Buddy and Ruth have been married for 56 years.  Buddy, a native San Franciscan and Ruth, an L.A. girl, lived in Marin County, north of San Francisco until 1996.  They currently live in the small country town of Bonsall, north of San Diego.  Ruth was an entrepreneur, owning many small businesses over the years.  Buddy was a local contractor.  Lady luck came into the picture when all of the stars and planets lined up and the timing was right, businesses sold, house rented out, kid grown up.  Both of them decided to live their dream and go where the winds would take them.  With open ended plans and the mantra  of "we've got no plan and we're sticking to it" to live by, they sailed out of San Francisco Bay to go world cruising on their sailboat, Annapurna, a Hans Christian 48' in September, 1996 and kept on going until they circled the entire globe.   When they sailed back into Acapulco, Mexico in April 2007, almost 12 years later, they had crossed their outbound track, latitude, longitude, and completed their circumnavigation - 54,000 miles, 56 countries.  Friends and family always asked when they were coming home.  Their answer was that they were always on their way home, they were just taking the long way.  

 

Their previously owned sailboats were a 27' Cape Dory, and a 41' Perry.  Both good coastal boats but not the blue water cruising boat that Annapurna was. When they knew they wanted to live aboard and possibly go cruising, they searched and searched until they found "Annapurna", a 48' Hans Christian, a truly world-class blue water cruising boat ready to go with just a few modifications, the sailboat of their dreams.  The Annapurna very quickly became the third member of the team.

 

Their book is a compilation of a methodical diary, log entries, journal, and countless notes and letters back home to their daughter Marni by Ruth with much input from Buddy on the nuts and bolts of their journey, including their daily lives,  maintaining their yacht,  the type of equipment needed on a yacht of this size for long range ocean passages,  dealing with third world officials where little or no tourism exists,  living in far off remote locations that most everyday travelers never see - experiencing the world from the deck of an ocean going sailing yacht.  Quite a contrast to the way most tourists visit foreign countries.