Well, we’ve been narrowing it down a bit.

What started as a search that basically included anywhere in coastal US, Caribbean, or Central America, has now been refined to either Southern California, the Sea of Cortez, or the Pacific coast of Mexico.

We scratched the Pacific Northwest.  With our final destination being loosely defined as “somewhere warm”, this would mean a passage down the coast of Washington and Oregon in late Fall, a stormy place that we didn’t really want to sail for our first major passage.

We scratched the East coast of the US, partly because it wasn’t exotic enough, but mostly because of the high expenses and vast number of people.

The Caribbean didn’t make the cut because most countries down in the region have very strict regulations concerning dogs.  When posed with quarantines, fees and general rigmarole at every port, we decided that El Caribe will be an adventure for another day.

The Florida Keys were abandoned due to the fact that we didn’t want to live in Florida, combined with the aforementioned dog issues we would have encountered once we headed South from the Sunshine State.

So by default, we are posed with the choice of Southern California or the Western portion of Mexico.

 Southern California:

        Pros:

  • It’s not in the hurricane zone, so we would in theory encounter less severe storms from June 1-Oct 31.
  • Finding temporary work might be easier than in Mexico (although I hear they got that recession on in California)
  • Lots of boats to choose from between San Francisco and San Diego

        Cons:

  • Too many people
  • Cruising ground not terribly interesting
  • Expensive

Mexico:

        Pros:

  • It’s exotic!  Living there during hurricane season would be a great adventure in itself, as opposed to San Diego.  And the hurricane season timeframe looks to be a substantial portion of the whole voyage.
  • Dogs are welcomed (hopefully they’re not just being nice because they have an eye on fattening him up, if you know what I mean)
  • Cruising waters look great (of course this would depend on what city we end up in)
  • Less expensive than the states
  • Northern Sea of Cortez is less likely to get hit with severe storms during hurricane season

Cons:

  • Job opportunities and wages will be slimmer
  • It is technically in the hurricane zone
  • Fewer boats to choose from
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