A 7000 mile journey - Our cruising days are over, for now!! 7000 miles is a long distance to travel, except maybe by airplane. Our final journey took us from October in Barcelona to March in North Carolina. Each leg of our journey had a different crew. This is just a thanks for everybody who played a major part in bringing Boundless home. Carlos and Elena, in Barcelona, didn't really join us on any passages but I>would never have made this journey without their help and support. Besides taking care of Boundless while we were in the US last summer, Carlos helped me get Boundless ready to go 7000 miles with no problems! His experience, his knowledge of boats, his attention to detail, and his support was always with me. Elena was next to him all the time with a warm welcome and a big smile. They helped make our stay in Barcelona unforgettable! Wayne Davis was like my anchor in Barcelona. Everyday he would track our progress and provide a safety function of being the only shore side person to know where we were everyday. If we had any major problems on any of our passages he would probably have been one of the first persons to know and he would notify others as required with our position. His effort really didprovide another level of security for our entire voyage. Ross and Wei are another cruising couple that we met a few years ago in Turkey. They are currently living in England where Wei is finishing her degree in Art. Ross was always with us also. His help with our HAM radio and his ongoing support with weather reports has helped to keep us out of the horrible weather we all read and talk about. Mo and Joe helped us on our first leg. They were a pile of fun besidesbeing a huge help. They helped Faith and me get back into the routine of passages which we hadn't done for a few years! We met Mo and Joe when they visited friends in Barcelona over a year ago. When they arrived in Barcelona this past year it was just like renewing an old friendship even though we hardly knew them. They were wonderful companions and a wonderful crew. Maybe we'll get a chance to see them in the US! Steve joined me for the trip from Spain to the Canary Islands. It was just the two of us so the cruising was a bit more of difficult relative to number and length of watches but we did get a chance to see a bit of Morocco while we waited for a storm to pass. We didn't get a chance to see much in the islands before he had to get back to Jackie and Emily, his wife and very young daughter, who were waiting for his return to make a short visit home in England. Thanks for loaning Steve to me for a while! Shawn and Jon did the major passage with us. They were able to manage a full month away from work to make the passage from the Canary Islands to Puerto Rico with us. It was easy for them to say they would join us for the Atlantic crossing since the passage has always been a dream of Shawn's but it was quite another thing for them to actually make it happen. Their experience and never ending support made the passage very easy for us. Shawn's fishing even provided fresh fish for our eating enjoyment! Faith and I are very happy that we met them while cruising in the Bahamas in 2000. We met them many times in the Caribbean the following year and we were sorry to have them return to their careers as we left for Europe in 2001. Our friendship has continued and now we share a month full of memories from a very unique experience. Maybe our next passage will be in their boat! It was really great for me to have my brother Tom join me for the last part of our voyage. It has been more than thirty five years since I have spent more than an hour or two with Tom and even then there was usually a crowd of people around us. The time together gave us a chance to get to know one another again and provide another level of growth in our relationship. I was surprised and thankful that Tom enjoyed cooking. It was certainly one less thing for me to worry about but his cooking didn't do a thing for my weight.....at least I loose a little weight when I cook. His boating experience was evident from the start so our journey of several hundred miles in a tight shallow channel through and under many many LOW bridges made the trip a lot of fun. We even had a chance to spend a few days with Ken....and I survived! I hope we get a chance to spend more time together again! The real person responsible for our entire voyage is Faith. Several years ago I suggested, with tongue in cheek, that it might be fun to go cruising for a few years. She not only agreed but made it happen. Once we were on our way the real work started. She not only had to take care of me but now she had a boat to deal with as well. Besides all the new things to learn to do major passages and travel over 25,000 miles on a boat, day to day living on a boat can be very difficult. Faith made it easy for me by taking charge of most of the daily chores as well as providing continued excellent meals whether we were at a dock or in the middle of the Atlantic in addition to her help and support running and maintaining Boundless. She also took thousands of pictures and created several very nice photo albums that we will share with others and enjoy ourselves for the rest of our lives. Shealso wrote the travel logs that you can find on our web site or read in the books we have created through the help and direction of our friend Tom Smith. You will have to join us at home to read the books but you can visit our web site anytime! See why I still love her! I want to say thank you to all of these people that helped us with the last7000 miles! I also want to say thanks to everyone we have met over the years! This is what cruising is all about; meeting and enjoying people from all over the world. You have all participated in the experiences that we will remember for the rest of our lives. The cruising life is always a challenge but it is also very rewarding. It provides very different perspectives from all other forms of travel. It also provides many different and unique opportunities. This is what keeps us going! Your Boundless Crew!