A couple of portages, one 10 miles on the Peace River and one 13 miles on the Slave River will add to the challenge. The 10 mile portage 50 miles east of Fort Vermillion Alberta has a trail but no road. The other portage at Fort Smith NWT has a good road to make it easier. The first 800 miles of river is not charted. The last 1200 miles is charted on Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River

Our plan here is at the whim of the ice, how it melts and which way the wind blows it. What we hope to do is come out one side of the Arctic Ocean and use that as a starting point, go back all the way through to the other side and continue around the world. We will probably be able to get out to the west before the east.

We’ll stop in Greenland, then on to Azores before the North Atlantic starts it’s winter storms. Canary Islands, Cape Verde Islands, then we’d like to stop at Ascension and St. Helena Islands, but if the Southern trade winds are too strong to buck all the way to Cape Town we may have to forgo them and stay closer to the African coast where wind conditions are better. Cape Town by December 10.

Indian Ocean

We plan to leave Cape Town, South Africa about December 20. On to Fremantle Australia (5,000 miles) in one leg. We have the option of stopping at French Islands, and may, although we can easily do it without a fuel stop. It is important on this leg to stay far enough south to have variable or westerly winds. From Fremantle to Darwin Australia, February 10 to April 4 is the hurricane season there but we’re following the coast and can get protection if needed.

Western Pacific

We’ll leave Darwin April 10 to get through the Philippine Sea before the start of typhoon season. We’ll leave Japan June 15 and hope to cross our trail in Alaska by July 15.