The discussion so far has focused on situations in the Pacific and while I know both boats spent substantial time in the Atlantic, I find nothing different about the availability of parts in the Atlantic once you leave North America and Puerto Rico. Friends were repeatedly held up for 3 weeks for a part that was being shipped in, often the part was rejected by customs and returned to the US. Other times the delivery just never made it. To add insult to injury the duties were 35 to 55% of fair market value. Some simple parts are routinely available, such as 2000 gph bilge pumps, others such as impellers for a Lehman were non-existent. One item which demonstrates the scope of the problem was the oil filter for my 8KW Westerbeke. While you would think this would be available anywhere, the problem was that the cross references did not keep to the original length of the filter and thus were too large (long) to fit in the generator space. Once I left St. Martin only a Westerbeke dealer in Martinique carried them. Fortunately, I was looking to stock up for 2009-2010 and had enough for current use. If you are going to leave the world of Starbucks, Wal-Mart and West Marine, a large collection of spares is necessary. Standardization, where possible becomes very beneficial. With the addition of a remote oil filter kit, my genset and wing engine now use the same oil filter. My washdown pumps, and domestic fresh water pumps are the same. With a little plumbing I was able to standardize the use of Racor 500 filters for both the primary and secondary fuel filters on the Lehman, as well as the primary for both the wing and genset. While we are talking about spares, if you are going offshore one should pay attention to the duties you pay in various countries to bring parts in. The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos are good examples. In the Bahamas, the duty is 35% or more, whereas if you ship the part to the Turks and Caicos, the part is exempt from duty if it is shipped to a "yacht in transit". St. Martin is duty free, St. Bart's is not. Fair winds to all. May you not have a long wait for either a weather window or a spare parts shipment. Marty Campanella Bay Pelican KK42