Although it is still difficult to fathom, I successfully sailed a boat from Panama to San Diego, which is upwards of 4000 nautical miles. To me, success has two very simple parts in this particular circumstance. Number 1- I didn't sink the boat. And most importantly is number 2- I didn't die along the way. This may sound silly, but making it up back alive is good enough for me. I wasn't out there to set the 24 hour nautical speed record, and I surely didn't do this to get my name in a local yacht club publication. The fact that I made it back in one piece is plenty for me.

We pulled into San Diego Bay around 10 p.m. last night. It was a gorgeous clear night with bright starts and a spectacular city skyline. Entering my first American port was quite incredible, especially when the Navy's multimillion dollar, nuclear-powered, ass-kickin' hovercraft blasted by us at 25 knots. I felt like saluting or giving an All-American fist pump, but decided it'd be better to stay calm and look as if I'd done this a dozen times. But who am I kidding? I've never sailed a boat from a foreign country, let alone even been on San Diego Bay's water. Regardless of my humble interpersonal restraints, I felt proud of what I accomplished and certainly proud to be an American back in the United States. And to know that our Navy has super cool hovercrafts in use makes it even sweeter. God Bless America.

Although quite cold and blustery at times, the sail from Ensenada to San Diego was fairly straight forward. We had a few mechanical issues pop up just before our planned departure, so we didn't cast off until 11 a.m. Fortunately we were able to resolve the issues quickly and didn't have to stay an additional day. I, however, wouldn't have minded staying another night as I found a spectacular spot for great cheap tacos. I think I ate 7 tacos during my 24 hour stay in Ensenada, but probably could have pushed for a few more, possibly over 10. They were that good.

We finished with immigration and customs at the quarantine dock (which is the police dock on Shelter Island) around 11 p.m., had a quick glass of celebratory wine, and retreated to bed. Today, I walked into Point Loma, made dozens of calls to family and friends on my cell phone (call me! I'd love to hear from you), and enjoyed being stateside. Tonight I plan on meeting up with some friends from college and Club Med. But before anything else happens, I'm stopping at In N' Out Burger...no damn "double double" doubt about it!