Well, now that I am in the United States, a lot has changed. Now, instead of 3 or 4 days of open water passages, it is closer to 1 or 2 days. You might think that this isn't a huge thing, but, with the night watches, it is. That, and when you get to your destination, there's food that you want to eat, and not puke later. Another nice thing here, is that people speak English, and you can trust most of them. The addition of not having to check into every port we go to is also a big deal. All this, not to mention cell phone service, makes the USA the place to be.