Posted on behalf of Scott Bulger: From: Scott E. Bulger [mailto:scottebulger@gmail.com] Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2008 3:47 PM To: 'scottebulger@gmail.com' Subject: Greetings from ALANUI, moored at the Flaminco Yacht club in Balboa Panama! Alanui arrived at the Flaminco YC two days ago, but we were so busy this is the first chance we have had to drop everyone a note saying: WE MADE IT TO THE PANAMA CANAL!!!!!!!!!!! We are waiting to be measured and then we will be scheduled for transit, perhaps in 4 or 5 days. To focus on this accomplishment, here are some facts and statistics: a. Marian and Scott are still happily married and plan to continue on (marriage and trip). We feel the most exciting part of the journey is still to come! b. Alanui traveled 4,875.5 nautical miles from Port Angeles Wa to Balboa Panama. This is equivalent to driving 5,601 statute or "car" miles. c. We stopped at 55 different locations along the way. Many times we just stopped for the night, and at several locations we spent a week. The longest we stayed anyplace was 10 days. d. We anchored out at 27 of these locations, the longest of which was Zihuatanejo for 6 days. e. In addition to visiting Washington, Oregon and California, we visited Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. f. We have been living on Alanui for 9 months and voyaging for about 8 months. g. We performed 4 oil changes and filled the boat up 4 times, spending about $3,500 on fuel. We experienced only minor equipment failures, a testament to the quality yacht produced by PAE. h. In all of this time there was only one really scary event when we broached (turned sideways) in the boat trying to enter a harbor in Nicaragua. i. With that exception the majority of the weather has been spectacular. The largest, or roughest, seas we experienced were about 6 to 8 feet tall, nothing the boat and its occupants couldn't handle. Prior to arriving in Costa Rica we had only seen rain on 2 occasions, and then just a slight drizzle. The rainy season is approaching Central America and we anticipate leaving before it gets going strong. We actually arrived at the canal with a sailboat in tow! We had some dear friends that experienced an equipment failure and we ended up towing them right across the traffic lanes in the midst of dozens of supertankers and cruise ships! What an exciting way to end this phase of the journey, giving back to others, keeping the system of checks and balances in check! So, from here it's through the canal, Marian will fly home to visit the kids and a good friend from Seattle will fly down and help me bring the boat from Panama to Florida, where Marian will re-join me. Then we go up the East Coast for the Fall Colors. We are really excited. I'm sorry our web site hasn't been more up to date, but we hope to remedy that soon. So hugs to you all, keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Scott and Marian, aboard Alanui, a Nordhavn 40 moored in Balboa Panama