From Bermuda we arrived in the BVI's and then proceeded to do the entire Caribbean chain of islands, the leewards and the windwards, making our way slowly to Trinidad for the hurricane season. From Trinidad we went to Venezuela and spent a few months there. During that stay, we both had corrective laser surgery in Caracas (we are still happy with our eyes.) From Venezuela, we went to Venezuela's Roques and Aves Islands and then on to the ABC's (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao). We stopped at Cartagena, Columbia and celebrated New Years 1998 there.

Then we were off to the Rosario Islands, off the southwest coast of Columbia, where we discovered that we had a rat on board (See Sail Mag, April 2000). Mr. rat did real well - for a while. We fed him every day until we

were able to get a rat trap from a fellow cruiser in the San Blas Islands, an archipelago off of Panama. Unfortunately, Joshua proved that although he is lovable, he is not much of a mouser. So much for him earning his keep!

We transited the Panama Canal and spent a few days in the Perlas Islands off the western coast of Panama. This is where the Shake of Iran spent his last days, one of the few places that offered him a place to stay in his exile from Iran. From there, our "real" South Pacific adventure began. Next stops were the Galapagos, Marquesas, Tuamotus, Tahiti and Moorea.

Statistic	Statistic	Comments
Number of Miles	11,700 NM	Not including side trips on tour boats and transport vessels
Leg 1 Elapsed Time	2 Years - 4 Months
Average Speed	6.7 knots	Under sail only
Countries Visited	31
Max. Speed Over Ground	11.3 Knots	In the Gulf stream
Max. Speed Through Water	9.2 Knots
Deepest Anchorage	100 Feet	Fatu Hiva
Maximum Winds	45-50 Knots Sustained	55 Gusts
Maximum Wave Height	18 feet Sustained	Some much larger
Distance Longest Passage	3000 NM	Galapagos to Marquesas
Time Longest Passage	16 D 4 Hrs	Galapagos to Marquesas
Average Distance/Day	186 NM / Day	Galapagos to Marquesas

It was in Tahiti that we discovered we could ship Old Dakare back to the US and get our new Dakare. We spent 38 days on the transport ship, going as far north as Vancouver, where we took a side trip to Victoria, an absolutely beautiful city. From there, the transport recrossed Dakare's tracks through the Panama Canal, While sailing the return pacific Ocean route, the transport dodged three hurricanes, successfully, we are glad to say. Our luck was not to hold out on the Atlantic side of the canal. There, we met up with Hurricane Floyd and had to make a fast retreat behind the western end of Cuba for 2 days, while Cuban gun boats kept nightly track of this strange vessel, carrying many other boats. Fortunately, the Cubans never boarded us.

After arriving back in the US, we placed our order to get our New Dakare. We were told that the wait was approximately a year to a year and a half while the boat was being built at the factory in Taiwan. Approximate arrival date was spec'd to be December 2000. This gave us time to do the final planning of boat systems and options. We then made plans to visit the factory, which resulted in side trips to Phuket, Thailand; Hong Kong and Hawaii.

While waiting to go to the factory, which was scheduled in July, we decided to take a European junket to visit our friends in France, Germany and England. While in England, we also went to the Selden factory to discuss the mast details.


Ship's Stores	Karen's Stores