We heard it once said:

"For the small-craft voyager, three things are certain: if he waits until his boat is one hundred percent ready, or if he waits until he has enough money for the whole voyage, or if he listens to most 'sensible' people, he will never leave his dock" - Tristan Jones

With these wise words in mind, we look to 2021 2022 2023 2024 and plan the following

A map of our route (click to scroll/enlarge)

(click to scroll/enlarge)

A (flexible) outline of our UK route (2023 2024)

A (flexible) outline of our European route ... (2021 2022 2023 2024 2025)

Leaving London we will cross the English Channel from Dover to Calais. The Dover Strait is at the narrowest part of the English Channel separating Great Britain from Europe.  It is 33.3 km (20.7 miles; 18.0 nautical miles from northeast of Dover to Calais.  We will monitor the weather before we set off, but we take some solitude in the fact that this crossing has been done by swimmers, a pedalo, a jetpack, amphibious vehicle and also a bathtub. 

We will then make our way up the canals through Bruges and onto Ghent and then Antwerp.  From there, it's down to Paris and across to Dijon.  Here we join the Rhine (at Mulhouse) and we travel up the Rhine to Basel, Switzerland. From there we travel down the Rhine to Mainz, Germany and onto the Main River to Bamberg, Germany.  Here we join the Danube canal and make our way to Kelheim, Germany where the Rhine connects with the Danube. This would be our first leg and we have estimated this would take 6 months. 

We aim to get to Kelheim no later than October, before winter and we will leave Deux here, in storage, for winter. Here the average temperatures between November and April are around -5.  I don’t claim to be a “fair-weather sailor, but sometimes you gotta choose your battles”.  If we get distracted at earlier stops and visits and find we are not at Kelheim by October, we will adjust our plan and leave the boat at an earlier storage marina for winter.

Then it’s back to the UK, work and prep for the next leg the following summer.

The second part of the journey will be from Kelheim, onto the Danube and down to Passau, Germany and crossing into Austria.  We will travel through Austria stopping at Linz and Vienna.  Then it's into Slovakia and onto Budapest. We will travel onto Croatia and up the Drava River to visit Osijek. Then back down onto the Danube, to continue through to Serbia, stopping at Novi on the way.  Once we reach Belgrade in Serbia we will travel onto the River Sava to Sabac for a visit.  Then it’s back onto the Danube and across to Romania. We will travel through the Iron Gates Gorge, along the border of Romania and Bulgaria, stopping at Vidin.  (Here we will have to become regular tourists if we want to explore Bucharest and leave the boat for a few days and travel via public transport).  At this stage will leave the Danube and take the canal from Cernavoda to Constanta at the Black Sea.

Once we are in the Black Sea we will make our way down the coast, visiting Mangalia, Balchik, Varna and Burgas.  Here we will enter the Bosphorus Strait and Istanbul and make our way into the Mediterranean Sea.  (This leg is also expected to take 6 months).

We will then leave Deux in the Mediterranean and she will be used regularly on short stay holidays and exploring the Med until the sun sets on our time.....