S/V PEREGRINA COMPLETES HER CIRCUMNAVIGATION!

Peregrina's Journey
Peter and Margie Benziger
Wed 27 May 2015 01:21

09:30.6N  078:37.0W

S/V PEREGRINA COMPLETES HER CIRCUMNAVIGATION!

January 10, 2010 – May 14, 2015

 

It all began as a little boy’s dream.


What would it be like to sail around the world?


On January 5th, 2010, the good ship, Peregrina, left Miami, Florida, USA.  Cuddled into my arms was my First (and Best) Mate, Margie.




Like a thoroughbred, our chariot was raring to go.




Over the next five years, five months and nine days, we traveled 35,000 miles as we circumnavigated the world.




We visited 37 countries in the following order.


Grand Cayman

Panama

Galapagos (Ecuador)

Marquesas Islands

Tuamotus Islands

French Society Islands  (Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea, etc, etc)

Cook Islands

Niue

Tonga

Fiji

Vanuatu

Australia

New Zealand (Flew by Plane)

Indonesia

Singapore

Malaysia

Vietnam (Flew by Plane)

Thailand

The island of Borneo

The Kingdom of Brunei

Philippines

Rodrigues Island

Mauritius

Reunion Island

South Africa

Swaziland

Namibia

St. Helena

Ascension Island

Fernando Del Noronho ( Brazil)

French Guyana

Trinidad

Grenada

Venezuela (Los Roques Archipelago)

Bonaire

Curacao

Aruba

Colombia

And….back to Panama

 

A circumnavigation can be explained using the “string theory.”  If you were to unwind a piece of string off your boat’s transom as you travel around the globe heading west, you will, sooner or later, cross your outbound path where you can “tie the knot.”


We completed our circumnavigation in the San Blas islands off Panama.  We first visited the San Blas Islands in January 2010 and returned to the very same anchorage in May 2015.


​To commemorate the occasion I wrote the following poem.

 

DREAMS OF LITTLE BOYS

 

When I was just a little boy

A tiny dream came to me

In the dream, I took a boat

And sailed it out to sea

 

When I became a teenager

The dream was still around

I would not let this adventure

Hit a reef or, sadly, go aground

 

The first time that I met Margie

I told her my dream to circumnavigate

Happily, she was onboard right away

And, it was OK to have a second date

 

We got married and had two kids

And the dream drifted with the current of life

But, Margie helped me keep it alive

As a first mate, she’s a pretty good wife!

 

Finally, we had a weather window

The kids were gone and on their own

And the dream came rushing back

With all the hope that it had sown

 

One day, we just decided

Let’s live our dream before it’s too late

We upped anchor and sailed away

As had always been our fate

 

We discovered the earth is not flat

As was suspected for many years

We did not sail right off the edge

As so many early navigators feared

 

Our wake covered many sea routes

Over 35,000 miles we did roam

We dropped anchor in 37 countries

And watched sunsets over their sea foam

 

I remember being a little boy

Wondering if I would sail the sea so blue

And now I know for certain

That dreams of little boys can come true.

 

 

Margie and I would like to thank our family and friends who have supported us these many years.




May all your dreams also come true!


Peter and Margie Benziger

“Circumnavigators”


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Peter Benziger
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