From The Captain

Matt sent me this post to put up on the blog...

To My Crew,

Thank you for making a dream of six years come true. I could not have asked for better guys to make the trip. The work you did on the boat and throughout the trip will always be appreciated. While I wish we could have continued, I wish you the best in your experiences and hope you find the good waves. I will always remember the day we left San Diego. I guess I can say this now, the parents know we're safe. But to explain, after countless hours of work on the boat and a continuous 36 hours before departure we finally left Mission Bay. Less than 10 minutes out the engine died. Words could not express the pain and depression we were feeling. We sat in disbelief that this might be the end of the trip, there was no more time. We were talking about what we would do about the situation. That's when Joaquin fell asleep in mid sentence talking to us, Josh and I started laughing and could not stop. (It still amazes me where that kid can fall asleep) We decided to continue on to Ensenada under sail power alone and my engineer found the problem. An exhaust leak was the diagnoses and our engineer fixed it with no problem at all. Not the first or last time he saved the day. That day will always stay with me.
Joaquin, I have never had anyone take to sailing as quickly as you. You are now a more experienced sailor than most people I know. Thank you for your help and I wish you the best in your endeavors. Josh, the trip would not have happened without you. I can never fully thank you for all the work you did to make this trip a reality. You are truly a good friend and I thank you on behalf of my parents for talking me out of going the rest of the trip solo. I wish you the best in your trip around the globe. You are a good person and I respect you for doing what you love. Not many people would have the courage to make the adventure you are undertaking. I wish you the best! You both always have a place on my boat if the need ever arises. All you have to do is call. And remember, avoid the Peanut Fish, I've heard they are deadly!

Best Wishes,

Craft

Matt - you will be missed on every journey we have. Good luck with your ventures in the US and hope you are back on the Lone Star come November. I am a different person because of the time we spent sailing...life will never be the same (thats a good thing). thanks for making it happen bro!