Now that I have had some time to "decompress" as Dina says, I wanted to share some final thoughts on this passage and try to answer some of your questions before we move on to whatever lies ahead for us here in Alaska. First of all I want to thank all of you for your interest, advice, well wishes and comments that were relayed to me by Dina as I put dots on the map in the direction of Sitka, they were all very much appreciated.

This leg of the passage was much more difficult than the Mexico to Hawaii leg. I never fully appreciated the consistent trade winds that I enjoyed on the first leg....until they were no longer there. There is a line that I came across recently that says: "anyone can sail from the west coast to Hawaii....getting back is the problem!" I discovered that there is a lot of truth to this, but I am greatful that I had the experience....otherwise I might have spent the rest of my days thinking that all passages were like trade wind passages, with predictable steady winds, infrequent sail changes, comfortable non-breaking waves and day after day of sunny skies and blue seas! The Hawaii to Sitka leg provided a dose of reality....there are days when the seas are dark, threatening and big...when the winds vary from non-existent to scary. I learned a lot more about sailing during the second leg. I worked a lot harder as the sea and wind conditions constantly changed. I slept a lot less for the same reasons. Would I do another trip like this? I have no desire to do another single handed passage of this duration...once was enough...but I had to do it once to know that! I would not hesitate to do another long passage with at least one other crew. The lack of sleep was a killer. It has taken me a week to get back to a normal level of energy and strength in spite of my efforts to exercise daily during the passage.

Other than unpredictable equipment failures I could not have asked for a better boat than Silverado for this passage. It is the perfect size and layout for a single hander. It withstood some very rough seas and several beatings including* "getting pooped" , which cost me my dinghy, without incident or complaint. I always felt safe even when we were sliding sideways down the face of the biggest waves...the boat always self corrected and continued on. All the years that I spent obsessing over details of construction/design left no room for doubt in my mind that Silverado would be fine. *I did know better than to have a dinghy in davits(hanging off the stern of the boat) for an ocean passage....I made the decision to "chance it" because It was too big to stow on deck...and I wanted a dinghy to explore those remote anchorages. Pay your money, take your chances!! We will use our kayaks this summer. Next year I will get a dinghy that will stow on deck when/if Dina and I go o ffshore again.

I think the kinds of equipment and technology I had on board was about right for me considering my age and experience. I had enough redundancy built in so I was able to proceed safely even after several equipment failures...ie auto pilot, radar, alternator. I also had back up systems for my navigation should it have failed. I was pretty well prepared for any problems in the "normal" range of what one could anticipate. The ability to communicate via satelite phone for personal calls, blog entries and weather information made all the difference. It assured Dina that all was well, it gave me a connection to the outside world and allowed some visability to pending weather events. I can't imagine having been without this amazing technology.

Having arrived in one piece I suppose is evidence that the planning and implementation for this venture was at least...adequate! Several of you have commented on the long odds of all the pieces coming together over a long number of years to bring this venture to a successfull conclusion. I agree completely....and the most gratifying aspect of all of this is that Dina has over time not only supported my dream but has made it her own! Tomorrow we leave for Glacier Bay....I couldn't have written a better ending than this!!