New year and new adventures! Oceans of Hope has departed the United States with a new crew, ready to take the yacht another leg around the world - to Panama and through the grand canal! We left Fort Lauderdale this morning at 11:30 accompanied by the catamaran Impossible Dream from the Shake-A-Leg organization with whom we had an amazing send-off ceremony. Our friends from the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation were also there to wave us off and Mayor Seiler of Fort Lauderdale tossed our last bow line!

After running through the safety equipment for our new crew, and after introducing the watch schedule we will follow for the next 9-10 days and having our first lunch at sea this year, a peace has settled on board. The crew are getting accustomed to their new roles as sailors and everyone is taking a deep breath as we are finally under way again with the sails up and the wind at our back. We are doing approximately seven knots by the genoa and main sail on an east-south easterly heading of about 60 degrees.

Local time on board is 15:00 and our current position is 26'11.671N 79'48.851W.

A variety of photos by Oceans of Hope and MSF: