We left Bimini before 6:30am Friday morning and just after 3pm in the afternoon we officially completed our circumnavigation by crossing our track at approximately 26 degrees 4 minutes North and 80 degrees 3 minutes West.  It’s going to take a day or two for it to sink in.  It seems like we were in Australia yesterday, and it still feels a little bit like this is just the next stop on our trip instead of the end of an adventure.

DSC_0670 We did it!!!  The world’s newest circumnavigators.

DSC_0678 Treating Pura Vida to some hard-earned bubbly

As usual, we made the trip from Bimini in light winds, motorsailing most of the way.  We did have one last bit of excitement, however.  Jackson has been pretty nuts about fishing, so we put both lines out and he made sure we kept checking both lures for seaweed.  Just before noon, Tim saw a fish jumping behind the boat, and sure enough, we had a fish on.  I started to pull in the hand line without putting gloves on first, and the fish was so strong that it took off and pulled the line right through my hands, leaving a few little burn blisters.  When it jumped again, I could see that it was a large bull dolphin (mahi mahi or dorado).  After patiently working it to the boat and with some help from Tim, I was eventually able to gaff it and bring it on board.  At around 44 inches, it was easily the largest fish we’ve landed.  It made a great lunch and provided plenty of filets for the freezer as well.

DSC_0647 Bringing this guy in was a team effort

For a country as obsessed with security as the US is, border security is as lax as anywhere we’ve been.  Aside from the occasional random Coast Guard boarding, you’re pretty much free to motor in to where ever you want.  The official procedure is just to phone in your arrival to CBP and then come by the office sometime in the next 24 hours to get your passports stamped.  We’ll drop by later today to make our re-entry to the US official.

We’ve added a couple of fun (for us) pages to the website for trip Stats and a few Tips, Tricks, etc. that we’ve learned along the way, but this will probably be our last blog. Our plans are to move the boat farther north and work on getting it in shape to sell.  We’re hoping to spend some time road tripping in the US visiting friends and family that we haven’t seen for a while before heading back to southern California.  I’m sure it won’t be long before we’re yearning for more adventure; we’ve started a list of potential new adventures, but we don’t have any firm plans for the future as yet.

Thanks to everyone who’s followed along by reading the blog during our trip.  It’s been fun to share the experience with you and we’ve really enjoyed reading your emails.  Thanks as well to Wes, Tim, and all the others who have supported us with dinners out, brought us parts, and helped co-ordinate assistance when we had problems at sea.  In addition to being there for us, we owe a big thanks to our parents for providing mail service and helping us with stuff stateside during our trip.  I’m especially grateful to Lauren, who’s been an amazing partner in this adventure.  I can’t say enough about her great attitude, spirit of adventure, and hard work (and her iron stomach).  She really jumped in with both feet and has made the experience memorable for me, our crew, and for the many people we’ve met along the way.  We’ve gone from being uncertain about even a short passage to being confident in our ability to cross oceans and navigate new, unfamiliar countries together.  Cruiser’s often call each other by their boat name (e.g., Hey, I saw Marionette at the market!), and it’s been great to hear the way our friends say “It’s Pura Vida!”

The trip has been life-changing for both of us, and like Lauren said, we’ve been lucky to have this experience at a relatively young age.  I’m sure the experience will continue to impact us for a long time.