The anchor was lifted just before one pm yesterday. We buzzed the anchorage and recieved many horn-blowings, bell ringings, and farewell
bids. Our friends from Morning Star baked us a fresh pizza fresh and brought us cold beers for our departure lunch. Delicious.

The Internet in Isabela is dialup. It is ridiculously slow and after several attempts to post more pictures and bashing my head against the
desk, I gave up. Honestly, I don't know which is worse; Having slow Internet connection or not having it at all.

The weather is overcast this morning and we have 6 knots out of the E-SE. There are big rollers but nothing uncomfortable. We also have a positive current a little over a knot.

We will check in to the net for the first time this morning. There are about 25 boats who check into SSB 8134 at 10am to report their weather
conditions, coordinates, and miles to go. We've been listening the past few days and recording positions of our friends who left before us and
getting an idea of the weather conditions that lie ahead. I must say, I'm excited about joining the fleet.

I can't believe we're finally doing it. We got off the porch! This will be the longest passage either of us has ever made. We both have self improvement ideas...He is going to read, lift weights and generally
focus on being retired and I hope to practice sewing, do some yoga, lift some weights, and catch up on my reading too.

We've both been at one another's throats the past few days getting ready. Topping off tanks, changing oil, provisioning, cleaning the bottom...We fired up the hookah and after cleaning the prop, Dad got a little queasy. His solution? Put his kid in the water instead! So even though we spent our last night in Galapagos nauseated and cranky,
we do have a pretty clean bottom. Many people have offered us tid-bits on how to best cross the Pacific. Make sure you have plenty of books,
new recipes, spare parts, extra fuel, chocolate, etc... But the best advice I've been given was from my friend Mark on s/v Scholarship,
"Don't kill each other!"

Cheers to pizza and beer,
Cass