Sailing Vessel Eyes of the World at anchor near Mogo Mogo, Las Perlas Islands
March 25, 2012

Only 3,900 Miles To Go!!!
Thank you everyone for your kind words, thoughts, prayers, suggestions, and encouragement. It means more than we could ever say.

You know, as I reflect, and yes…in my menopausal, sleepless nights think…February 6, 1991, the day that changed my life forever. I don’t speak of this often, although I know there are a few of you out there that I have shared. I was young, dumb, usually miserable, married too young to a nice guy but… not in love. ALWAYS feeling like, what am I doing?

A young man, drunk in the middle of the day, on a dirt bike, going really fast on the railroad tracks…no helmet. Me, a veterinary assistant, recently finishing a semester program of first aid and CPR, working right by those railroad tracks. The rest is history. Death… I had never seen a person die right in front of me. I had assisted in and performed many euthanasia’s on animals but, had never thought about a young person dying suddenly…and/or the first responders that assisted them. All my training that I had learned and worked so hard on didn’t make a difference. He died. In my eyes it was just another failure in my life, I had let him down, I didn’t save him. His parents came and saw me the next day…wanting to know what his last few moments were like. Try swallowing that one. I’m so sorry for his parents.

I cry…and cry…and cry, for two weeks. And then, in a simple moment of sharing homemade chile for the fire department crew that assisted that day to thank them for what they do…and here I am. I have never looked back one instant after meeting Larry. I knew he was the one…for me. And here we are now, about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime, living and seeing more in one lifetime than most. No matter what happens, I am a very lucky girl.

From the heart. XXOO Lisa

3/30/12

 Shipment in from the States (full of important things like a new solenoid for the generator, and electronic chart for the South Pacific)

 Attach 24 – 5 gallon jerry jugs of diesel on deck
 Build & place motor mount on rail to hold 15 HP dinghy engine
 Rigging inspection
 Purchase & Install new Spinnaker halyard (because yes (!) we should be able to finally sail downwind!)
 Bottom of boat cleaned
 New canvas bimini installed (sort of, it is still a work in progress as I am writing this!)
 Provisioning (45 - 60 days worth of food and drink…yes including wine!)
 Approval from insurance company to cross the Pacific
 Attain an agent for Galapagos visit
 2011 taxes
 Figure out our new satellite phone so we are sure we can use the darn thing!
Etc…etc…etc. We are so tired and still have a thousand things to do and a thousand goodbyes to say. We are so excited but yet sometimes ask if this is all worth it? It is not easy. The last thing we wanted was workers on the boat up to the last minute but…such is the case. I’ve lost faith in our wood worker who has been re-doing Ben’s bathroom. He is supposedly coming tomorrow, our last day in Panama City. This is so exhausting. Okay, I’ll stop whining now.

So, here’s the plan:
Leaving Panama City Monday morning, stopping at Contadora Island for a good night’s sleep. Tuesday morning starting a 900 mile trip to the Galapagos Islands, probably will take us a week to get there. This all depends on wind (or lack thereof) and how much we choose to motor. We will spend 10-14 days in the Galapagos, very excited to swim with sea lions, turtles, penguins, and sharks! Then we will take off for the biggy, 24+ days across the Pacific Ocean (the puddle jump as they call it) to the Marquesas Islands, “Oui, oui,” where French will be our new language to struggle with. From there we will continue through French Polynesia. Excited, nervous, and hopeful are just some of the emotions we talked about feeling tonight over dinner. We are all three mentally ready for this, the physical challenge is yet to be seen. We have kept a wonderful card that is hanging in our boat, given to us by a friend when we first moved on the Lisa Kay that says, “Relax…God is in control,” the rest is just up to us right?