Veteran cruisers Steve and Helena Neal created the website and now app Noforeignland a decade ago as a web-based service for the international cruising community. It’s intention from the start was to be collaborative and dedicated to making current and useful information of all types available and only one click away. Now. In the Starlink age, noforeignl;ands has really gone viral
One of the spin offs from noforeignland is a flotilla of loosely aligned cruisers who cross the Atlantic from Europe to the Caribbean each fall. The flotilla, humorously called Finding Dory was founded by Peter Casier who reports that the 2025 flotilla was joined by more than 500 boats that sailed first to the Canaray Islands and the Cape Verde Islands before making the crossing to the Caribbean. This year the flotilla is expected to grow significantly.
“I have found Steve and Helena to be kindred souls,” says Casier. “The collaboration is a natural fit between people with the same motivation.”
Finding Dory’s webpage is on the noforeignland website and the flotilla uses the communications facilities on the app to link all of the flotilla boats in a loose group. Sub groups then are formed among boats from different starting points and Caribbean destinations.
Unlike formal rallies, Finding Dory has no set schedules, sponsors, fees or requirements for entry. At the voyage’s end the flotilla will be scattered throughout the Caribbean, but will be able to find each other through app.
Since Steve and Helena Neal founded noforeignland.com, it has grown by helping the cruising community, rather than for profit, and at the center of its work. “noforeignland.com is replacing paper pilot books in the same way that electronic charts have replaced paper charts,” says Helena Neal. “Data is provided by sailors, for sailors, but moderated by my team to keep it up to date, accurate and reliable.”
The Neals also support cruisers and the Finding Dory flotilla by organizing information webinars given by expert speakers.
