Saturday afternoon (Day 15) the wind remained constant and although we weren’t speeding along we enjoyed the smoother ride and took the chance to catch up on some sleep.
Saturday night started well…..then the wind died….then the squalls came…..and the wind swung north…..and the squalls continued. Richard had to run and get wet weather gear out as we have little protection in the cockpit when the rain comes at us horizontally from behind.
When I started my shift at 6 am it was still very dark and the squalls were playing havoc with the wind direction and making it difficult to hold a course or even sail. I motor sailed for a while until the wind switched back to the south / south east and set the sails again. The seas were huge – the gusts were 23 knots – and we were being thrown around like a cork.
Finally it got lightish (Sunday Day 16) and all around were rain squalls. Richard came up to relieve me and thought the conditions reminded him of being in a bowling alley with the squalls queuing up behind us: some go down the right-hand gutter; some go down the left-hand gutter; and then they get a strike! The wind picks up and shifts making our sails flog….so we quickly adapt our course…..then the sea picks us up and throws us down. Great stuff – not!
I went down for a sleep but was called up by Richard half an hour later as he had spotted another large tuna fishing boat. It was moving so slow it wasn’t apparent which way he was going but eventually we sussed it and changed our course accordingly. I went back down again but gave up after an hour of being thrown around – imagine sleeping on a whirlitzer!
We had breakfast of freshly-baked blueberry muffins – and Richard thought I was nuts to attempt that in these conditions – and despite their strange shapes they were pretty good and I didn’t spill anything or burn myself, which is always a bonus. Sunday dinner will definitely be a one-pot pressure cooker meal….had enough excitement in the galley for one day.
The last 24 hours were our slowest ever…we only made 111 miles….but at least it’s in the right direction. But the latest weather forecast is for very strong weather to our south so we decided to get back up to our rhumb line – we were 10 miles south of it – and try to stay close all the way. So we gybed to put that plan into practice and were relieved that the rolling motion was also lessened on that tack.
Again, to align our clocks with the setting and rising of the sun we put our boat clocks back another hour…. We’ll probably need to do this one more time as we get closer to our destination.
We crossed our rhumb line just before 3pm and come 6pm the wind swung north! The trades here are easterly / south easterly so not expected at all. So we took the opportunity to run parallel with our rhumb line on a reach…. Then it got squally again, oh well, never mind. By 9pm the wind had clocked to the north west so we were now running slowly – in ever decreasing winds – but couldn’t hold the parallel course any more so were running away from our destination again.
It was really slow going…the wind was totally flaky but we continued to sail until 3 am (Monday Day 17) ….when we had to admit defeat, put away the gib and motor sail. We downloaded the updated weather and the pattern had changed yet again. This is so frustrating. So we headed back south to find some wind. All this backwards and forwards means, of course, that we are adding miles to our passage. Sigh…..
Funnily enough Richard and I were both playing the same game independently watching the miles tick over…….I had the 1960s – shooting of President Kennedy, the Beatles, Congratulations by Cliff Richard, Puppet on a String by Sandie Shaw and of course England winning The World Cup in 1966. Then Richard had the 1970s – our first female Prime Minister, Maggie Thatcher, the three day week, the coal miners strike and the very hot summer of 1976. Then it was our wedding in 1996 and the millennium in 2000… Finally it was 2012 the year when we both retired and went cruising…. Was fun for a little while and kept crew spirits up although very soon we were in the future LOL.
At 6am we were running back towards the rhumb line and crossed over heading south. We found the squall bowling alley again and some wind….so we were running downwind on a poled-out genoa hoping to pick up speed and make up for the time we lost over the last couple of days. The wind reverted to east / south east and long may it continue.
By noon we were heading towards our destination again and then the squalls intensified and there were more strikes than not. And of course with the strong winds comes this damn awful rolling movement. The interesting thing is that, between squalls, there is very little wind at all…..so you tear along at 8-9 knots temporarily then drop back to 2-3 knots until the next time. And Morphie doesn’t really settle down from the pitching and the rolling. A bit like a roller coaster ride.
Feeling frustrated by the conditions we decided to get out of this area and head back closer to our rhumb line. The wind here is lighter at about 12 knots but enough to sail with a poled out genoa. And at least we have better conditions on board…..
By 4 am on Tuesday (Day 18) the wind was light and variable but we enjoyed am almost full moon to show us the way. Was a lovely night.
And then the sun came up, the seas were blue, the sky was blue and we had puffy white clouds and, the best bit, is that the swell had reduced to 1m and was largely spaced so we were sailing along much flatter. Bliss! The wind remained light but still enough to sail by, although comes with the price of a reduced boat speed.
We have decided to continue on this course and will take whatever the wind throws at us. The weather routing package is encouraging us to head further south for strong winds (ie a faster passage) but we would rather add a few days and enjoy more comfortable conditions than beat ourselves or Morphie up any more.
We had an uneventful night apart from two visits by a school of pilot whales. In the calmness of the night you could hear them puffing and surfing alongside us. Oh yes and we had almost a full moon all night to show us the way.
It is now 7am on Wednesday (Day 19) and Happy 60th Birthday to my big brother Dave! Nothing much has changed and the crew are feeling more relaxed with the better living conditions on board – although, saying that, we did just get tumbled around by a growler LOL.
Bye for now Jan

Wednesday afternoon and the winds remained constant about 15 knots with some 20 knot gusts. The seas picked up and there were growlers about with the occasional wave breaking on our port quarter sending us hurtling down the waves and rolling side to side. But thankfully Richard’s temporary fix of the autopilot shelf appears to have worked as the grinding noise has diminished significantly. Fingers crossed…..
These speedy sailing conditions continued all night although the wind backed easterly giving us more of a downwind run. At midnight there was a storm raging – with lightning – to starboard but thankfully was a long way away. The moon did come up for about 5 hours which was the longest we’d seen so far and it made a nice change to see some reflection on the water rather than just being enclosed by an all-encompassing black curtain!
Thursday (Day 13) and there was only a faint glow behind us so wasn’t expecting a sunrise – then suddenly the sun popped up out of the gloom and gave the most gorgeous display. And the grey skies cleared to another blue sky, blue sea with wispy cloud kind of day. The storm to the side of us carried on until later in the morning – glad it was a decent distance from us!
We made good progress and passed our half way mark with our latest 24 hour tally being 141, our highest to date. The wind remains steady at 12-16 knots with the occasional gust to 20 and we enjoyed a broad reach running parallel with our rhumb love.
Richard has just filled the cockpit with sawdust as he is cutting wood to use to reinforce the autopilot shelf more permanently. He is also running the generator to make life easier so he can run power tools. But a way into the project he got thwarted by the drill – whose battery decided it would not take another charge, ever! So he had to abandon the project for now – I feel a few more hardware store visits coming on when we reach land LOL.
Interestingly since we changed our sailing angle the autopilot is under less pressure and has stopped groaning and grinding – so we do believe it is an alignment issue when the shelf flexes as we heel over. We’ll see…. But if the worst happens we do actually have a spare autopilot on board that we could swap out if necessary. Just prefer not to have to do that at sea in a 3m swell! So all is good.
At 6pm the sun was a long way from going down so it looks like we’ll have to change our time zone again at some point. The wind remained steady at around 12 knots until about midnight when it started to ease dramatically which of course slowed us down again. By 3am on Friday (Day 14) our speed had fallen to 4 knots or less. Not too happy about that but what can we do? We are too far away from our destination to just motor sail to keep the average speed up because we may still have no wind days ahead that we need to conserve fuel for.
At 6.30 am the sun tried to break through the cloud cover to wish us a good morning. The clouds were building….and the wind picked up. By 8.30 we had 12-15 knots and were moving through the water nicely at 5-6+ knots again. And, wonders will never cease, we have just seen a tuna fishing boat. The first sign of life in a fortnight!
Lunchtime and we continued going along steadily – not excitingly fast – but in the right direction at least. Come 6pm and the wind started to ease so we deployed the pole for the night.
It was quite a nice moonlit evening and I was sitting minding my own business when thump, something hit me hard on the thigh. I screamed and grabbed the head torch to find a decent-sized flying fish gasping for air on the cockpit cushion. So I grabbed him – he wriggled and slimed – and I dropped him. He was still alive though and finally I managed to throw back into the sea, hoping he survived our encounter.
Then about 2 am (Saturday Day 15) there were suddenly very bright lights over to my starboard side. A boat! I got Richard to turn on the VHF / AIS receiver – we’ve been running with minimum equipment overnight to conserve energy – and we picked up his signal. Likewise we also shone a powerful torch on our sails so he could see us, if he wasn’t paying attention to his AIS receiver. He was a huge fishing boat (39m) called Katoshiromaru No.58. His signal said he was engaged in fishing activity and was moving at only 1 knot. Not knowing what type of deep sea fishing he was doing – dragging nets or long lines behind his stern – we decided to put the engine on, speed up, and cross his bow. All the time trying to make radio contact to inform him of our plans. When he was 3 miles away the f@#%@r decided to power up and was now on a collision course with us.
We both tried to make contact on the radio but to no avail. So we had no choice but to drop off to cross his stern at the farthest distance we could possibly be away from him in the time available. Eventually he crossed our bow and we passed behind him anxious about propping his gear. Of course we were fine. Thinking about it logically later – when the drama was over – what fishing boat would cross our bow if they had lines / nets deployed? So we did wonder whether it might be a Japanese whaler? Perhaps that’s why whales in this area are known to attack boats?!? Just a thought…..
Anyway, excitement over, and we continued our shifts but sleeping was impossible with the pounding Morphie was taking from the big waves….it is horrendously loud crashing and banging and the movement was horrible running dead down wind rolling side to side. So, at sunrise, we took down the pole and cracked off our course to have a smoother, albeit slower, ride.
It is now 9 am on Saturday (Day 15) and we are 1797 miles into our passage with just over 1200 to go. We are finding the going a bit tedious because of the Pacific swell. When we are going along at speed we ride the waves and both us and Morphie have fun. When our speed drops off the waves knock us off our feet, the sails flog, and it takes a while to recover. After the incident with the Japanese fishing boat and the bad conditions we are both sleep deprived so will probably sleep a lot during the day today to catch up. Tomorrow is another day….
Bye for now Jan

Sunday afternoon it became clear that I had moved the clocks the wrong way – much to Richard’s delight – so we had to adjust them again. The new boat time is now an hour back from the Galápagos time zone so is -7 UTC / -8 UK. I’m not sure I’m going to live this down for a long time. You can imagine the insults ringing in my ears! ‘Call yourself a navigator….’ Anyway…it worked….and our overnight shifts now coincide with the sun going down and rising again. Looking at the world clock the Marquesas have a few time zones from 3 to 4 hours behind the Galápagos – so it makes sense (now) that the clocks move back as we get closer. Doh!!! Sunday (Day 9) was probably our best sailing of this passage so far. The wind was perfect at 15 knots and we were on a broad reach – so we were able to power across the swell – and clocked 7-8 knots for much of the afternoon. And it was lovely and sunny too! By the evening the wind died back to around 6-8 knots and there really wasn’t enough breeze to hold the main – and we hate the noise of it constantly collapsing – so we ended up running downwind on genoa alone overnight. It appears to be a diurnal pattern now that we have escaped from the ‘dodgy weather’ area unscathed so will be interesting if this trend continues going forward. Monday morning (Day 10) and the wind was still lightish but Richard pulled out the main anyway just before he went off shift and then left me to make it work. Not impressed! Oh yes and more barbs about the time zone. This is going to get old pretty quickly. You would have thought a grovelling apology and a really lovely steak dinner Sunday night would have got me off the hook eh?!? Anyway…I set the sails…changed our course to a broad reach – away from our rhumb line out of necessity – and our speed improved. Richard seemed pleased when he woke up and I must have been forgiven as he actually cooked breakfast! The wind filled in mid morning and we were sailing well again on a beam reach running parallel with our rhumb line. We had covered 135 miles over the previous 24 hours so we were pretty pleased with our progress. But there is a long way to go yet….. Oh yes – when we went to the Southampton boat show last September to consider satellite systems we were advised not to buy the Iridium Go! unit as it was too slow to be useful. We were told that a satellite phone was a much better / reliable option particularly if we wanted to make any voice calls. This was from the salesman on the stand. We were unsure so came away empty handed to do more research. Eventually we purchased the Iridium Go! anyway as it appeared to offer the most value (particularly with its unlimited data package) and on Monday would you believe it, over 1k miles from the Galápagos and 2k miles from Panama I managed to have a chat with my mum on the iPhone. Absolutely amazing! We had a lovely afternoon on Monday, followed by dinner and sunset, and we reefed down for the night. The wind was light and variable in both speed and direction so it was a frustrating night of sail changes and patterns to even manage 3-4 knots boat speed! With hindsight we should have deployed the pole overnight but at 6pm we still had 12 knots of breeze so didn’t seem like we needed it. Tuesday (Day 11) and the wind picked up again…..so we pulled all the sails out as the sun rose behind us. It was a lovely day with bright blue skies, dark blue seas and wispy white clouds rolling through – plus 12 knots and reasonably flat seas – just perfect! And that’s how it stayed all day although the wind was a bit fickle seeming to come through in waves so, one minute, we are hurtling along at 7+ knots and the next at 4 knots. But we are doing better than our target of 5 knots average so who cares!?! We are aware of a weather front south of us coming through with strong winds so we are trying to remain as close to our rhumb line as possible. During the night the wind continued to come through in waves with the range 8-16 knots and the direction South-South East so lots of course corrections were made to keep us moving. This morning, Wednesday (Day 12) and there wasn’t a sunrise (again) as it was cloudy and grey all around. There are some pretty menacing clouds south of us so it appears the forecast was right. We are running downwind under a reefed main and full genoa and have winds up to 20 knots. And we’re flying…. Long may it continue. The autopilot has developed a grinding sound from the direct drive unit so we have concerns over that – to put it under less pressure we have changed the response rate so it ‘hunts’ less frequently. Richard has just been in the lazarette and noticed that the glassed-in shelf is flexing whilst we are underway so it is possible that the autopilot ends up slightly out of alignment as a result. He has put some screws in to hold it steady and the noise has reduced – so fingers crossed this temporary fix will hold until we reach landfall. We are 1425 miles into this passage now…..only another 1575 to go! Bye for now Jan

Thursday afternoon the wind stayed steady around 12 knots until six when it started to weaken. Come nine it was more easterly with only nine knots of breeze. We adapted our course to suit and enjoyed the steadier more relaxed movement of the boat as the seas flattened off. Yes we were now going less than five knots but the leisurely wallowing was definitely a refreshing change. During the night nothing happened – except we had a beautiful sunset followed by a spectacular show of stars – and we both slept well in the easier conditions. Friday morning (Day 7) and the wind started filling in again with another small shift in direction so we were able to pick up speed and move back slowly towards the rhumb line. Again the sun was late – almost 7 o’clock – but we had an amazing sunrise. The first on this trip! By 9 am we had covered another 122 miles, slower than before, but still above our target of 120 a day. The wind eased off again so we anticipated a low wind slow day ahead. Captain Bird’s Eye decided that these were good fishing conditions….we’ll have to see what that brings. At 10 we had a visit from a pod of pilot whales and dolphins who played around the boat for about 15 minutes – more smiles from the crew. It is not really very sunny but at least the skies are blue. We do need more sun and wind for battery maintenance though as we are having to charge them each day. But, so far so good, we have only used 10 gallons of diesel (out of 125). The wind remained light and variable coming from behind us so we returned to a fully extended poled out genoa….but the going was slow…..and stayed that way for the rest of the day and night. Saturday (Day 8) and we thought you might like to know how we typically fill our days at sea. The most important thing is that we have to be alert 24/7 so a day looks like this: 12 midnight – Jan on watch, Richard sleeping 3 am – Richard on watch, Jan sleeping 6 am – Jan on watch, Richard sleeping 8 am – Richard on watch, Jan sleeping 10 am – both up and about Until 1 pm we do a variety of things – showering, washing clothes, eating breakfast, preparing food for dinner, making water, replenishing water bottles in the fridge, downloading weather, checking lines and fittings for chafe, collecting and disposing of dead squid / flying fish, discuss routing strategy for next 24 hours, engine checks etc. We also listen out for creaks and groans and check instruments are operational. Lots of reading including researching our next port of call for customs / immigration and Richard fishes. Plus we also answer satellite emails from family and friends and play general knowledge games on the iPad. Oh yes and I’m a bit partial to the odd Suduko puzzle. 1 pm – Jan on watch. Richard usually sleeps but doesn’t always. 3 pm – Richard on watch. Jan usually sleeps but doesn’t always. 5 pm – both up. Jan cooks dinner, we eat and Richard washes up. 6 pm – Jan on watch – Richard sleeps 9 pm – Richard on watch – Jan sleeps. So we have up to 10 hours each a day allocated to sleep but it is split into two and three hour chunks – and three hours really isn’t three hours as you have to get ready for bed / ready for watch during the allocated time. So actual sleeping time is probably max 2 1/2 hours in one continuous session. And sometimes sleeping is interrupted – both of us are capable of single handling Morphie through most sail changes – but if we deploy the pole it takes two of us. So what are we up to while we are on watch? The main thing is to provide a look out for other vessels however we haven’t seen a single ship or yacht since we left the Galápagos last Saturday. The next job is to keep the boat moving and on course so we have to watch out for wind changes in speed or direction or adverse currents and alter the sails to suit. Between these jobs there is time for a bit of star gazing, dolphin/whale watching, reading or playing games to while away the hours. Final thought for the day….did you know this area is renowned for whales attacking boats? So we have swapped ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ for ‘Attack Whales of the Pacific’ LOL. Think I’ll take my chances with whales any time! Seriously, though, we will treat each large whale with suspicion and give it a wide berth. It is now Sunday morning (Day 9) and I’m pleased to report that we broke through the 1,000 mile barrier during the early hours. Woo hoo – we are a third of the way there! The sun came up this morning around 7ish and, although pretty cloudy, it is trying to break through. We are running parallel with the rhumb line again now – having gybed back towards it last night as we had been pushed away by the current. We also gull-winged for the first time on Morphie yesterday and that worked well. You’ll have to see the photo update on our arrival to find out what that means! The wind is staying steady around 12 knots and we are doing well….certainly we have enough boat speed to keep ploughing through the waves….so the movement of the boat isn’t that bad at the minute although we are rolling with the Pacific swell. We have just put forward our boat clocks to reflect the sunrise / sunset times which makes more sense for our shift patterns. So we are now working on UTC-7 / GMT-8 – our very own time zone LOL. Bye for now Jan

Monday afternoon we worked hard to cross the rhumb line motoring into the sizeable waves and it took a lot of time, effort and fuel….which gave us a bit of a wobble….. We talked, and thought about it, and realised that we were being daft and had to remind ourselves we’re in a marathon not a sprint! And we need to adapt to the weather better. If the wind comes from the wrong direction – deal with it.
So, in a more relaxed frame of mind, once we were five miles south of the rhumb line we found the wind and ceased the fight. We hoisted the sails and took off beating into the wind which was exhilarating and lumpy….and we continued to run slightly south but at least we were moving generally in the right direction again.
We were surrounded by rain clouds and lightning by the time we had dinner and we were bashing into the weather hard with winds now up to 20 knots. Thankfully the storms passed behind us and the wind started to moderate and backed off…so we eased the sails to reflect that we were now reaching. Ironically, though the decision to motor across the rhumb line was made for the wrong reasons, the strategy did actually work!
By midnight the wind was on a broad reach and sticking around the 10-15 knot range….although the seas were quite large. But we were making good way and running parallel with our rhumb line.
By Tuesday morning (Day 4) the wind had continued to clock and we were on a downwind run under poled out genoa only. Come 9am we had covered another 124 miles despite our setbacks the day before.
There was no sunrise again due to 100% cloud cover but the clouds did eventually break to give us a short-lived sight of the sun at around noon. Then the clouds filled in again and the batteries started to decline so we motor sailed for a while, using low revs to conserve fuel. The wind picked up and we had squalls all around – with a massive system to our starboard side – and the wind got up to 22 knots so we reefed down.
By midnight the wind had returned to the south east and moderated down to 10 knots again so we shook the reefs out and amended our course trying to run parallel with the rhumb line. We continue to average more than 5 knots boat speed per hour so going well. The boat movement remains annoying with the constant rolling from side to side and the odd rogue wave making life onboard a little tough – particularly sleeping and cooking.
By 6am on Wednesday (Day 5) the wind remained in the 8-12 knot range and we continued to run south of the rhumb line by about 12 miles which, in the scheme of things, isn’t too bad. The clouds are heavy again and the seas are grey too – and then by 7am the heavens opened and we had a very heavy downpour which continued most of the morning. By 9am we had covered another 137 miles – our best 24 hours to date.
The rain continued and the sea was blackish and neither of us were particularly happy. I didn’t go to bed as normal because I wanted to try another radio net – Richard hand steered and we shut everything down that could cause interference – but still no luck. I did check the radio and listened to a 24 hour broadcast channel and that was working – so not sure what is going on.
Richard was having so much fun hand steering he decided to give Colin (our autopilot) a rest and continued. When I resurfaced after a couple of hours kip the sun was out and the skies and sea were blue….and we both had smiles on our faces. Isn’t it a lovely day? But the movement is the same – the wind is the same – the direction is the same – in fact everything is the same other than the sun! Think we must both have been suffering from sun deficit LOL.
After dinner we enjoyed a reasonable sunset, the first in a while, the night was cloud free and we even saw stars. For the first time it was possible to differentiate between the sky and the horizon despite the lack of any moon. So it all felt that much better.
By 6am this morning (Thursday Day 6) the skies are heavy again and it remained particularly dark so we think we may be getting close to a different time zone. We are now in an area noted for dodgy weather – we are trying to skirt the top of the zone rather than plough through the middle – hopefully this strategy will pay off too.
At 9am we had covered another 131 miles. The sun came up, eventually, and the wind picked up too. Morphie was getting pounded running downwind with the pole up so we put away the pole, pulled out a reefed main and reefed gib, and steered closer to the wind. The seas are large (3m/10ft) and we are still rolling but not as madly as before.
Detox continues with no alcohol and lots of vegetables before they turn bad….. We are also taking rehydration powders every few days as the water we are drinking – from the water maker – is, in many ways, too pure. Dehydration is the main worry so we are doing this as a preventative measure to ensure good health.
We are both feeling tired but happy. Morphie is loving her time at sea although she’s not so keen on the kamikaze squid and flying fish that jump on her to die each night LOL.
Bye for now Jan

Friday night I decided to use the last $5 of our (tortoise slow) SIM credit to attempt to download the offshore weather app that had given us huge problems since an update caused it to get stuck (unusable) almost a month ago. So I connected the iPad and the phone on the chart table and left them there overnight and amazingly, it actually downloaded! So we can access satellite weather and routing on the iPad again. Woo hoo.
After final checks, we picked up anchor at 9.00 am on Saturday 22 April and enjoyed the sight of a huge square rigger as we left the harbour of Santa Cruz bound for the Marquesas. We had mixed feelings – sadness at leaving the Galapagos; excitement at returning to sea; combined with some trepidation over what we might face during this passage. Our longest by far – period. To put it into context for our UK sailing friends this is the equivalent of five Fastnet races back-to-back!
We motored beyond the harbour and we pulled out the main. We turned towards our first waypoint and set the genoa. The forecast had been for no wind at all for the first few days….but we had 10 knots….on a beam reach. We turned the engine off and thoroughly enjoyed the sensation of sailing again while we ate breakfast.
We continued sailing well throughout the day with only minor tweaks to the sail configuration…including poling out the genoa as the wind dropped and installing a preventer to stop the boom from accidentally gybing as the wind moved behind us. As we sailed between the islands of Isabela and Santa Maria we had a huge pod of dolphins come to visit and play. They were jumping and frolicking and taking it in turns to play at the bow. We had so much fun. And about an hour later we had a visit from another huge pod…. Was a lovely farewell from the Galapagos. Unusually there were no seal or turtle sightings but that was probably because of the lumpy seas.
The sailing was going much better than anticipated as we were boosted by a strong current and were managing 6-7 knots of boat speed in only 9 knots of breeze! We had dinner together before settling into our shift pattern and, as the wind was now very light, we furled the main away relying on the poled-out genoa only overnight. The wind dropped to 5-6 knots and our speed suffered but overall we were pretty happy with our first day at sea. After a lovely sunset we experienced a very dark moonless night but there was lots of phosphorescent activity in the water to captivate us.
By Sunday morning (Day 2) we had rain in the air, grey gloomy skies laden with threatening clouds which came with an increase in wind speed too, hovering around the 12 knot mark. The sea was building and we started rolling around a bit with the sails snatching as we surfed off the top of waves in different directions – so we put a reef in the genoa and pulled out a reefed main too. We were not wallowing so much as a result and had 7-8 knot boat speeds. Fantastic!
By 9am we had covered 131 miles on our first 24 hours at sea and the weather had deteriorated…..it was grey and raining with a swelly sea. The wind stabilised around 10 knots and our speed was 6 knots. To start with we didn’t mind the rain as it cleaned the salt off of Morphie. But it rained all day….the seas became more confused….and it was difficult to do anything because of the movement of the boat…it was all a bit tedious. There was no sunset either. The highlight of the day was seeing two seals relaxing on their backs, riding the current, 160 miles offshore from the Galapagos….. Didn’t realise they ventured this far from land!
For the first time I tried to take part in the Pacific Puddle Jump radio net. The timing of this net – at 7 / 7.30 pm local time – isn’t great for us as it always falls when Richard is off watch and he needs to sleep. But that’s fine as I’m the long-range radio operator on board anyway. However when I tried to connect there was lots of interference which was caused by the autopilot. I can’t hand steer and talk on the radio at the same time as the SSB is located down below at the chart table. So I gave up and returned to the cockpit to continue my watch. Will have to ponder alternatives.
During the night the rain persisted but the wind died so much we had to motor sail for a while. Finally at 4am this morning, Monday (Day 3) we were able to turn the engine off and get sailing again. By 6am the wind had filled in enough to get the main out and, although it looks like another gloomy rainy day ahead at least the seas are flatter, so the movement isn’t as bad as the uncomfortable conditions of the day before.
The significant downside to low wind and cloudy conditions is that the batteries start struggling without the input from the solar panels or the wind generator so we have been running the Honda generator intermittently to boost them.
At 9am we had completed another 128 miles in the second 24 hours – so still doing quite well overall. However, the wind direction has shifted southerly so, with the current as well, we are being pushed away from the rhumb line and the position of the wind according to the latest weather download. So we have just furled the genoa in and put the pole away – we are motor sailing with main alone towards our rhumb line directly into the light winds and we intend to cross the line and get back into the wind zone. Hopefully we’ll then see a switch back to the normal easterly trade winds to give us more reaching / downwind sailing going forward.
Bye for now Jan

Monday afternoon, as planned, Richard and I went ashore to enjoy our favourite beach for our last day on Isabela.   We were very lucky as, almost immediately, we managed to get a ride in one of the local safari buses so avoided the long and hot walk.    

On arrival we were delighted to find that ‘our’ tower was free so we quickly took up residence and admired the amazing view.   We just chilled lying on bean bags, chatting, and drinking cold ones.   And, for the first time, we got bar service to our perch so we didn’t even have to get up to get refills.   We had a lovely time.

We started walking back towards the pier and managed to get a pick-up truck taxi back – Richard sat in the back – so topped off a great day.

Tuesday morning we picked up anchor as the sun started to rise.    We motored out into a flat calm no-wind day (again!) and followed our track back towards Santa Cruz.   

This is a 50 mile passage and we just took it slowly conserving fuel – spotted lots of turtles and seals – and then suddenly ‘splash’ this big dolphin jumped out of the water alongside us.   He quickly moved to the bow – followed rapidly by both of us – and we watched him frolicking in the water turning sideways so that he could look at us as we looked at him.     Always makes us smile when we have a dolphin encounter.

We approached the anchorage in Santa Cruz around 4 ish under an increasingly threatening sky and, of course, the minute I’m on the bow preparing the anchor the heavens opened!  

We managed to get a good anchor set so waited in the cockpit for our agent, Ronnie, to arrive.  When he did come to collect our arrival zarpe – another $15 – he took away with him a few of our diesel cans for refilling.  We are not allowed to purchase fuel here in the Galapagos.   We had a quiet night on board and took ourselves off to bed early.

Wednesday morning we were up early and went into town.   We hit all the hardware stores as Richard still wanted to buy some more bits and pieces.   This day’s mission was silicone, glue and fan belts….just to top up the amount we have already of course!   Here are a couple of pictures of Richard’s favourite stores.   

We then got some more cash from the ATM.   All transactions here in the Galapagos are in cash as they charge 19% on top of the bill if you want to use a credit card (most places do not take them) and as there were no banks / ATMs in Isabela our funds were a little low.   Wallet refreshed, we hit the supermarket for another provisioning run. 

This was mainly for household goods and to replace food products that we had eaten.   Heading back to Morphie heavily laden we were forced back from the water taxi pier by some aggressive sea lions who decided our bags were a bit threatening….so ended up having to wait around for a little while.   It seems they have priority LOL.  Back on board by 4pm and Ronnie came by with our fuel – so we are fully laden again now.   We had a quiet night in the cockpit before turning in.

During the night the swell made the anchorage hell on earth.  We rolled side to side…we bounced up and down…and rolled again….and again…..    Neither of us could sleep and suddenly the noise from the bow was horrendous – we went up to check at 2 am – to find that our snubber had come off and we think our anchor was caught around a rock beneath us as the chain was snatching so bad.  This anchorage gets busy overnight with all the tour / cruise boats coming in and we swing 180 degrees at each tidal change.   So picking up and re-anchoring in the middle of the very dark rainy night in a crowded space wasn’t really something we fancied.  So we reset the snubber and toughed it out.   At 6am we picked up and moved closer to the centre of the anchorage hoping for a less rolly experience – and went back to bed for a little while to try and recoup some sleep.   The anchorage certainly looks much more attractive  on a sunny day. 

Mid-morning Thursday and we were back in town having dropped off our big laundry items.     We headed out to do some more shopping and I bought a new cotton top and Richard got a souvenir tee shirt.    We then both treated ourselves to a new tilly hat…you can guess who purchased which one by the logo LOL.

After shopping we headed to Café Hernan for lunch and shared some meat and chicken empanadas.  They are really lovely – think Cornish pasty type snacks – but sadly we can’t find anywhere that sells / makes them or we’d pop some in the freezer for passage food!    We then took advantage of their free wifi, despite its slow speed, and downloaded loads of books in preparation for our long passage. 

We then hit the supermarket again….this time it was a beer and cold cabinet run.  We headed back to Morphie and I got on with clothes washing while Richard did full engine checks and cleaned out the engine bay.  He also made up another 12V power socket for the stern cabin.   We then planned our passage for Saturday’s departure and programmed waypoints into our chartplotter, the iPad and the OpenCPN programme on the computer.    Confident we are ready we sat in the cockpit and enjoyed a quiet evening with noticeably less rolling around than the night before.  Was definitely time for an early night!

This morning, Friday, and we were upset to see that the freezer was playing up again.   This happened just before we did the passage to the Galapagos too – so I guess it suffers from pre-passage nerves?!?   Anyway….pressure checked….more gas inserted….defrosted and repacked….and thankfully it is now working properly again.    In the middle of all this we also did the final batch of washing.

We headed into town and visited the fresh fruit and vegetable market.   We also had a look at the butchers – didn’t fancy cows feet or sweetmeats LOL.   The street vendors were also selling fresh fish but Richard is confident we will catch enough fish to top up the freezer so refused to be tempted.  And final shop of the day was the bakers for some fresh bread rolls.

Back on board we unpacked and stowed everything away.    

I started the blog while Richard chilled for a while.    Later on we headed back into town to meet Ronnie to sort out our exit paperwork – and I had to say hi to the sea lion sitting on the pier’s bench.   We also enjoyed the view out to the anchorage from the pier while we waited.  

We got a taxi, first stop was Ronnie’s house as he’d forgotten to bring our international zarpe with him, and then drove to the immigration office.  All fees paid and we were free to go having been relieved of another $41 – so we are now legally ready to depart from the Galapagos.

We came back to Morphie and I’m finishing the blog while Richard has just jumped into the water to clean the waterline again of the Galapagos grime – it is amazing how quickly the boat picks up a dirty waterline here in Santa Cruz.   

We’ve had a great time in the Galapagos.  The costs of bringing a private yacht here and the restrictions that the authorities place on us are pretty onerous, frustrating and time consuming.  Not to mention the actual logistics of getting here as it is pretty remote.   But was it worth it?!?   Absolutely!  The wildlife, the sea life, and the scenery have all been amazing.  We will be leaving with some very special memories.

The passage to the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, is 2971 miles long in a straight line.  So we expect to do more than 3,000 miles and anticipate some low wind days as well as anything else that the weather decides to throw at us.   There are currents heading in the direction we are travelling but just a few degrees below there are adverse currents and we might have to stray into that territory to find the wind.  So, overall, we expect this passage to take up to 5 weeks but could be even longer if the wind is light as we don’t have the capacity to carry enough fuel to motor all the way.   While we are on passage we will be able to blog (text only) and download weather via the satellite system but will be offline otherwise.    Please follow the tracker (on the Where are we now? tab) to keep an eye on us. 

 Bye for now.

 Jan

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