From Dennis Raedeke, owner of Wild Wind IV, first power catamaran to cross the Pacific: I thought that I would bring you up to date on Wild Wind IV's last trip. Cam and I got back to WWIV on Dec. 27th in Ventura CA. We found the boat totally covered in bird crap. It took us days to get the boat respectable and a month before it was all cleaned up. The moral is: don't leave your boat next to a fishing fleet during squid season. The ink makes it even worse. New Years eve was spent in San Diego and we left on Jan. 2 for Ensinada. We stopped in several bays on the way to La Paz. On three occasions we were hailed by fishermen wanting to trade lobsters for almost anything. One time the deal was 14 lobsters for two beers and a Coke and some candy. The Coke was for an under age Kid. At La Paz our son and kids came and we spent a week going north in the Sea of Cortez. The water was cold and there were stingies in the water. We made stops in Nuevo Valarta, Acupulco, where we fueled, and Huotulco in Mexico. The trip from Huotulco to Playa de Coco found us hit by both a moderate Tahunapecter and a Papagyo. I started across the Gulf of Tahunepec in dead calm and when the wind started from the SW I thought this is going to be easy. At 16 knots I would be across in less than two hours. In minutes the wind was blowing 20-30 kns from the NE. The waves weren't too large so I turned into them and at that speed was in the lee of the shore in short order. It was even a little rough close in. Lesson learned even after all I had read. In '79 on WWI, I went through in dead calm all the way. The Papagyo made me realize one needs to stay very close to shore. We did part of this at night which is a problem because there are so many small fishing boats near shore, particularly when the wind is blowing. When we got to Cocos we had a long line some fisherman had out trailing from the bow and back around the prop and rudder. It was trailing from the bow because it caught on a gouge we picked up in Alaska. We did gain two nice hooks. The trip from Cocos to Golfito went fine except for a two hour dash across one open section. We fueled and changed oil and did a general service in Golfito. After leaving Golfito we had a very pleasant trip to Panama City. The mooring at the Blaboa Yacht Club was right next to the channel and every big wake from the service vessels rocked us hard. They put us on a mooring and told me that it would hold the biggest boat. Somehow we drifted back over another mooring. When I discovered it, the mooring an old tire filled with foam, was under the boat just ahead of the prop on the port hull. I was able to get a line around it and tie it to the stern almost out of the water. Now being tied bow and stern the boat did not swing with the tide. It actually turned out to be a blessing as the angle to the wakes was improved. We arrived on Mon. Feb. 28, and with the help of Peter Stevens our agent, transited the Canal on Thur. March 3rd. Other than the $1650 it cost for the transit including agent, this was the best and easiest transit of the three we have done. We were rafted on the three locks up and were on the wall for the three down. The whole transit was six and one half hours. We were able to run at 16 kn through the lake and fit in front of a ship for the down locks. It looked rough as we left the last lock and let off the pilot and one of our guest couples. The wind was NE at 15-20 with a pretty good sea. As I was headed NNW we were going into a sea. After several hours the wind died down and we had a very pleasent trip to the Moskito Cays off Nicaragua. We stayed for two night and had some local boys go with us and find four lobsters and two conch. For the first time I saw a local dive for a conch and take it out of the shell before coming to the suface. On the way back to WWIV one of the guys cleaned and skinned the conch with my very sharp fillet knife while bouncing up and down on the side of the dinghe in rough water. We had rough head seas as we rounded Cabo Gracias a Dios till we headed west. The weather looked like it would get bad in three or four days so I decided not to stop in Roatan Honduras and instead go over night on to the anchorage just across from Livingston, the enterence to the Rio Dulcie. The next day we checked into Guatamala and walked around Livingston. Extremely hot. The next day we went up the river and through the beautiful gorge to the lake and found a place to dock at Mories. We made arrangments to go to Tikal a Mayan ruin about three and one half hours north. The trip was good in a van with driver. We stayed one night. The ruins were interesting as was the drive through mostly open country, which was a surprise to me. After returning to the boat we cleaned her up and fueled and headed down the river to check out in Livingston. The next day we checked into Punta Gordo Belize. and continued out to the southern most cay for the night. We moved two more times staying one day each. We saw no lobsters or conch where we snorkled and were told that the locals had taken almost everything. Somewhat disapointed and ready to get home we left Long Cay and went out over the reef and headed for Key West. I had hoped that the wind being from the SE and we were going NE that I could turn north and that would put the waves behind us. I did not realize that even with the winds SE the swells are from the E.Combined with the current in this area made for rough seas as we had to meet every wave. I ran both engines and ran at 10 -11 kn. We crossed the reef at 15:00 and it took 24hrs before we were far enough NE so the swells started coming from the SE and the ride started to improve. By night fall we were aff the western tip of Cuba. All night we ran along the north coast into a one kn counter current. In the morning we headed for Key West and since the seas had layed down we ran the rest of the way a 16 kn. We arrived at 17:00 March 23rd local time for a total of 49 Hours from Belize to Key West. WWIV is now at Tarpon Point Marina in Cape Coral FL. We plan to go back to the boat in early May and head up the East Coast to Maine and Nova Scotia and up the St. Lauwrence, through the lakes and to Dututh , arriving in late Aug. WWIV ran well for the trip although a fuel leak developed on the starboard engine which took a while to find and repair. Working in the tight engine room in 90 degrees is not fun. WWIV has now traveled just under 25,000 KM. We did catch our share of fish even though we were traveling between 9-10 kn most of the time. The best was a 55" Mahi Mahi. I hope things are going well for everyone. Dennis Site see: http://www.trawlerworld.com/passagemaking_wildwind_01.htm