Friday morning we did a few boat jobs before getting a water taxi into the pier.   

We then managed to get a land taxi to take us to the other end of the town saving us the 30 minute walk to the Booby Trap as we wanted to speak to James the agent.  We had asked him to get our exit Zarpe organised earlier in the week to try to avoid double fees because of the Easter holiday.   Amazingly he had it in hand ready for us and no overtime charged.   Very pleased about that.  

We had lunch at his café before following the sand road towards the wetlands trail.   We started off walking on wooden bridges across the deep orange/red coloured water presumably caused by metal deposits.   We quickly came across some ducks, some flamingos and other birds.  So we enjoyed watching them for a while.   

We continued walking and quickly the path turned to an ash one crossing over lava flows which were adorned with the usual cactus.  

We meandered up and down for a while until finally we reached our destination which was the tortoise breeding centre.   There are two different species found here on the volcanic slopes on Isabela and they are breeding them to ensure their survival.   The original tortoises in this centre were rescued from a volcanic eruption and have managed to increase their population ten fold in just a few years.   The most noticeable difference is the shape of their shells….with some of them looking like they have been squished LOL.  Oh yes…and did you know that giant tortoises yawn?!?    

Leaving the breeding centre we walked the dusty road back rather than following the trail again…and it was much quicker.  We arrived on the deserted beach and just took in the spectacular views.   Suddenly there were birds everywhere – frigates, boobies and pelicans alike – and a feeding frenzy was underway.   There were hundreds of them and lots of synchronised diving with the male boobies calling the shots with their loud whistles.  Amazing sight!

We continued walking until we arrived at our favourite beach bar and said hi to the marine iguanas on the beach – even catching a shot of one of them swimming – and made camp in hammocks having a cold restorative beer.   Just watching the surf coming in on this deserted coastline is a sight to treasure.  We loved watching the pelican taking time out on the beach too away from his friends.

Later on we wandered back towards the pier – we stopped off for another drink on the way back along the beachfront and Richard decided to try out a mojito.    

Fully refreshed we headed back but not before stopping off at the local beach to check out the sea lions – who were being mischievous and sleeping on towels left by unsuspecting tourists who had gone into the sea.   And they weren’t giving them back any time soon!    The baby seal was there again too striking another cute pose.     

Back to Morphie for another quiet night in the cockpit.

Saturday morning and it was time for boat jobs.    Richard did some varnish keepers while I cleaned all the stainless steel.   It was hard to stay focused because every now and again the baby seal would swim under Morphie and look up at me…..  Not to mention the pelican who sits on the big buoy behind us….and the big fish that just swim by.   It’s a good job this isn’t penguin season – apparently they are off breeding elsewhere – as I’m not sure the stainless would have got done if they were swimming around the boat too LOL.  Richard then did engine checks and routine maintenance in preparation for our departure from Isabela on Tuesday morning.   Around lunchtime we headed into town via water taxi and got another land taxi – we’ve been very lucky the last few days.   

The purpose of going into town was to pay for our diving on Sunday – but the office was closed.  Lots of places close here for a few hours in the afternoon.   So we wandered the beach promenade and found a local restaurant for lunch which was very nice.   

We then went back and paid for our diving….hopped another taxi back to the pier….and got a water taxi back to Morphie.   We had a quiet evening on board.   Oh yes…and a big ship had come into the anchorage…and was overloading loads of cargo onto barges to be taken ashore.    We expected fridges / freezers and fresh produce but not trucks….

Sunday morning we were up early and got our gear ready…and the dive boat Gaby came by and collected us.    We sped across the channel towards Tortuga – which is another volcanic island with a sunken crater rim which was the destination for our dive.  

We jumped in and went down into the nutrient-rich waters which makes for limited visibility . We enjoyed both dives and particularly the sights of the sharks (including hammerheads woo hoo), seals, turtles, huge numbers of fish and much more.   Favourite fish of the day was the yellow puffer fish which we’ve never seen before.   Was spectacular diving but, again, with the murky water it was difficult to get good photos but here are the best of the bunch.

On our way back towards Isabela we had a humpback whale visit and we weren’t quick enough to get his leap but here is his back as he disappears beneath the waves.   

Back to Morphie and we were tired so we cleaned up our gear, snoozed and read the day away.    What an adventure we are having! 

This morning, Monday, and we awoke to a fantastic sunrise.  

I’m blogging while Richard is keeping busy checking the football scores LOL.   We are planning a final beach afternoon today before heading out of here early tomorrow – Tuesday – to return to Santa Cruz to do the clearing out process and final provisioning.  We are hoping to start our passage to the Marquesas on Saturday but will keep you posted.  

Bye for now

Jan

Sunday morning we were up early, got a water taxi ashore, and then waited on the dock for our tour boat.   Lots of other tourists came and went…and we sat there…wondering what was going on.    Finally, about 45 minutes later, some tourists turned up with a tour guide for our trip.   Clearly the 8 am rendezvous time must have been at the office in town which is a 20 minute walk away rather than on the dock.

We piled into the boat with the other tourists which were another international group with two Germans, four British (including us), one Australian and two Ecuadorians.   We enjoyed the view of Morphie at anchor on our way through before the captain opened the throttles and we took off down the coast at speed.

First stop was this rock that just rises out of the sea majestically.  We enjoyed the sight of the boobies on the top of the rock and the seals sleeping it off lower down.    

Moving on we turned towards the reef and suddenly the captain is gunning it and we are surfing the large waves through a narrow gap in the rocks.   This trip is definitely not for anybody with a nervous disposition! 

And we entered a world of lava tunnels and bridges dotted with cactus.   It has absolutely spectacular scenery and was very quiet and sedate after our dramatic entrance. We motored through this area quietly just taking it all in… 

And then we got out of the boat and, after an obligatory selfie, we headed carefully across the rocks to find some blue-footed boobies.  

The lava is not thick in places and is full of cracks and crevices – with nothing to hold on to – unless you fancy a fistful of needles from a cactus!   We found a breeding boobie pair and quite a few single males looking for a lifetime of love as they only ever have one partner.   These birds are amazing and they really didn’t mind us getting up close and personal.       

Back into the boat and we meandered around for a little while longer between the rock formations before the captain gunned the engine again to get over the breaking waves beyond the reef.   These guys know what they are doing!   Finally we were outside and motoring along the coastline again and we came across a manta ray in the water.  Sadly he didn’t hang around long enough for a photo but was lovely to see him – he had about a 12 foot wingspan so probably only a juvenile.

We then headed back through the crashing surf into another area behind the reef.  The water was pretty murky but this was our snorkelling destination so we jumped in.   Before we had even got ten yards we came across a huge – I mean small car size – turtle.   Amazing!    Then another…and another….and another.   At one point there were three turtles in sight at one time.   Sadly the gloomy conditions meant that photos aren’t great – but here are a few anyway.

Moving away from the turtle area and we came across a shark swimming around.  The guide then took us to a rock and told us to approach one by one…and dive down…and have a look.  Well the cave is full of sharks resting.    Wow!    Shame we weren’t kitted out with scuba tanks as a snorkel dive wasn’t just long enough to watch them properly. 

Once everyone had seen the sharks we then headed closer to the mangroves – through some very shallow water – to another area.   The guide was looking for a seahorse.   And, in all that gloom, he actually found one!    It was much bigger than any we had seen before…and glad that we managed to get a picture of him.

Back to the boat and it was time for the fast trip to return to town.    Had been another fantastic Galapagos adventure!

Back on board Morphie we enjoyed the views from the cockpit before the heavens opened and we had another downpour.   At least Morphie is getting a clean LOL.    We had a very stormy sunset before an early night.

Monday morning and we were up early.   We still had problems with the iPad weather app so wanted to go to the internet café to see if we could resolve it.    So we hailed a water taxi and headed into town.  The 15 minute walk into the centre of town is hot and has no shade but, so far, we have failed to hail a truck taxi which costs only $1-2 apparently.    We dropped our laundry off first and then found the internet place and logged on – and we managed to delete the frozen app to start again.  So that’s a great start.   But then someone else came in and logged on….and a women started skyping on the phone….so we were unable to reload it.  But at least we know it is just a slow connection speed issue rather than the iPad going wrong.   On the long way back to the boat we tried to find fresh produce and bread but failed on both counts.

We got a water taxi back to Morphie.  The tide was low so we could see rocks appearing throughout the anchorage….and the driver had to take a very long circuitous route to get us back. 

We weren’t back for very long just enough time to get changed and drop off computers etc.    Then we got into beach wear and headed back into town.   I chatted to the iguanas near the beach and, again, no taxis available. 

We walked into and through town to the beach at the far end and settled into the bar.  We had a lovely time chatting with Remy (our Australian buddy from the day before) and had a bob in the water – Richard even tried out the hammocks.    Oh yes and I negotiated two free large beers for us as my sun dress got ruined when I sat at the bar on a seat which had just been cleaned with bleach!    

We took the long walk back to the town dock before returning to Morphie and we had a nice evening in the cockpit listening to tunes.

Tuesday morning and I was struggling with my dodgy legs.    All the walking, snorkelling and the climbing on and off water taxis and boats had taken its toll.   So we both had a lazy day although Richard did go into town to collect our laundry.   Oh yes….and some excitement.….when a large catamaran was declined entry into the harbour.  They had had their international zarpe issued and had checked out in Santa Cruz – and used the excuse that their daughter was ill to gain a couple of days grace in Isabela.   The answer was a strict no from both the agent and the port authorities so they were forced to start their long passage to the Marquesas….that’s what you get when you try to find a way around the rules!

Wednesday morning and I felt a bit better.  I did the clothes washing – we only take our sheets and towels to the laundry – and Richard cleaned the Galapagos grime from the waterline of Morphie.   The growth sure builds up here in this nutrient-rich environment.   Later on we got ready to go to the beach again and hailed a water taxi.    We enjoyed watching the seals playing in the surf as we arrived and check out the baby posing on the beach.  What a cutie!!!  

We headed into town – walking again – sigh…..   Richard had a chat to the iguanas while we took a breather.  

We got to the beach bar and were delighted to find the little private tower unoccupied.   So we took up residence, enjoyed the spectacular views and just chilled over a couple of cold ones.   We had a lovely time.   

Afterwards we wandered town again and this time found potatoes and tomatoes – woo hoo!!!    And the bakers was open….so we finally have bread again….   We walked back to Morphie slightly laden as we had found a shop selling canned beers and sodas much cheaper than in Santa Cruz so we thought we might as well replenish our stocks while we are here.

This morning, Thursday, and we were just getting ready to go into town when a huge pontoon boat picked up the giant mooring behind us.    When we anchored this was a fair way away from us but as the wind has swung more easterly it is a bit closer.   So Richard stayed on board while I went into town for my hair appointment….and I finally got a taxi….woo hoo!   Had a nice experience at the hairdressers although was a bit surprised that they didn’t have running water so my hair was rinsed using a jug from a bucket.   Back to Morphie and Richard had cleaned up down below, swapped out a faulty pressure gauge on the water maker and had tested it by making some more drinking water.  He’s now reading while I’m blogging – we’ll probably just stay put for the rest of the day.

We have decided to stay here for Easter and chill on the beach.   The volcano rim trip, sadly, isn’t going to work as they leave at silly o’clock in the morning and there is no way the water taxis will be working that early to get Richard ashore.  So that’s off the list but we have found out that that there is an inland lagoon that is full of flamingos so we hope to explore that instead.    

Bye for now

Jan

Wednesday morning we headed into town in preparation for our full-day snorkelling trip to Pinzon Island.  We got the water taxi and turned up in the guy’s office at 7.45 am as arranged.   And…he then tells us…that the operator got it wrong and had booked us on the boat for Thursday instead.   Not impressed!   We said OK we’ll go tomorrow but, if that trip doesn’t happen, we want a full refund.    

Disappointed we are now in town very early in the morning in swimsuits carrying snorkelling gear and nowhere to go.    We decided to follow the signs to Tortuga Beach.   Well….we found the entrance to the national park….and walked along this path through the brush. 

It went up and down and up and down and over a hill and, after about 50 minutes, we finally arrived at this beautiful beach.   The surf was raging and the flags were red as there are strong currents here.  We admired the view and paddled in the water.   There is another beach further around the headland which apparently is good for swimming, but I certainly didn’t fancy the additional 30 minutes’ walk on the softest sand you could image with my dodgy legs.  

So after a recuperative bottle of water we made the very hot, long and sweaty walk back towards town.    We stopped for a cold soda on the way and debated returning to Morphie.   But although pretty tired we wanted to carry on… so took a water taxi across the bay… and did another hike towards the grottos.    This was up and down an earth and rock path so was pretty hard going at times particularly on top of the exertions of the morning.   

But we were delighted when we arrived that, although we had to share it with quite a few tourists, the grottos were really pretty and we enjoyed swimming and snorkelling around.   Thankfully we had the proper footwear this time to get into and between the pools.   We were surprised to see quite big parrot fish in the 10m depths which meant that it was salt water.  

We trekked back to town revived by our cooling dip and got a water taxi back to Morphie.  And that is where we stayed for the rest of the day and evening.

Thursday morning and, again, up very early for our snorkelling tour.   The guide was late and we had an international group made up of two Ecuadorians, two Chinese (but living in the US), four South Koreans and us.   Finally – around 8.45 am – we boarded our small boat and took off at very high speed along the rocky shoreline of Santa Cruz.   We enjoyed the trip out and the first stop was Sugarloaf Rock.  

We enjoyed watching the seals sleeping along the fissures of the rock obviously waiting for the tide to come back in.  Sadly with all the movement of the boat it was not possible to capture them snoozing on the ledges.  Leaving the rock behind us at speed we arrived at Pinzon Island.    

We dropped anchor and jumped into the water.   Immediately we were met by huge angel fish looking to feed on the growth on the bottom of the boat…and then we saw a shark….and then a turtle….and then we played with a baby seal….and another turtle….and schools of huge fish….and puffers…..and another shark….and the list goes on.    We did two snorkels in this area and loved it – despite it being rock with no colourful coral – the fish life was just amazing.    Woo hoo….fantastic!

After our second snorkel – we spent almost two hours in the water in total – we motored hard back towards Santa Cruz.  And we were joined by a pod of dolphins.   They just make us smile every time. 

As we neared Santa Cruz and motored down the coastline we worked our way behind a reef to a place called Se Fe which is wild, rugged with cactus and shallow water.  Here we were treated to a chicken curry lunch and sodas…. then they all went back in for another snorkel.   Both Richard and I felt pretty tired so we didn’t go back into the water and just enjoyed spending time bobbing around on the boat.

The gang all returned and the captain started counting up his fins….and one of the Korean girls had to own up to losing one of them.   Seriously…..this was frustrating.    If she had told someone at the time there was a chance of recovery but now with the tide going out that was unlikely – although our guide Lenny did jump back in have a look around.   But by now the depth is becoming critical and there are standing waves as the tide meets the surf….and the captain was getting anxious.   So they had to give up and we were very impressed by the captain’s skill in getting us out of there.    Stupid girl – oh yes and she couldn’t even swim!   Seriously who books a snorkelling trip when you can’t swim?!?   Her mother, her sister and her were kitted out in life jackets and kicked themselves around by holding onto a life ring.   We headed back towards town and Lenny forced the girl to pay up for the gear she had lost – didn’t blame them at all!  

Back in the harbour we transferred to a water taxi which, kindly, took us straight back to Morphie.   Had been another long and tiring day but it had been pretty special.   We had a quiet night on board.

Friday morning we picked up anchor as the sun came up and bid farewell to Santa Cruz.  We headed out into another no wind day and flat calm seas.    

The navigation towards Isabela was pretty straight forward once we had cleared the rocky headland but then things got a bit tougher as some of the rocks and islands were completely missing from some of the charts!!!   Between our Garmin chartplotter, the Navionics on the iPad and the OpenCPN on the computer we worked it out but it wasn’t the easiest passage.   The rock below rose from the sea bed which was 143 feet deep.

Finally we had a little bit of wind and we motor sailed the last few miles before the wind died again as the skies darkened and threatened bad weather.  

We picked our way into the anchorage and dropped the hook.   We got a good set straight away and called the agent on the VHF.   He gave us permission to anchor (oops we were supposed to do this first!?!) and then the heavens opened.    It rained cats and dogs…

At around 3.30 pm a small dinghy came alongside with three officials on board who did our inspection.  They were only young lads and completely soaked through to the skin – so the offer of a towel to dry off went down well – and despite their no English and my limited Spanish we made ourselves understood and were cleared to go ashore.   We radioed the agent again and told him we had passed inspection – he asked if we were coming ashore – and we said no we thought we’d sit it out (in the rain) and we were also feeling pretty tired after our 50 mile passage.   Was that OK?   He said fine bring me all the paperwork in the morning.    So we settled down to watch a lovely sunset before we turned in having celebrated our arrival with a couple of cold beers.

This morning, Saturday, and we got a water taxi into town (double the price of Santa Cruz) and were charged a tourist tax of $10 per head to set foot ashore.   Luckily it is only a one off so I’m keeping those receipts handy to avoid paying it again.   First locals we met were a sea lion hanging out and the largest marine iguana we have ever seen….  

We walked down the road towards Puerto Villamil – the main town – and were delighted by the look and feel of the place.   Laid back…less busy…unpaved roads in places…and this feels much more like the Galapagos we were expecting to see.

We walked through town to the agent’s café – the Booby Trap – and he wants copies of loads of documents that were issued to us in San Cristobal.   Bolivar said that they shouldn’t need anything other than what he had given us – seems Isabela are doing things differently these days.    And, of course, the agent doesn’t have a copier…..   He could have warned us of his requirements before we left the boat as we would have got them ready.   So we headed into town and found a shop that did photocopies – got them made – and returned them to him.   Oh yes – because he is processing the papers today on a Saturday – he doubled the $15 fee for overtime.   So that’s why he didn’t care if we came ashore yesterday.   Not impressed!!!    Not sure he should be an agent really when he told us, quite candidly, that he was very happy with the huge fees being levied against private boats as it kept people away.   He really shot himself in the foot though as we won’t be spending our hard-earned savings in his establishment now.

We wandered back via the beautiful beach and found a beach bar….very happy campers.   We fancy a bob at some point that’s for sure!     

On the way through town we talked to a few tour agents and managed to get a snorkelling trip to the ‘tunnels’ booked for tomorrow, Sunday, at a reduced ‘last minute’ price.   So we are looking forward to that, especially as the area is famous for manta rays, boobies and beautiful scenery.   And we hope to see penguins too.   Richard is thinking of doing a volcano rim hike but, at five hours on foot, I know that is beyond my ankle on rough terrain so think I’ll sit that one out!   So lots to do here and we look forward to doing more exploring.  On the way back to the dock we had to avoid the families of huge marine iguanas….

Oh yes… we’ve just had a baby seal come by looking lovingly at our transom and a heron actually sat on Morphie to shelter from the rain.   It will be interesting to find out if we have a friend in the morning LOL.

We are actively now debating our departure.   We have to return to Santa Cruz to check out of the Galapagos Islands for our passage to the Marquesas.   And we hadn’t factored Easter into this at all.   We think much will be shut on Santa Cruz and, if we stayed here, at least we have a beach to play on and chill.   Then back to Santa Cruz for a very short time – shopping for fresh produce and drinks supplies – before heading off out.   Decisions, decisions, decisions…

Bye for now  

Jan

Thursday morning we were up very early as we planned to leave San Cristobal around 6am as the sun came up. We got ourselves ready and then we realised that the autopilot was not working.  And the windlass was slipping again…that just needed a tighten up…but the autopilot refused to play despite swapping out fuses etc. So we decided to go without and hand steered out into a beautiful glassy flat day – just shame there was no wind.

We arrived just after 4pm after our 44 mile passage having passed the island of Santa Fe to starboard.

The anchorage is rocky and not well charted so we felt our way in gingerly and anchored off to one side. The set we got was so good that I thought I was going to be catapulted off the bow when the anchor caught LOL. Anyway….we called the agent….and he came by around 5pm. No officials otherwise just another $15 and a passing over of papers from Bolivar in San Cristobal. Great…we are legit again.

We didn’t want to go ashore and leave Morphie until we were sure she was safe so we just had a couple of beers in the cockpit and had an early night after watching a spectacular sunset. On both our minds was the autopilot issue….we can’t continue without an autopilot as it would be impossible for us both to hand steer for the next 3k miles…   What would we do?!?

First thing Friday morning we changed fuses – blew some more up – and by a process of elimination we worked out where the cable was routed through the boat into the binnacle. We also knew that the master computer and the autopilot head were both operational otherwise they wouldn’t be blowing fuses. So we checked the cable….and pulled and pushed in some very tight hot sweaty spots….and couldn’t find anything untoward. So we took the plotter out of the binnacle and found a join in the autopilot cable which looked suspect. Richard stripped it…rejoined it….and phew the autopilot came back to life!!!    We were very very happy….and greatly relieved.

We decided to go ashore in the afternoon, wander the town and get some internet. Well…we were shocked to find that no alcohol was being sold between Friday and Monday lunchtime because of the Ecuadorian elections. So bars were shut, restaurants were empty, supermarkets and shops had padlocks and tourists were not impressed LOL. We got our internet fix and headed back to Morphie for a couple of cold ones in the cockpit – but not before we had found at least two hardware stores and a large supermarket with fantastic bread!!!   Woo hoo….

Saturday morning we were up early and were relieved to find the autopilot was still working LOL. The anchorage started to fill up with Oyster boats which are on an around-the-world Rally and lots of stern anchors are being deployed. We couldn’t deploy one ourselves because of the boats surrounding us – and, anyway, the rolling wasn’t that bad. But it does cut down space for others as there are all these little anchor balls to avoid – and the water taxis are clearly not impressed!!!

We headed into town with our gas bottle – armed with the name of the company who could fill it – to find that the owners are Seventh Day Adventists so do not open on Saturdays. Never mind we found a nice café and had coffee before heading back to Morphie for the rest of the day.

Sunday morning we were up early again and headed into town with the gas bottle. We took a taxi to the store and they confirmed that they could fill it – happy days – so we left it with them to collect it on Monday. We then decided to continue to explore the town and admired the street art…the restaurants…the bars….the fish market….and the views of the rocky anchorage. It is really pretty here.

At the fish market there were birds looking for handouts and we enjoyed watching their antics for a while – not to mention the skills of the people working there filleting the fish.

We also spotted a crazy tortoise buggy and another strange looking vehicle.  Oh yes and we came across a nice iguana (land version) and our first bit of education around the headhunting past of the locals..

The heavens then decided to open and the streets were a bit treacherous for us wearing flip flops so we found a nice café and ate ice cream while we sat it out. Then we carried on walking towards the Charles Darwin Research Station and enjoyed the sights and sounds along the way. Behind the scenes of the waterfront though, the housing is pretty poor and the strict rubbish laws appear to be ignored in the residential areas.

Arriving at the Darwin Centre we enjoyed following the tortoise path and entered the giant tortoise breeding centre….

It was very informative and neither of us knew that the temperature of the eggs during incubation determined the sex. Anyway…we checked out little tortoises…middle-sized tortoises….giant tortoises…and one making a run for freedom. And, of course, as this is a breeding centre we also came across a couple having sex. The noises and grunts were not attractive and apparently it goes on for two to three hours….the female did not look like she was having fun!!!

At the end of the tortoise breeding centre walk we were ushered into an air-conditioned waiting area – not sure why.   So we just followed the crowd and were surprised to find ourselves looking at the late Lonesome George…  What a sad end to an amazing creature.

We continued on and enjoyed the iguana exhibit particularly as this type is unique here. Also we learnt how the scientists are actively trying to eradicate an invasion of foreign egg-killing flies which are threatening the extinction of the mangrove finch population. And, of course, let’s not forget that we met up with a young version of Darwin.

Moving back towards the town we stopped at a local hotel and had a couple of waters. We loved the sea lion snoozing area and lost count of the number of marine iguanas we saw. Sea lions are not so prolific here as in San Cristobal….which seems a bit strange really.

Leaving the hotel we came across some land iguanas and did a bit of shopping – of course Richard had to get a new baseball cap.  We also arranged to go on a highland tour on Monday afternoon.

Sunday night we spent in the cockpit watching all the boat movements and enjoying another lovely sunset.

We also received the sad news that Richard’s brother-in-law Peter had passed away which took the wind out of our sails a bit. We knew he was ill before we left so had visited whilst at home but the news was still a shock. Our hearts go out to the Culpan family – we are sorry not to be there with you at this difficult time.

Monday morning we were up really early and got a water taxi into town. We hired a taxi and, first stop, was the propane shop. And it was filled – yay – that’s a relief. Then we headed to another store for more fuses…and another for some more. I think Richard has cleared out the island but he feels happier now that we have a larger supply just in case we experience more difficulties with the cable.  We also managed to find 20m of data cable in case he has to rewire it completely.

Back to Morphie for a quick lunch and to drop off our gas bottle and purchases….and then back into town for our tour. We had a private taxi with an English speaking guide. We admired the scenery driving through the towns on the way to the highlands and were amazed by the huge well-maintained cycle lanes. The explanation is that they hold international cycling races here.

We eventually turned into a dirt road which was framed by trees making a tunnel-like effect.

We arrived at the privately-owned ranch and had to pay $3 each to get in. We wandered the grounds and came across loads of wild roaming giant tortoises – some asleep, some in the bushes, some in the mud and most of them eating fresh fruit. They were either chilled and ignored us or they grunted their displeasure so we moved on. It was amazing to see these fascinating tortoises in their own environment – and some of the boys are huge!!!

We then entered the lava tunnels which were scored out by lava flows beneath the surface and, unusually, some of the tunnels had multiple layers indicating more than one volcanic event. It was absolutely fascinating.

And, finally, we drove off to visit a huge crater. This was created by a lava flow stopping at the top of the crater – the top section cooled and created a crust – and then when the lava when back into the earth the crust collapsed leaving behind this sinkhole. Shame it was raining at this point as we would have liked to have lingered a little longer. I think you would need a drone to get the full effect of it though.

Back to town we realised that there were more people about – the locals particularly like their crushed ice drinks.

The bars were selling beer again so we went for a wander, had a couple of drinks and a bite to eat, before coming back to Morphie for the night.

Today, Tuesday, and I’m suffering the effects from the local food last night. We didn’t really consider the hygiene standards of the place we ate. Richard, of course, with his iron constitution is completely fine despite us eating the same meal!   So we are having a lazy day – we have to sort out the bank as our card got refused in the ATM yesterday – and the iPad decided to freeze our most important weather app. Luckily there is a PC version so we have still have access to the data just not in such a good format. So it looks like we need to ‘chat’ with Apple too…..  And we moved from bar / café / bar to get strong internet but it was rubbish today.    We are actually getting a better service from the mobile hotspot using our phone with a local SIM card.  I’m glad there is such a great water taxi service here.

We had planned to go to a nice restaurant tonight but that’s definitely not on the cards now LOL. Tomorrow we are heading out on a full-day snorkelling trip to another island – which we are not allowed to visit in Morphie – so looking forward to that. Apparently this is another shark opportunity but I’ll not believe it until I see it!

Oh yes… and officialdom is driving us nuts…. We have a local Zarpe to go to our third island Isabela but there is no immigration there to check us out. So the information we had was that you check out here with immigration…go to Isabela…and leave from there towards the Marquesas. But that is no longer possible so they want us either to bring Morphie back to Santa Cruz to check out or we pay another $215 and they’ll send an immigration official to Isabela to stamp our passports. As the ferry only costs $60 return trip we think that is a rip-off so we are going to come back here for our international departure papers.

Bye for now
Jan

Saturday night we headed into town for sundowners and enjoyed the company of Eric and his fellow pilots again at their hotel – this time from the rooftop Jacuzzi area – overlooking the anchorage. Oh yes and spot our new neighbour the huge tanker.  We had a fun time and it was good to repay Eric for the drinks he had treated us to on Friday.

On our return about seven there were no sea lions on the transom – fantastic!   We were having a couple of drinks in the cockpit when suddenly we heard sea lion barking from behind Morphie. This usually means two are fighting it out for the spot….but it continued and got louder and louder. We turned on the torch to investigate and found a large sea lion with his flipper caught between the swim ladder and the transom – at a horrendous angle. He had clearly jumped up, slipped and got caught and had ended up on his back in the water. He was going crazy, probably with pain as much as rage, and couldn’t get himself free. We went to help and he was very keen to bite. He was shredding our old fashioned life jackets into pieces and thrashing around.

Richard quickly got him to bite onto a broom handle…and then tried to pick him up….this failed the first few times then suddenly the seal seemed to realise what Richard was trying to do and he held on tight…Richard lifted him a couple of feet out of the water…and he got his flipper free and swam away as though nothing had happened. Phew!!!   During all this – it must have sounded like a massacre – one of the large tour boats had shouted out to check we were OK. We felt terrible – just because we didn’t want them to get onto Morphie we had inadvertently caused one to hurt himself. So defences were removed from the transom other than fenders and the word is out that seals are now welcome.

Sunday morning we were up early and yes we had a sea lion on the transom – he opened his eyes to check us out and was very surprised to be allowed to stay, so settled back down to sleep.

We had a lazy day just lounging around reading and chilling. And we had a traditional Sunday roast as the gas bottle was going off for a refill in the morning.

Monday morning and there was still a tiny bit of gas left in the bottle. So I got up early and made cheese scones. Yes, really, crazy or what?!?   Anyway Bolivar’s son came by to collect our diesel and petrol jugs….and took the gas bottle for a refill. An hour later – and $120 lighter – we had 25 gallons of diesel and 5 gallons of petrol on board so we are fully stocked again now.  We headed into town and dropped off the heavy laundry – sheets and towels only – and went to Rositas for lunch.

Richard had the daily special for a great price of $6 while I blew the budget and went for the chicken with rice at $12 LOL. Well Richard had chicken soup followed by fried fish with rice which was fantastic value. My plate was huge…and the pile of rice was humongous…and had loads of chicken in it. It tasted like egg fried rice from the Chinese….quite delicious. But I couldn’t finish it and Richard had a go but we still left some. That was definitely a main meal to share!

While we were there we bumped into Chris from Sea Bear and his son – so we made arrangements to see them later for sundowners. We met up at five and had a really nice catch up before returning to Morphie at about eight on practically the last water taxi of the night!   We had to dodge the seals on the jetty – they stay away during the day but seem to think it is theirs come six.   Our pet seal was still there when we got back…..and the first of the Oyster Rally boats had turned up in the anchorage.

Tuesday morning and the gas bottle came back – but not filled! Apparently it is not possible here but is in Santa Cruz our next island destination. So fingers crossed that is the truth – we are slightly concerned about it at this stage. Filling these US bottles with separate in/out valves has been problematic throughout the Caribbean and we specifically purchased adaptors to alleviate the situation – but even that didn’t work here.

We decided to go out and about so got ourselves organised for a long walk….and hopefully some snorkelling. We walked to the Interpretation Centre at the other end of town and then followed the path through the lush green vegetation interspersed with large cactus and the occasional flower.

We enjoyed the sights of the tiny lizards – which were really quick to run off so getting a photo was a challenge – and felt like intrepid explorers alone in the wilderness. There were lots of tiny birds around too but they were way too quick to capture as they flitted from bush to bush.

After about an hour we came across some steps up to Cerro Tijeretas and took in the sights of Las Tijeratas. This is a small bay and has historic significance as this is where Darwin first set foot in the Galapagos Islands. It has rugged and spectacular volcanic scenery and we loved watching the seals frolic in the water below. Sadly we failed to pack any rugged shoes that we could wear into the water so snorkelling here wasn’t possible as the access to the water was via very sharp rocks. Something we’ll have to remember!

After a breather we followed the long and winding path – which meandered up and down quite dramatically in places – and found the lookout where Darwin’s statue stands. Was quite an impressive statue but with the sun behind it was difficult to get a good photo…..but you get the gist LOL.

Following the next path to another lookout and we were surprised to find a 1940s war cannon….was apparently used by the Ecuadorian Navy but all the markings on the gun itself were in English so we did wonder about its origins.

Moving on we arrived at Playa Punta Carola….a wide crescent-shaped beach with lots of black volcanic rock….and marine iguanas. We enjoyed watching them for a while and then went in the water to the shallows for a bob – hoping to join the seals frolicking further out – but the surf got up suddenly and we didn’t fancy it so we just sat in the shallows and cooled down. There was the occasional turtle head popping up for air too.

Leaving the beach we took an alternative path back towards the town which was a bit dark and spooky.

Finally we arrived back on the main dirt road that led to town. Walking past the nice hotel we realised that the sun beds had been colonised by mums and babies – clearly this island is just sea lion heaven!

Back to the pier…more sea lions on the steps….and a pelican taking a snooze.   We returned to Morphie, scaring seals off a derelict boat on the way, and that is where we stayed for the rest of the day recovering from our exertions.

Later on it rained which led to a stormy moody looking night sky.

Wednesday morning we were up early – which was just as well – as Bolivar came by around eight. He had, in hand, our clearance documentation and agent information for Santa Cruz and Isabella our next two Galapagos destinations. Pretty efficient as we only emailed him the night before and so we are ready to depart here on Thursday. In the meantime more Oyster Rally boats have turned up and the anchorage is starting to look a bit full….   And, in fact, we have all just been asked to move to clear a central channel in the anchorage….

We are not sure whether they will put another diver in the water on our arrival at the next island so, just in case, we have snorkelled the hull today and cleaned the waterline. We have a lovely family of fish living on top of the rudder and there are more in the bowsprit too.

Along the hull and the rudder there are marks in the antifoul that are unexplained – we think this might be the seals playing as they are pretty noisy when they hit the hull during the night!!!    Alas none wanted to play in the water with us today.

Later on we are planning to go ashore for supper before an early night in preparation for the trip tomorrow. The passage will take around 10 hours so we want to leave when the sun comes up to ensure that we arrive in daylight. The charts here are woefully inadequate so eyeball navigation is going to be important. There is a bit of wind forecast so fingers crossed for a good one. Don’t forget to watch our progress via the ‘Where are we now’ tracker.

Looking forward to visiting another island on Thursday and we remain hopeful of swimming with sea lions and seeing schooling hammerheads, giant turtles and manta rays. There are other things to see on Santa Cruz too not least giant tortoises so all quite exciting.

Bye for now
Jan

Wednesday morning we awoke to find a sea lion in our cockpit fast asleep on the cushions.   He was not amused at being shooed off and tried to bite the stick Richard prodded him with.   There was another one cuddling the fenders on the transom too. 

So another attempt at keeping them out had failed….more measures called for….this time with brooms, fenders, canvas, ropes and old-fashioned foam lifejackets.    Richard got on with boat jobs – this time he was moving the downhaul for the whisker pole – and I did the laundry.   He also checked engine hours for maintenance purposes and fixed the toilet seat – again!   Hopefully this will work this time.  

Later on we headed into town via water taxi and got some drinking vouchers from the ATM before visiting the dive store to book a two-tank dive to Kicker Rock for Friday……it’s Spanish name is Leon Dormido.   We then wandered the town – which is called Puerto Baquerizo Moreno – and first walked the length of the main seafront promenade and were fascinated by the cactus trees.   

Away from the main promenade – which is largely tourist-related such as tour shops, boat trips, souvenirs, cafes, restaurants etc – the housing deteriorates as you get further into the town away from the seafront.  And there is quite a lot of rubbish around too which surprised us bearing in mind how serious they allege to be about preservation of their environment.   And we even spotted some asbestos sheeting just lying around….don’t breathe in!!!   

We eventually found the municipal market – for fresh fruit, vegetables and meat – and were interested in the huge food court on the upper level.  Sadly we were between breakfast and lunch times so nothing was on offer – would have been interested to try some local food.  

We purchased some fresh vegetables – surprised by the lack of variety – and then headed into a number of small shops to see what else we could get.   Purchase of the day was a couple of bags of dried milk powder – have been looking for that for ages LOL.   But we came away pretty much empty-handed as the stores have a very limited range of pasta, rice, noodles and pulses with the occasional pack of biscuits and tomato sauce on offer.   Most of the shopkeepers appeared bemused that tourists were actually shopping for food – and they seemed pleased by my Spanish attempts to be polite and friendly.  Another good find was the bakers – so we got some fresh bread and pastries too – the first in a long while!

We had a couple of drinks on the seafront before returning to Morphie.   And, of course, we watched sea lions enjoying themselves….. 

Back to Morphie to find sea lion No.5 (or wonky eye as we call him) back on the transom fast asleep….so our defences had been breached again.  

We left him there for the rest of the afternoon while we got on with more boat jobs – Richard filled up Morphie’s tank from our diesel jugs in preparation for them to be filled again.   We used 25 gallons of diesel since we left Balboa Yacht Club so were pretty pleased overall with our fuel consumption.   He also reinforced the shelf that the autopilot lives on in the lazarette – he noticed that it had been flexing a bit whilst underway.      

Before the sun went down we evicted No.5 again and reinforced our ramparts.   Let’s see if that will keep them off.   They obviously seem to see us as a challenge and every night under cover of darkness they work it out.   We don’t mind them really but they smell…..and they poop and pee…and the flies love to hang around them….   And they tease pelicans too as they try to catch the little fish that are hiding underneath Morphie.

Before we went to bed Richard had a rum punch to celebrate his new Shellback status.  

About 3am we were woken to the noise of a sea lion barking loudly.    We checked it out and there was another small one in the cockpit.   Seriously don’t know how he managed to get through the small gaps left….but was quickly evicted by frightening him with the beam from the torch.

Thursday morning and it was laundry day again on Morphie.    We also arranged for Bolivar, our agent, to come by on Monday to collect our diesel and petrol jugs and our gas (propane) tank for filling.   We aren’t allowed to purchase fuel here so this is the only way to go…. and we know we are getting ripped off at $120 for 25 gallons of diesel plus some petrol but we have no choice.   

Lunchtime we headed into town and walked to the Darwin Interpretation Centre.

This was an interesting snapshot of the history of the Galapagos from its formation through volcanic activity and included different migrations – not all of them successful – right up to the current day and the challenges that they face, particularly lack of fresh water.   It talked about evolution of the species and how animals here had adapted to their environment with, of course, the most famous being the shape of the beaks of the finches according to their food.    It was a pretty dry exhibit with lots of reading and little else…..but it was worth the effort.

We walked back – intending to go to the little nearby beach for a while – but there was no shade of any description.   Also there wasn’t even anywhere to buy a bottle of water and, by this time, we were parched.   So we walked back into town and found a little local kiosk on the water front where we had some fish and a soda.    As we wandered across the little walkway that leads back to the pier we came across a Nautical Museum too….which was also interesting.   They mention HMS Beagle and its historic journey to these islands but they didn’t have a painting of it which we thought was a bit strange….

We got back to Morphie mid-afternoon pretty shattered so we rested up and got our dive gear ready for the morning.   Oh yes…and defences breached again by No.5….so further reinforcement activity again!  For dinner we ate Richard’s tuna with coconut rice.   Was delicious.

Friday morning…and no seals on board!!!   Woo hoo!!!     We got up early…in fact an hour early as Richard set the alarm clock for 7 and it went off at 6 because he had failed to change the clock to Galapagos time.   Never mind….time for a cuppa.    We got our stuff together – only basics like wetsuits and masks – as the price was the same whether we used our gear or theirs so we didn’t bother to schlep all our gear over in the water taxi.

We arrived at the dive shop as planned…and were delighted to hear that there were only three divers onboard the boat.   There were a bunch of snorkelers too but that’s fine.   We introduced ourselves to our fellow diver Eric, a pilot from Canada, and headed to the boat and enjoyed the 30 minute ride to the rock.  We arrived very close alongside and kitted up.  The sea was really rough as we jumped in……and the waves were breaking over our heads as we swam backwards towards the rock. 

It seemed to take ages to actually make the descent and we had used up quite a bit of air in the meantime.    As we descended into the gloom we were disappointed that the visibility was terrible…..just plain awful….   We saw huge shoals of fish;  a turtle;  a couple of sharks;  and some large grouper etc.   But the dive was demanding with currents especially as we swam out into the blue or rather the black.  This is where the hammerhead sharks school but, to be honest, they could have been all around me and I wouldn’t have seen them.  It was pretty spooky especially when you hit the freezing cold thermoclines!!!    We returned to the rock and the dive leader took Eric to the surface as he was low on air and then returned for us.    We continued diving until we were at the maximum time allowed before we surfaced and swam to the boat.   When we picked up the snorkelers they had seen sharks, turtles and sea lions and were so excited … Oh well, never mind, there is another dive to go.  

We waited out our surface interval and kitted up again – this time we were going to go through a crevasse in the rock.  

We jumped into much calmer water and went down…then headed into the blackness of the cave.    Eric was unhappy – especially when he saw the sharks close up – and decided not to continue.   To be honest, the conditions were intermediate to advanced level and he was not really experienced enough for the challenges of the day.  Just glad it didn’t put him off diving for good and it certainly didn’t affect our experience.   The divemaster, Conselo, continued to lead us through the cavern…and we had some close up encounters with black and white tip sharks and a turtle….plus a sea lion who decided to bump into me.    We were being pulsed backwards and forwards with the currents and had to cling on a couple of times….   Anyway we then decided to swim around the rock and go out into the blue again hunting those elusive hammerhead schools.   Well…as we headed off….the current was strong and I struggled…and the boys were ahead of me and seemed to be getting further away.   This made me struggle even more until eventually I had to admit to being a bit panicked and asked them to turn around….  Conselo, bless him, held my hand until I got my breathing back under control and then I was fine again.   Thankfully I did not have to abort…we just turned around…and rode the current like superman…and I enjoyed the rest of the dive.  We stayed down a bit longer than planned and we surfaced after almost an hour.   Despite my little blip this was a much better dive than the first one so I’m glad we persevered….despite the poor visibility….we saw some great fish.   It was disappointing not to see the hammerheads but you can’t have it all!

Back to the boat and we headed over to a deserted beach….we had a great chicken stew and rice lunch….and then went ashore for an hour or so.  We swam, we chatted, we lazed around and generally had a good time.  

Then back in the boat for the trip back to town and everyone decided to go onto the hotel that some of them were staying in….so we ended up spending a few hours there drinking happy hour mojitos and daiquiris…and a fun time was had by all.    Great signage too!

Back to Morphie and we were seal free…woo hoo…have we finally cracked it?!?   Anyway…we decided to forgo dinner and just had a couple more beers in the cockpit before having an early night.  We were both a bit sunburned from the beach – no shade at all – and tired from the exertions of diving.   

This morning, Saturday, we awoke to find another small seal in the cockpit fast asleep curled up in our new helm chair.  Get lost!!!   We poked him and he reared up and tried to bite the stick again….definitely not happy about being moved on.    Finally he left and we had to reconsider our defences yet again.   This must be iteration no.8 at least LOL.   We dropped dink lower so that he blocks access to the cockpit from the transom and we’ve covered the stern with canvas to make it slippery for them to climb on.   A few have tried already but have fallen back into the water.   We’ll have to see how that works out.

We are having a relaxing day today keeping out of the sun and might go ashore for a sundowner later.   Tomorrow, Sunday, we’re planning on hiking to another remote beach and we are hoping to snorkel with sea lions and turtles….   Apparently there are marine iguanas there too.     So we’re looking forward to that.

Bye for now
Jan

As promised, here is just a quick update to share with you some of the photos we took on our passage from the Las Perlas islands to San Cristobal in the Galapagos.

We enjoyed the sights of the rock formations on the way down the Las Perlas island chain – but think some of the names were wrong.   How about Turtle Rock (it’s actual name was Elefante), Skull Rock and maybe a lion?

The anchorage at Canas was billed as scenic – we thought it was scrubby and isolated.   Lovely sunset though before we went to bed and the scent from the trees smelt lovely in the morning.

Our final Las Perlas anchorage was where we did the bottom cleaning…in very poor visibility…and here is Richard kitting up to go in. Check out the yucky water!

We set off on our passage with little wind and the sea was flat calm…..

We loved watching the birds hitching rides on drift wood…..

And you can’t beat sunsets and sun rises at sea…..

Loved using the pole and it definitely worked for us, so was glad we made the decision to buy and fit one.

On the way we had a stowaway who, sadly, died….

We were worried about processed pork and dairy produce being allowed into the Galapagos so decided to have a huge brunch using them up whilst we had flat conditions.

And the blue-faced booby joined us for the Equator celebrations.

After the celebrations we ate English pub-style bangers, mash and beans….lovely!

Approaching San Cristobal was magical…especially the sight of Kicker Rock…which was very impressive.

The first day at anchor in Wreck Bay, San Cristobal, was frustrating.   It rained heavily for most of the day – which was great for cleaning the salt off of Morphie – but the officials wouldn’t come out to see us in the poor weather conditions.   So we waited all day to no avail and, of course, we were in quarantine so can’t go ashore.   Eventually, five o’clock, we decided they weren’t coming so we had a few celebratory beers before having an early night.

This morning, Tuesday 22 March, we awoke to find three sea lions asleep on Morphie’s transom.   The fender defences clearly didn’t work LOL.   They had to be prodded and poked to vacate their berth!

At 7.15 am our agent, Bolivar, turned up – and took our money and paperwork away with him.   His parting shot was ‘clean the bottom of the boat now’ before the officials come to inspect it at 9.00 am.

We were surprised at this….after all we had spent hours in Las Perlas cleaning Morphie….but we jumped in and checked it out anyway.   We were horrified to see that there was a scum line all around the hull and, at the stern, there were lots of big biting buggers – a bit like mini-lobsters – clinging on for dear life.   We worked really hard in the water scrubbing the hull again and managed to get Morphie cleaned up in preparation for the officials to visit.   While we were in the water we had sea lions swimming around us wanting to play but, sadly, we had to get on with the job.   That will have to wait for another day sigh….    It does show you, however, that these guys are more interested in taking money rather than stopping foreign species entering their eco-system.

At 10.00 am the officials turned up – all eight of them!!!   Not sure what they all did although there was lots of paperwork being passed around and lots of stamping and photo taking.   They did check flares (and took three away that were out of date); fire extinguishers; EPIRB; GPS; life raft; food stuffs; heads; etc etc….   And the snorkeler went in the water to check the hull.   Thankfully we passed with a big thumbs up…not bad for US $1370!   Cher Ching.

We were then fumigated so had to leave Morphie for at least four hours…so went ashore by water taxi called Black Pearl.

We arrived to find sleeping sea lions everywhere….on boats….on steps…on benches…on rocks…. This is just sea lion heaven!

And lots of pretty nice looking crabs too…

The anchorage is pretty busy with a variety of boats – not many transient yachts though.   Guess the expense and the rigid formalities keep them away.

We wandered the town…got some information on diving….damn expensive at $160 per person for a two tank dive but hey we are in the Galapagos so what can you do?   It appears that the prices are fixed as all dive shops we spoke to quoted the same price.   We found a nice bar, had lunch and caught up on the internet.   We also scoped out a land trip we are likely to do and maybe even a bit of hiking!   Finally we came back to Morphie to do the blog and have an early night.

Bye for now

Jan

Sunday lunchtime the wind was supposed to disappear…..but, instead, we had 20 knots so we picked up speed dramatically. Was great fun but sadly we had to reef down as our ETA was now early hours Monday morning.
At just before 3pm we crossed the Equator – woo hoo! There were some traditions that had to be upheld before we donated a bottle of bubbly to Neptune in return for being promoted from Pollywogs to Shellbacks. Very exciting but we restricted ourselves to one glass only in honour of the celebration as we run a dry ship when on passage. There will be pictures and a video to follow once we get back on line…… Oh yes – we think we had a spy from Neptune – a blue-faced red-footed boobie sat on our bow throughout the ceremony.
At 6pm the wind started to wane and come 9pm we only had five knots….which was good for us. Gave us great confidence in PredictWind as a weather routing system as they were very close to actually what happened.
However we annoyingly picked up a monster current and, even with bare poles and no engine, we were still making 3 knots. So we had to work hard to slow the boat which also meant hand steering as the autopilot didn’t like the angle. This continued throughout the night and we were pretty successful as, in one three-hour shift, we only covered 5 miles!
As the sun come up this morning. Monday 20 March, we were approaching the end of San Cristobal and loved the dramatic scenery and the sight of manta rays jumping clear of the water. We also saw a giant turtle come up for air not far from us.
We worked our way slowly into the anchorage in Wreck Bay and dropped the hook amongst the huge diving live aboard boats. Was nice to see Chris on Sea Bear in the anchorage as we hadn’t seen him since his transit through the Canal. We are now sitting on anchor – in quarantine – waiting for the officials to turn up. This was a 916 mile passage that took us eight days and 30 minutes from anchor up to anchor down. We did it! Woo hoo! We are very excited to be here and can’t wait to explore. I think we might deserve a beer tonight.
One water taxi has already been by to find out our agent’s name…..and Richard has deployed sea lion defences on the sugar scoop to try and keep them off Morphie – sea lions rule here LOL. Have seen a few black heads checking us out already.
When we get on line again and catch up, I’ll post a blog of the photos you’ve missed and then normal service will be resumed.
Bye for now Jan

Friday (17 March) afternoon and the conditions remained the same. The only difference was that a little swallow came by to visit. He was clearly exhausted and was hanging on to ropes and latterly the dinghy trying to recover his breath. We did try to get him into a nest of cloths but he just wasn’t interested…nor in any water we supplied. So we left him alone.
At 6pm we had another spectacular sunset and we continued to make good progress towards our rhumb line. The wind continued at around 13 knots….until 9pm when it dropped back to 8 knots and we could barely keep the full genoa filled so put a reef in to minimise the banging and slapping….and that worked as we kept our boat speed between 4-5 knots during the night as we helpfully also picked up a favourable current. It was another dark and gloomy night with lightning off in the distance so we were pleased to see the moon when he finally came up at 10 pm. Our little stowaway flew down into the salon during the evening and although I looked around I couldn’t find him – I assumed he had flown out behind my back.
Saturday morning at 6am the wind had swung north and we gybed again to keep us high of the rhumb line which is where the wind was forecast to be located. It was slow going again though. During the morning I found our little stowaway friend sitting on the cockpit cushions….looking weaker than ever….not sure where he had spent the night. He ended up sitting on the cockpit floor and we tried again to get him to take water to no avail….sadly we had no bugs to feed him with either. By noon the wind had started to fill in to 12 knots so our boat speed improved once again….
Sadly I have to report that our little friend died….so we gave him a proper sea burial to the backdrop of Eva Cassidy singing Somewhere over the Rainbow. I even shed a tear for the little chap. Soft or what?!?
During the afternoon the winds were consistent although the rolling continued making it challenging to cook down below. We were being pushed towards our rhumb line by the current – away from the wind – so we gybed back again and set the extended pole for the night. We also ran the generator to top up Morphie’s batteries and to have a charge fest of all our mobile electronics.
At 6pm the sky was ominous and there was no sunset as the sun sank below the clouds. It got dark very quickly and there was lightning around again…but thankfully off in the distance. The wind is being quite fickle with speeds in the 5-15 range but we are managing to keep sailing….it is weird though to be surfing along at 7 knots one minute and then down to less than 3 the next! Mr Moon finally decided to come out to play at midnight.
This morning, Sunday, and the sun came up behind us in spectacular style. The wind remains constant at 12 knots and, although still rolly, it is not as bad as it has been. The sky ahead is grey and cloudy so we may have to dodge squalls later. We are getting close to the Equator now at 00 degrees 20 minutes north…so we shall cross over into the Southern Hemisphere later today. We have covered 790 miles at the time of writing and hope to reach our destination of San Christobal tomorrow morning. Currently our ETA is 7am so we may have to slow the boat down a little bit overnight as we want to navigate our approach in daylight.
Bye for now Jan

Tuesday afternoon (14 March) we continued to enjoy dead flat calm seas but were frustrated by the lack of wind which averaged 3-4 knots so we continued to motor sail. We also reduced our revs to 1100 to maximise fuel so we are only making 3 knots. This could be a long passage! But at least some dolphins came to play before the sun went down.
By 9pm the wind started to build to 10 knots and we were sailing close hauled – as the wind had swung SE – with all three sails out. Happy days! This continued throughout the beautiful moonlit night.
By 6am on Wednesday the wind had died back to 6 knots and we had changed course towards the Galapagos islands. So we motor sailed slowly again on very low revs. By 10 am the wind had died completely so the sails were put away and we had a bit of a swell rocking us from side to side. But it is a nice sunny day….and the sea colour has started to improve.
The wind remained at 6 knots all day so we deployed the fully extended whisker pole and kept on motor sailing – it was worth the effort as the poled-out genoa added about a knot to our boat speed. But disappointingly the light airs meant that we only covered 99 miles in the second twenty-four hour period. The forecast predicted some wind from Thursday onwards but the models don’t agree and put it in different places at differing strengths so we decided to hedge our bets and run higher than our rhumb line. We enjoyed another lovely sunset. By 9pm the wind had died completely again so we continued motoring slowly. The moon is rising later and later so now it is pitch black until after nine. And we haven’t seen a ship for days….it is a big spooky to be honest!
Thursday morning and we were still motoring….. Suddenly as the sun came up the wind kicked in and at 6am we poled out the genoa in 10 knots of wind and the engine finally got a rest! As the wind continued to fill in – and switch to the NE – we put the pole away and gybed. We now had 16 knots of breeze and continued to stay high of our rhumb line and were finally moving through the water above five knots.
The wind stayed in the 14-16 knot range – and we were having fun running downwind and eating up the miles – until 3pm when the wind sadly started to moderate again. The seas were eight feet plus with the occasional growler breaking behind us causing us to surf…. So the movement was a bit rolly to say the least but we are grateful to be sailing. The third twenty-four hour period saw us cover 112 miles and we hope to improve on that if we can just keep finding the wind. The star show Thursday night was spectacular with clear views of the Milky Way – combined with phosphorescence in the water behind us in our wake looking like someone was sprinkling fairy glitter dust – it is just plain magical to be out here. Or is leprechaun dust? Happy St Patrick’s Day.
Friday morning at 3am we gybed and started to head back away from our rhumb line. But it has been hard going ever since – the wind remains at 10 knots – and we appear to have picked up some adverse current. The sun came up behind us spectacularly and it is a bright and sunny day. There is nothing around but ocean which always reminds us of the scene in the Truman Show where he tried to leave the island in his little sailboat and ended up hitting the scenery backdrop LOL.
Come 8 am, having downloaded the weather again, we gybed back towards our rhumb line as the different forecasts were almost in agreement that the stronger winds were just below our current position. And, we are pleased to report, that they were right. Within half an hour of our gybe we had picked up winds blowing 12-14 knots and we continue to experience them now. Fingers crossed this continues for a while although we could do with a break from the rolly and breaking seas.
Bye for now Jan