On January 5, 2010, Peregrina departed from the Coral Reef Yacht Club in Coconut Grove, Florida. This is our picture from 2010.  You can see Miami in the background.

On August 7, 2018, Peregrina returned to the USA after more than eight years and seven months - having circumnavigated the world in exactly 2,778 days.

This is our return picture on August 7^th, 2018 as we approached San Diego, California. I have a bit more grey hair while Margie is still gorgeous!

 

Below, you will see Peregrina (the black shape in the middle left of the picture) crossing the USA/Mexico border on our chart plotter. This border extends westward into the Pacific Ocean and is clearly marked on the charts.

 

During our voyage, we visited 41 countries in the following order:

USA  - Departure June 10,2010

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 Noronha (Brazil)

French Guyana

Trinidad

Grenada

Venezuela (Los Roques Archipelago)

Bonaire

Curacao

Aruba

Colombia

Costa Rica

Guatemala

Mexico

 USA – Return August 7, 2018

People ask us if we have photographs of our favorite places. Well, I remember a quote from a book I cherish titled “On the Loose.”  It says this about photographs.

“But is the picture a tenth of the thing?

A hundredth?

Is it anything without the smell and salt breeze and the yellow warmth when the fog lifts?

Oh! But I got all that too.

It is exposed forever on the sensitive emulsion sheet

Of my mind.”

 

So, what comes next?

As we return to the USA, I ponder whether we are returning home. We have a house in Miami but it has been rented for more than eight years. We sold or gave away most of our possessions.  Is this house our home?  Not really sure…

We certainly don’t have any intention of returning to Miami anytime soon.

I remember a phrase

“Home is where the heart is.” 

Thinking about this phrase, I ask myself what fills my heart. The following list comes to mind.

-My wife, Margie

-My children, Lauren and Amy

-My brother, Kent and his wife Nancy, sister Sharon, niece Emily and nephew Adam

-The memories of my mom, dad, grandparents and my wonderful dogs, Odgen and Nike

-The people I met with Amigos De Las Americas doing social service in Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay

-Many wonderful colleagues at work over the years

-My friends

-And, recently added to this list, is my new best friend, our first Grandchild, Kinsley

 

Reflecting upon this list, I realize that home is not a physical location for me. Home is what is important to me and that is people. I carry the thoughts of my loved ones with me as I travel and they are not far away.  They are always with me in my heart every day.

Since we have been traveling so long, many of our friends live on boats or in different countries. I will probably never see many of them again although my wife stays in contact with them using Facebook. Will I miss giving them a hug or sharing a meal with them? Yes.

But, now that Peregrina is back in the USA, we will have more time to spend with those loved ones at the top of my list; my children, my brother, sister, sister-in-law, niece, nephew

and sweet Kinsley.

While we have been traveling for many years and far away, I now know that I never really left home. My home is my loved ones and they have traveled with me.

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Wishing you fair winds and following seas

Peter