It's almost impossible for me to imagine that Conni, Wings, and I are now facing Leg 12! What a fascinating six years it's been here in the Pacific.

In our last blog, I mentioned that there was another Passport in the next yard, a Passport 42, designed by Stan Huntingford and not Robert Perry. They're similar but far from identical. Big Rock Candy Mountain was sold to an ex-pat American living in Australia and a Bay-area Passport 40 owner. Conni and I wish them well. They've got a spectacular boat in a spectacular sailing area, and they got her for a steal. What's not to like?

We arranged for Wings to have another 36-months in French Polynesia by clearing from the country, sailing to and checking into the Cook Islands, and returning. That required most of the season, but we did re-start the customs clock so that we have another 36-month stint here in FP.

Last season was consumed by the trip to the Cook Islands and this year the season will, in all likelihood, be consumed by replacing the engine. As I've mentioned several times, exhaustive research led us to select a Beta engine. The block and engine on which its built is a Kubota tractor engine. By itself, that bodes well for a durable and easy-to-repair engine. That engine is shipped to England where it's stripped and fitted with parts to make it operate in a marine environment. These include a deep oil sump for more oil, a heat exchanger so that hot coolant in the engine is cooled by salt water that's dumped overboard in the exhaust, and several other important modifications. We also ordered a 120A alternator so that we can more quickly charge batteries. It's the same brand as our current alternator so it can make use of our current regulator.

The Beta factory recommended a mechanic in Papeete, Adrian Pataki, who has instilled a lot of these engines in many different sailboats. I've been in touch with him for almost a year and have spoken to him by phone. He speaks good English and seems to know his business.

Beta will fabricate our engine especially for us, with all of the extras that we ordered for our specific use. We spoke to other Passport 40 owners who have installed this same engine and have used all of their advice on how to make it a smooth installation. We also had Beta fabricate custom motor mounts so that we should be able to drop in the engine.

Since we bought the engine from a British company and they're shipping to an EU country (French Polynesia), we pay no import or export tax, saving a bundle of money. The engine will be fabricated and sent to Dunkirk, France, to board a ship to French Polynesia. When it reaches Papeete, our mechanic will accept the engine and store it in a secure location until our arrival. All of this sound easy, but it's completely out of our control and that gives us anxiety and concern. There are so many things that can fail, but we're committed to the enterprise and will hope for the best.

Adrian the mechanic will remove enough parts on the old engine to get it out of the boat, and I imagine he'll do the same to get the new engine into the boat. We won't stay on the boat during this work, so we'll have to have a place in Papeete to stay. It's all very exciting and very nerve-racking!

As we approach our departure time, I'll add some more information. I have updated our site with Leg 12 information.