That's us below, where else but wherever we happen to be.  Other than Ed & Helen our names and even careers are unimportant. What is important is that we were able through good fortune to retire early and begin living our dream, SAILING AROUND THE WORLD.
For many years we went to the beach and watched sailboats cruising up and down the coastal waters of the southeast.  The day finally came when we could afford to buy a small sailboat to call our own.  It was a 27 ft. Catalina and it was ours.

Each weekend (year round) we sailed and slept on our little sailboat, "SeaSparrow".  It was during this period we became addicted to sailing and knew that someday we would have a sailboat large enough to move aboard and begin our sailing life together.

It was during this period we relocated to New Jersey from Georgia for a new work assignment.  We bought a home on the water and joined the Tom's River Yacht Club  which became a major part of our lives. Our spare time was spent racing, cruising, eating, and drinking at the Club.

It was here we met a woman, AliceMay Wright (also a neighbor) who became our dear friend and mentor.  She shared her many stories with us of her own circumnavigation aboard a wooden boat named "Ziggaret".  Those stories fueled, inspired, and drove us to achieve our own goals.

After years of preparing the day arrived to retire at 55, sell our home, buy our boat and move aboard.  After looking at many types of sailboats we finally settled upon a Hans Christian because of it's traditional look and beautiful lines.

Through good fortune we were able to find a Hans Christian in new like condition in San Franscisco Bay, Ca.  Following successful sea trials and survey we purchased the boat and relocated it to Annapolis, MD, May 2001 in order to prepare it for long distance cruising.

Having no experience with overnight passages or long distances voyages we joined the West Marine 1500 Rally.  The purpose of the Rally is to introduce people like ourselves to blue water cruising and give them confidence to make their first major voyage.  In this case it was from Hampton, Va. to Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.  The passage took eleven days and twelve hundred miles later provided us the confidence necessary to continue voyaging on our own. Friends advised us to postpone our trip and first learn our new boat, advise hard to dispute by any reasonable man.  Of course I've never been accused of being reasonable, and didn't want to feel I had retired from a job I loved to living on a sailboat without a major challenge. Having owned the boat for only a few months and no real time sailing her, we left Annapolis, Md. to begin our journey. The purpose of this web site is to document our journey together.

If you'd like to contact us then please don't hesitate to do so.  We can be reached at crew@svtahlequah.com .

If you have any comments on, questions about or problems with the website then please feel free to contact webmaster@svtahlequah.com .