I sailed with them for seven months from October 1979 from Ensenada until April of 1980 when I left the ship at American Samoa and returned to the states. I thought about The Romance several times and put my "world voyage" T-shirt on,but had lost contact with everyone from the crew. I wish I had known about the honors from the Sail Training Association and Skipper and Gloria's ultimate passing. However,someone's life is greater than their passing and this certainly was true for both of them in my case. My wife said why don't you search The Romance on the Internet and instantly I was back on board, landing at Pitcairn,catching shark and Wahoo, and telling my daughter what it's like to climb the rat lines and tend to the sails and meeting some of the nicest people on the planet at different ports-0-call. In retrospect, all I can say is Wow! I really did do that.

I was sailing in the Virgins,in 1978. I saw the Romance there and the ad that said "the ultimate adventure,Circumnavigate the globe, Romance second world voyage" and I said I need to do that. Tall Ships may be going the way of the dinosaur and I knew there wouldn't be many more opportunities. I met them in San Pedro,when they were doing the refit. After overcoming some doubt and getting answers to a lot of questions, I decided to go. The voyage has impacted me to this day. Well,old salts and Marineros can go on for a long and I would like to do that more. My carved wooden bowl,engraved Steve Christian,Pitcairn Island,1980 and my Fid mean even more to me.