south to Panama in May.  There are several islands on the way, so we'll be able to hop down doing a few overnight passages.  Our first destination in Panama will be Bocas del Toro.  Our most recent updates are at Pictures/Journal page 30.

Been out of touch with our website?  Then catch up with  

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Hey, Rio Dulce cruiser, if you're planning a trip inland, you may want to check out our Pictures/Journal web pages on Guatemala and the following write ups (some of which have been updated as of February '08):

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Planning on cruising?  At the request of fellow cruisers, here are a few recommendations on services back in the U.S. that we have found to be very good - U.S. Service Recommendations (July '08).

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