Goals for next year

With the end of the year quickly approaching it seems the right time to start thinking about some goals for next year. This has to be one of the harder years to make goals for as in about 9 months we are probably going to be empty nesters. Is the goal to enjoy as much time with the boy as we can before he moves out and things start to change.. Yes. Is the goal to get some fun extended adventures in.. Yes. Is the goal to loose some weight, get in better shape, spend more time with the wife, learn to use the new boat, sell the tug, develop my photography skills, learn to play the guitar, get a Captains License, and get my Trap team to Nationals. Yep.  Will I have time to do all of those. Maybe.. While I may make progress on all of them I really need to pick three to focus on and I'm sure there are a few items I left off the list.

If it were up to me I would spend all my time on a boat. I would love to take the tug up to the North Channel this year and explore Lake Superior for a month or more. I would love the adventure of bringing the sail boat back to Lake Erie via the St Lawrence while possibly stopping by Newfoundland on the way. The question is will the boy be willing to do either of those adventures with us? Do we leave him at home while we do one or more of those? I think he would like the sailing trip but am not so convinced that he would leave his friends and girl friend for six weeks to do it. Is it fair to ask him to, for what might be his last summer at home? Should we just sell the tug and leave the sailboat where it is one more season.. maybe doing some long weekends and a week or so trips here and there exploring the Chesapeake Bay?

It seems the answer when we talk about it as a family right now is we just don't know. For now we are still marching towards the circumnavigation goal with the plan to leave with the World Arc in January of 2028. For the moment the boy still says he is coming with us and the girl is 100% sure that she will not be coming with us. For now it seems that we have a lot of options for adventures next year and while none of them are bad some do seem more exciting than others. I look forward to seeing what we choose!