We arose at 3:30am to make our flight from El Paso to Dallas on March 3rd. The next two legs were Dallas to Miami and then to Guayaquil. Surprisingly, we had no delays, no problems with customs, and a pleasant trip all round. The four huge duffel bags, Tane´s guitar, and a 50 lb bag full of books for our library all made it with no problems, although humping those things around was no picnic.

It was after 11pm before we got the shuttle to our hotel. We had a quick snack and a nightcap, and then were down for the count. The next day, we took a minibus to Puerto Lucia (which is really part of La Libertad), a two hour trip.

George Stewart and his crew were still working on the exterior paint touch-up, so we decided to take a few days to visit Cuenca in the south. It was recommended over Quito, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there. We´ll post another message and photos of Cuenca later.

When we returned to the boat, we gave Tane the job of inspecting the rig. Using a magnifying glass, he discovered that nearly every lower swage terminal had cracks, which indicate internal corrosion creating high outward pressure. This is not good, and can lead to sudden catastrophic rig failure --- i.e., dismasting. So... now we´re waiting for parts to be ordered and shipped so it will probably be another couple of weeks before we can start the journey. We´ve decided to head directly to the Marquesas, bypassing the Galapagos Islands.