Fakarava is home to 837 people and the "Wall of Sharks." The sharks vastly outnumber the residents-- mostly black tip reef sharks and nurse sharks. People call the latter "sea puppies" because they are docile and will let you pet them (I am not making this up).

I learned to sail when I was 12 years old. My dad taught me. We checked out a Flying Junior from the University of West Florida recreation department, where he was a professor, and went sailing on Escambia Bay. I didn’t have a clue what was going on, but I loved it.

It was just the two of us on our first multi-day passage aboard Roam together. Strong, reinforced trade winds carried us on a 546 nautical mile beam reach over 71 hours from Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas to Tahanea atoll in the Tuamotu archipelago. Thus ends our time in the Marquesas and thus begins our time in the Tuamotus.

This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Sailors often fantasize about sailing the South Seas and visiting a tropical paradise. What they see in their mind's eye are the Marquesas islands. Since our landfall, we've spent the past few weeks exploring the Marquesan islands of Nuku Hiva and Tahuata. It is a magical place.

Our passage across the Pacific concluded last Friday, April 12th at dawn when we dropped anchor at 1630Z in Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia. We sailed over 3,000 nautical miles in 16 days, 23 hours, and 40 minutes.

Some days are more eventful than others. Today, we witnessed a total eclipse of the sun and crossed the equator on a small boat.

At 11:55 PM Mexico Time on Wednesday, April 4th, we crossed the halfway mark between Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and Hiva Oa, Marquesas, French Polynesia. We've covered 1,371 miles as the crow flies, at an average speed of 6.7 knots. More than that when you consider the twists and turns we took to take advantage of or avoid weather.

We are currently 40 nautical miles south of Cabo Corrientes on a fast reach with six foot swells and wind a bit over twenty knots.

There is nothing like a deadline to make things happen. The crew is here and we are grinding through final preparation. This morning we received our departure clearance from the local port captain and set our departure date for Tuesday, March 26th.

We enjoyed a successful shakedown sail with our Pacific crossing crew. They took time out of their lives to fly down and go for a three-day sail to test Roam and her new systems. The trip also gave us a chance to test ourselves and see what we might want to add or change to make for a more comfortable and enjoyable trip across the Pacific.