
The Leg before mine just set sail. I have to let this sink in for a minute…
On January 26th, I will be getting on a plane to Panama City, Panama. I will be staying with an eXXpedition crew mate there and meeting more of our crew. On January 28th, we will board the 70 ft ketch, S/V TravelEdge and set sail for the island of San Cristobal, Galapagos.
To be honest, I had to Google what a ketch is. Luckily, we don’t need any sailing experience and we will have plenty of opportunities to learn while on the open ocean for 10 straight days! The captain, skipper and deck hand are all very experienced sailors. And these women have navigated through very rough seas on earlier legs of this mission, so I have full confidence in them getting us to our destination safely.
So, in case you were wondering, a “ketch” is one of the many rig options for sailing vessels. They have 2 masts, with a main mast and a (smaller) mizzenmast. With all sails up, there are 3. The headsail is the one curved at the front of the boat, or the “bow”. I’ve been trying to brush up…

“Ketch advocates sing praises for its characteristics in heavier winds” says the American Sailing Association.
“Oh good!” says our entire guest crew… 🤣
To see more photos and details of our boat, check out https://exxpedition.com/about/the-boat/