We made it!!! We're in Ecuador, and officially in the South Pacific now!!! Leaving Panama, it took us 7 days to sail 600 miles of open ocean, and we enjoyed the challenge & wonder of this crossing. We mostly experienced 20 knot winds along the way, and once we got the sails & rudder balanced, svFREEDOM sailed herself. We even had a 240 mile stretch where we never touched the wheel or made a single adjustment. Most mornings we'd find that flying fish had landed on our boat overnight, and we'd cook them up for breakfast, YUM! We saw some wet, rainy, dreary days as we transversed the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, the squally region where northern hemisphere meets southern hemisphere). And greatest of all, we celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary at sea. It's been a year now since leaving LA and we've put more than 3000 miles under our keel. We're in South America!