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Finally the day arrived for which we had been preparing for years - departure from Mexico for the 3,000-mile non-stop voyage from Mexico to the Marquesas in French Polynesia.  "Non-stop" because there's no land in between!  It took us three weeks and we only saw one other boat the whole time.  Patti had to bake bread on the boat because store-bought wouldn't last long enough.  When this photo was taken, we were over 1,000 miles from land.  She worked hard on her cooking for the whole trip, making delicious meals even when the boat was rolling so you couldn't stand without hanging on.  We ate well and soon settled into the weird world of round-the-clock watches.  One of us was awake all the time for the whole three weeks, which was the routine for ALL our passages.  One person could handle the boat for most things as long as the autopilot handled the steering.  And you would be surprised how you learn to sleep even in very rough conditions when you're off-watch.  The trust we developed in each other to handle the watches while the other slept was one of the enduring positive aspects of the cruising life.