Janet
April 11, 2012, 5:55 pm, Baie Taoihae, Nuku Hiva French Polynesia

Hiva Oa
The rest of our time in Hiva Oa was fantastic. We stayed on the island for longer than expected because we wanted to welcome the last boat (Peat Smoke) into the harbor which had a difficult sail and ended up arriving almost one week later. There were quite a few other boats that also stayed and when Peat Smoke arrived we blew our fog horns and air horns. We made a big production and then quickly helped them anchor. Then we all went aboard their boat with drinks in hand.

We also took a tour of the island with a local woman, Mary Jo, who drove us around. The roads were quite rustic and the ride was very bumpy. We stopped along the tour to see several sites of stone tiki's. The views were incredible and we went to the home of a friend of Mary Jo's for lunch. All locally grown and raised food. Absolutely delicious. We were also able to purchase some of the fruit - their grapefruit is huge and tastes a bit of lime.

Our last day before we left we went to the grocery store for provisions. The stores had quite a bit of food which we were surprised by. It was just very expensive. I paid $8 for a box of Kellogg's cereal. Yikes!!! We also went to the Paul Gauguin museum. He lives and died on Hiva Oa and is buried in the local cemetery. The museum also had a replica of his "House of Pleasure." He was a very talented but controversial man. I encourage you to Google him.

Tahuata
From Hiva Oa we went to the small island of Tahuata. The bay had the most beautiful blue water that we have ever seen. The water was so clear that we could see our anchor in the sand 25 feet on the bottom. We had 2 sharks and 2 manta rays visit us. We went there to clean the bottom of the boat which was full of gunk and barnacles from the long passage. We had a wooden kitchen tool to scrape the barnacles and sponges to scrub off the green gunk. It was not pleasant and became a worse job when I got out of the water and realized that I had been stung by multiple jelly fish. I counted about fifty stings on seven different places on my body. Very itchy. Mark didn't get stung and apparently he didn't because he has hair on his body. I told Mark that either I couldn't clean the bottom of the boat again or I was going to grow the hair out on my legs. I was able to find some jelly fish ointment in the medical kit and it has become my new beauty routine along with the Neosporin for all of my cuts and scrapes.



We stayed in Tahuata for three nights and had the anchorage to ourselves the last night. It was our own little paradise.

Oa Pou
The next island we went to was Oa Pou. Our time there was a bit traumatic. The first morning we saw several of the boats boarded by the Coast Guard/French Customs. Luckily they did not board our boat but in talking with other boats they searched the entire boat for undeclared alcohol and illegal drugs. They are concerned about the amount of alcohol people bring into the Marquesas because locals will try to barter their goods for alcohol. The Coast Guard warned us not to participate in this type of exchange.



We quickly went to shore when we determined the officials went back to their main boat. We were having a discussion about whether to tie the dinghy to the dock or land it on the beach, when we were caught unexpectedly by a big wave. The dinghy filled with water and I went overboard. We were both very wet and sandy but decided to walk through the town in this horrible condition because we were planning on leaving the island in just a few hours. On shore Mark got blisters on his feet and was trying to walk on the hot pavement without burning his feet - not easy. And then he stumbled a bit and broke the strap on our backpack. In the end we decided to get back to the safety of the boat and pull up anchor asap.

Nuku Hiva
We arrived in Nuku Hiva on Good Friday which made things a bit difficult. The locals take much more time off for holidays and many things were closed. We were able to arrange to fill our fuel tank which we were warned was incredibly challenging. We had the crew from Southern Cross help us - two people on board with us and Kathy on land doing the paperwork for the fuel, catching the lines and paying for the fuel. The dock was a huge cement dock to which you needed to back your stern up to. We needed to what's called Med moor which means drop an anchor about 200 feet from the dock and back our stern toward the dock and throw two lines off our stern and tie them to the dock. It can work well but the water was so deep that our anchor did not set. So basically I held the boat off the dock with the motor while we filled the fuel tank. The swells were quite large so our boat bobbed up and down during the entire process. We even had to throw a line ashore and tie the fuel hose to it to then pull it on board. Many of the other boats ended up hitting the dock and damaging dinghy motors, wind vanes and chipping fiberglass. With Southern Cross's help we went through the process undamaged. We long for a floating dock with rubber rails in a protected anchorage. From what we hear, we may be waiting quite a while.

Our dinghy motor has not been working since being on Hiva Oa due to water getting into the engine. Mark spent the next day trying to fix it while Kathy from Southern Cross and I went into town to explore. When I returned to the boat Mark was almost down emptying the oil from the dinghy and replacing it. He also changed the spark plugs and cleaned the entire engine. I helped him drop the dinghy in the water and it started on the first try. He did a victory lap and everyone on Southern Cross cheered him on and they sounded their fog horn for him. These fixes become incredible victories and causes for huge celebration.

On Easter morning eight of us made it to the 8:00 am service at the Catholic Church. The primary religion in the Marquesas is Catholic. The service was almost entirely in the native Marquesian language with only the Bible readings in French. We did have a bulletin and several of us made every attempt to follow along. The music was beautiful with only a drum to accompany the singing. Many of the congregants, both men and women, were dressed all in white. Everyone who attended found the service very memorable.

While on Nuku Hiva we visited a nearby bay for a hike to a water fall. Nine of us went over to the bay on s/v (sailing vessel) Zoe. By the time we got to the beach for the hike it was later in the afternoon so we weren't able to hike the whole way. We did get to a lookout point where we had a magnificent view of the waterfall. The walk was beautiful. Homes along the way had incredibly groomed lawns with a plethora of flora and fruit trees. There were horses, dogs, cats and goats along the walk. We also needed to hike through a cold water river. Amazing. When we got back to the beach we were picked up and brought to s/v Matilda to drinks. Heather was playing the song "At Last" as we arrived! What a great day.

Steven and Kathy from Southern Cross called us the next day from the Pearl Lodge stating that we needed to get up to the Lodge and join them. They said that a car from the Lodge would pick us up at the dinghy dock in ½ an hour. We scrambled to get ready and arrived at the Lodge for a swim. The infinity pool overlooked the bay. We all swam and drank wine for the afternoon and then decided to stay for dinner. The dinner was magnificent and we asked to see the chef after the meal. He came out and we were surprised to see that he was the gentleman who picked us up at the dinghy dock. He also drove us all back to the dinghy dock. It was an amazing afternoon/evening with great friends from Southern Cross and Zoe.



We provisioned today and are on our way to the Tuamotu islands. We will be sailing along with Southern Cross and Zoe with two other boats on the way tomorrow. It will be a 500 mile sail which will take 3.5 days. We are a bit discouraged to hear that other boats that are making the trip now do not have wind. Our GPS tracking system that updates the World ARC web site (Yellow Brick Tracking) stopped working a few days ago. It started to report that we were heading back to the Galapagos. Don't worry we are not turning around. We will update the World ARC website daily as best we can from the boat. But we are heading southwest from here.

We are currently sitting at Henry's café called Café Vaeaki on the dock finishing the blog posts. They have been our gracious hosts for a barbeque, a breakfast birthday party and many other meals. We cannot recommend their food and hospitality enough. The photo gallery has been updated with all the photos of the Marquesas Islands. Enjoy!

Marquesas

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Mark
March 27, 2012, 11:52 am, Baie Tahauka, Hiva-Oa French Polynesia

We arrived at Tahauka Bay in Hiva-Oa on Saturday, March 24 at 5:41pm eastern time (1:11pm local) almost 21 days since we left the Galapagos. The picture above is a portion of the bay showing At Last and some of the World ARC fleet. Overall, we feel very good about the trip. Janet keeps commenting about how much she likes the long passages but she was glad to see the island rise above the horizon at dawn that morning. We spent most of the last three days motoring with the engine due to lack of wind so this part of the trip was relatively uneventful. The main excitement was waking up in the main cabin and realizing I was sleeping with a fish. The flying fish must have a contest to see who can find the smallest opening in a boat and try shooting the gap like Jordan shooting a 3-pointer with nothing but net.



We arrived just in time for a massive down pour in the bay where the World ARC fleet is anchored. But the skies cleared also just in time for the islanders to host a formal ceremony welcoming the fleet to Hiva-Oa. The festivities included very authentic Polynesian dancing by a local dance troupe and a feast of native fruits, breads, vegetables and other delicacies. Toward the end the dance troupe got the entire fleet to join them in the dancing.



Most of the fleet spent Sunday at a Bed and Breakfast nearby owned by Alex, a Frenchman, where we listened all day to a local band playing native music. It was more like a jam session of ukuleles, guitars and other instruments. I plan to post a video on the internet when I can. We enjoyed a huge barbeque, Polynesian style and the party lasted from 11:00 am till the wee hours in the next morning for some of the younger in the fleet. This was just what the crews needed after such a long trip.



Monday was a day spent shuttling fuel in jerry cans from the dock to our boat, and a trip to town for grocery shopping and a visit to the stores (two) to see what is available. Today we will spend time doing laundry, cleaning the boat, and taking time to celebrate a birthday in the fleet at Alex's again.

The islands are breath taking, the people are very friendly and we can already tell that we are going to have quite an experience here. By the way, this port is the second largest and busiest in the Marquesas. There are only four boats here that are not with the ARC. It will feel like we have these islands to ourselves for the next two months except for Tahiti where there are more tourists.

We finally have some internet access and will be contacting our friends and family, catching up on email and updating the blog more regularly now. We will post the photos of the passage and our time here in Hiva-Oa to the gallery before we leave to visit the next island in the Marquesas on Friday.

PS; These are some stats for those who are interested. Our track shows we traveled 3,056 nautical miles through the water in 484 hrs averaging 6.3 knots. 822 nm of those miles were spent using the engine for 124 hours averaging 6.6 knots (speed over ground) and using .75 & 1.1 gals/hour at 1800 & 2000 rpm. We averaged 152nm/day and on our best day sailing we made 180 nm. At the time of our arrival, there were 10 other boats behind us. At the current time, there are still three boats that have not arrived and one is not expected till Friday.

Injuries and equipment failures for the passage. For Mark: a broken toe and 2nd degree rope burns on one hand from releasing the spinnaker sheet too quickly under load. (I should have worn my gloves). Nothing other than a tiny burn on a wrist from the galley stove for Janet. For At Last: a spinnaker halyard that almost chaffed trough but was lowered just in time before the spinnaker went into the ocean, some very concerning squeaks with the rudder post and steering gears that need attention, and of course the broken autopilot bolt that is still requiring us to tighten every eight hours of use. We are working with Dockside Electronics and Hellier Yacht Sales in Connecticut, USA to help us ship some parts to resolve the autopilot problems. For the rest of the fleet, equipment failures include a broken shroud, a broken forestay, broken jib foil, several blown spinnakers (at least 5, I believe), several broken spinnaker halyards resulting in spinnakers landing in the ocean, failed electronics and GPS units, autopilot problems, a cracked rudder post support bracket where the rudder passes thru the hull, blown fan belts, and more. I hope the World ARC fleet, who keeps a record of the equipment failures, publishes this information for the benefit of others who will do this trip someday.

Marquesas

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Mark
March 20, 2012, 5:14 pm, 09 34.6'S:129 33.6'W, Still in The Middle of the Pacific Ocean

I apologize in advance for the sailing jargon/lingo in this blog but I cannot help it because I am really into sailing lately. We have been on the water for more than 16 days now. We have another 4-5 days to go but for each of the last 4-5 days, we have had 4-5 more days to go. Reason being, the winds are gradually dying a little more each day. So we are going slower and slower. Right now we are sailing, so to speak, in 8 knots of wind doing 4 knots only because we have a 1 knot current pushing us to the Marquesas. Thank you Neptune!

To keep the sails from loudly flogging/flapping due to the rolling waves, we have headed up wind and then down wind and are zigzagging our way along. This does not help the progress but it gives us a moment of quiet to sleep. The forecast is for the wind to continue to die down for the next several days. We are waiting for the last possible moment to turn on the engine in order to conserve fuel. We just received an email from WARC Rally Control that the dockside fuel station in Hiva-Oa will not have any fuel for the fleet upon our arrival. The nearest port to get fuel is another 100 miles north west. Talk about testing our light wind sailing patience (not skill).

We do a sail change at the end of almost every shift (every three hours) hoping to find some way to make the boat go faster. But we are not all that successful. We put as much sail out as we can as you can see from the picture above, where we have the jib, stay sail and the main sail deployed. Right now we are flying the spinnaker and jib together. Last night at 3 am a squall came up from behind me and I was soo thankful to have 12-15 knot winds push the boat along for thirty minutes. Normally one would try to dodge the squalls. We look forward to them.

Otherwise, life is good aboard At Last. Janet is really becoming quite the sailing chef and that does a lot to keep our spirits up. She made an apple, raisin and cinnamon cake yesterday. It is all gone now. Our daily routine is sleep, tighten the autopilot bolt that is still giving us trouble, do laundry, cook, sweat, shower, and eat. Oh, I forgot about sailing the boat. The sun is really intense here and it is hot!! The lack of wind makes the boat all that much hotter below.

I thought of a comparison for the trip that everyone might relate to. Imagine traveling with one other person from Juneau, Alaska to Miami, Florida in a minivan doing only 7 miles per hour. You are not able to stop at all and have to cook, bath, steer and change the oil and tires while underway. That is pretty much the picture.

We look forward to getting to the Marquesas and getting access to email and skype to catch up with everyone. Till then....wish for us wind, any kind will do.

Marquesas

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Janet
March 14, 2012, 5:33 pm, 08 22.9'S:115 35.5'W, The Middle of the Pacific Ocean

It is now day ten of the longest passage of our trip. We are literally in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We are traveling over 3,000 nautical miles on this leg going about 6 nautical miles per hour (1 nm 1.15 miles) which should take us about 21 days. I would say that it is a bit overwhelming to think that we have been at sea for 10 days and we are only half way there but things could be a lot worse....

On day six, we began to hear a squeaking noise coming from the autopilot. The autopilot is a steering mechanism that steers the boat for you. The autopilot will turn the wheel to keep the boat on course and it prevents us from having our hands on the wheel at all times. We attempted to determine what was making the squeaking noise but it was coming from the component that was covered by a wooden box which was screwed shut. Luckily, Mark had bought a drill in the Galapagos for another project on the boat. I was literally trying to take the screws out of the box in order to take it off when suddenly the autopilot fell apart. It was clear to me very quickly that we no longer had a working autopilot. I ran topside and took over steering the wheel as Mark went down to investigate further. He determined that the bolt which holds the autopilot to the steering unit had sheared off. Unbelievably, with all the spare parts on board, we did not have a spare autopilot or spare pa rts for the autopilot.

And thus, Mark and I began to hand steer. This means that while we were on shift someone's hands had to be on the wheel at all times. We couldn't even make changes to the sails without us both being up. Mark had to wake me up because he needed to go to the bathroom. We couldn't eat at the same time so someone's food was always cold. Never mind the issue that hand steering for hours at a time can be tedious and tiring. I tried to keep calm but did cry for a bit thinking about needing to hand steer the boat for the next two weeks.

We got on the SSB radio that evening for the usual check in. We announced we had lost our autopilot and soon a miracle began to take shape. Another boat had the spare part we needed. At this point, the 29 boats on the trip where spread out over 500 miles east to west and 259 miles north to south. Miraculously, the boat that had the part was 40 nm directly behind us. We slowed down our boat and discussed doing a transfer at sea of the part from their boat to ours. Can't say we have ever done that before.

The next day we picked a waypoint to meet them. We wanted to divert our course but didn't want them to change theirs. Jonathan and Heather on s/v (sailing vessel) Matilda worked out a way to transfer the part to us as safely as possible. Basically, Jonathan put the part in a water bottle and tied the bottle to a line. They let out the line off the stern of their boat while continuing to sail at 7.5 knots while we took down our sails and motored. We approached the bottle in the water several times before Mark was able to grab it with a boat hook. He ended up cutting the line because the first time he got the water bottle it took too long to untie it. We had to make several attempts but each time we stayed clear of their boat and negotiated the 10 foot waves and 15 knot winds while doing this maneuver. Once the part was on board everyone on board Matilda and At Last held their breath while Mark tried to install the part. In about twenty minutes, the part was installed and our autopilot was restored. Of course, I again cried.

When we radioed back to Matilda to tell them that the part worked and to express our appreciation for what they did and let them know that we were unsure how we would ever pay them back. Their response to us was remarkable. They said we didn't own them anything for what they had done. It was their pleasure to help and it actually added some good excitement to their passage. And that truly is what sailing and being in the World ARC is about - watching out for each other and lending a helping hand whenever needed. We are eternally grateful to Jonathan and Heather for their help. I always wanted to name our autopilot but Mark and I could never agree on a suitable name. But now we have now named our autopilot Matilda in honor of them. And as Jonathan says, "Matilda will always get you home." At this point, I am just hoping she gets us to the Marquesas where we can get a spare autopilot. You can see At Last rendezvous with Matilda if you go to the World Cruising Club we bsite link on the left of this page for the fleet location (Yellow Brick tracking). Look for At Last and replay our route starting at noon eastern time on 3/10 to 4 pm 3/11 for the rendezvous with Matilda. The photo above is Matilda sailing off into the sunset after lending a helping hand and much need spare part.

Minus the day and an half where we didn't have the autopilot, the passage is going extremely well. We have gotten into a daily rhythm which is enjoyable. We are eating well and showering more often. It has been cold at night so we have needed to wear sweatshirts while on watch. We are doing three hour shifts from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am then six hour shifts during the day. This schedule has us getting enough sleep although who wouldn't want a little more. We have sailed for the entire trip so far except for 11 or so hours of using the motor when there wasn't enough wind. It is delightful to do this much sailing. Our average speed for the trip right now is 6.7 knots (1 knot 1.15 miles per hour). This puts us ahead of schedule with potential arrival at the island of Hiva-Oa in the Marquesas the morning of the 23rd.

Galapagos

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Mark
March 12, 2012, 9:23 am, 07 08.9'S:109 32.0'W, 1800 nm from the Marquesas Islands

This brief posting is just to let everyone know that Janet and I are doing well and are in good spirits. The boat is fine and we are in very good sailing conditions and good weather. We have only had to use the engine for 10 hours since we left the Galapagos. So no concerns about fuel yet. Winds are usually 15-25 knots from ESE pusihing us along between 7 and 8.5 knots. Good trade wind conditions.

Caught lots of fish lately (flying fish landing on the deck). Even had 2 squid hitching a ride. Janet is making cinna buns for breakfast. Love the smell of the boat when she bakes. So far, this leg of the trip is meeting our expectations as a memorable event (what do I mean by that?) and we have plenty of stories to share and will find the time to post them to the blog soon with some pictures. Hope everyone is well.

Galapagos

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Janet
March 4, 2012, 5:56 pm, 0 44.7'S:90 18.4'W, Puerto Ayora, Bahia Academy, Isla Santa Cruz Galapagos Ecuador

We arrived in Puerto Aroya Santa Cruz on 2/29 after sailing through a volcano. That is right. (see the photo gallery). Many of the World Arc members are calling it a bustling metropolis and compared to the other islands of the Galapagos, it does appear that way. I was convinced of this when I ordered a vino blanco (white wine) at the restaurant for lunch and the waiter asked me if I wanted chardonnay or pinot grigio. I have not had a choice of white wines since the British Virgin Islands and many times in the Galapagos you could only get beer, no wine.

We spent the next several days working the to-do list to get ready for the three week passage to the Marquesas. Mark and I are doing the passage on our own as are a few other World Arc boats. We have discussed strategies for successfully managing the long trip with other double handers. Again, I have precooked all of our dinners for the trip and they are in the freezer. We spent the next three days getting fuel, LPG gas for cooking, gas for the dinghy, and some miscellaneous supplies. We handed in our laundry and it was done in one day with all items accounted for. We made a trip to the rather small and pricey grocery store. I went to a farmers market on Saturday morning at 6:00 am which was very interesting. I wish I took pictures of the fresh meats and fish sitting out in the sun and covered with flies. But there was a good supply of many items and I was able to get fresh local fruits and vegetables including apples, cilantro, basil and pineapples.

Refueling here is quite an experience for boaters. Fuel is closely regulated so the World ARC needed to secure a permit from the Navy to purchase the fuel for all of the boats. Then the World ARC hired an agent who contracts with a local to buy the fuel from the fuel depot and deliver it to your boat. They do not have a fuel dock here so the fuel is delivered to your boats on a launch in plastic jerry cans (one is 35 gallons, one 25 and the rest are about 10-15 gallons). It is syphoned out of the plastic jugs from the launch that is tied to your boat. Did we mention how rocky/rolly the anchorage is? It is difficult it to get the fuel into the tank without spilling it on the deck.

Like most other schedules here, the fuel deliveries are always later than planned; lots of waiting around. Because of the lack of wind on the last passage, many of the boats used all of their fuel and now about 30 boats need on average 100 gallons each. It took three days for all of the boats to refuel. We were the last of the boats that got fuel. You prepay for the fuel you think you need to just fill you tanks. If you buy too much, you cannot get your money back and launch drivers sell it a second time to another boater (under the radar). There is no gauge to measure how much fuel you are getting. You have trust the guys on the launch to honestly represent that the jugs are full and that the volume of each jug is accurate. We paid for 140 gallons of fuel @ $5.91/gal. I believe we received about 20 gallons less than what we paid for but cannot prove it. This is consistent with almost all of the other boaters. The World ARC staff worked hard to monitor the agents a nd fuel delivery guys. But moments like this happen on the trip and one has to learn to accept them as part of the experience. We are guests in a foreign country with little recourse. CanÃ*t imagine what it would have been like without the help of the World ARC staff.

On Friday night there was a rally party at the hotel Sol Y Mar with prizes awarded for the leg to the Galapagos. s/v Glamorous Gallah won a prize for sailing one of the faster times. When they accepted the award they read a funny poem they wrote about the fleet. Click on this link to their blog to read the poem, it is worth a look.

We have been without internet access for two weeks and finally found some reliable hot spots here in Santa Cruz. So we updated the blog, uploaded most of the photos and called most of our family members using Skype on Saturday. We had to check out of customs this morning so Mark planned to finish the blog, upload more pictures and call his daughter, Grace, when he went into town. He was able to check out of customs as planned but he could not use the internet to call his daughter or finish the blog and uploading pictures. The power in the city was out. This is a typical example of things that foul up one's plans, especially with internet access. Even worse, I asked him to pick up some diet coke because we are out and I forgot to buy some at the store. He looked all over town and there is no Diet Coke on the island. I am going to go through withdrawals.

We left today, Sunday 3/4/12, at noon local time (same as central time) for our three week trip to the Marquesas. It is more than a 2980 nm trip to Hiva-Oa Marquesas French Polynesia following the route suggested by Jimmy Cornell (the author of the book World Cruising Routes). Assuming a 10% deviation from the route due to human/weather factors and the planned distance is about 3300 nm. We have enough fuel to motor about 1/3 the distance (wish we had that additional 20 gallons). Based on our boat going about 6 knots on average for the trip, our expected arrival time in French Polynesia is 3/27/12. (23 days). Based on the forecasts, we plan to motor west/southwest for 3-4 days in light winds until we hit the trade winds and then should be able to sail most of the remainder of the passage. We will blog along the way to let everyone know how we are doing. I am actually excited about the passage and anxious to get sailing again.

Though it was a long 2 weeks without internet access it was great to see the emails and comments on the blog when we finally connected. Thanks for keeping in touch. All of our photos, well most of them, are posted to the gallery and we hope the pictures do this exotic place justice. We will have to invest in that underwater camera. Supposedly the internet access in French Polynesia is good. We will see.

Galapagos

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Janet
March 2, 2012, 2:10 pm, Puerto Villamil, Isla Isabella, Galapagos Ecuador

We arrived on Wednesday 2/22/12 after a 35 nm trip motoring all the way - again no wind. We anchored in the shallowest water in two months - 9 feet at low tide. Having gotten used to anchoring in forty feet of water suddenly we became concerned that nine feet was not deep enough.

We quickly discovered that iguanas are even more abundant on Isabella than they were on San Cristobal. In fact, there were many times that you needed to shoo them away in order to get through a walkway. They are not very pleasant looking but otherwise were no bother.

The animal life and sea life is again very abundant. It seems magical when you are able to see penguins, sea turtles, schools of small tuna, numerous types of other fish, sting rays and sharks right off your boat. I can say I was not anxious to swim off the back of the boat after seeing the shark.

We also took several tours while in Isabella. We took a tour of the Sierra Negra Volcano (the second largest active volcano in the world) and the Chico volcano. The trip started with a 45 minute bus ride followed by a 45 minute horse ride and finally an hour hike then you had to do this all over again on the return trip. We had 14 people on the horse ride and the horses were quite feisty. There were times when the trail went from six horses wide to one horse wide and all of the horses wanted to be first. Mark's horse amused himself by biting the behind of the horse in front of him. While we also had several horses who liked to kick. The horses also were very happy to veer off the path into the brush from time to time. Luckily, everyone was in good spirits about it and we spent much of the horseback ride laughing at the antics of the horses. Once off the horses we were at the Sierra Negra volcano which is approximately 10 km by 9 km wide with a two km deep lava dome. The view was incredible. After we saw this volcano we hiked through lava flows to reach the Chico volcanos. The volcanos are still considered active with the last eruption in 2005. We were able to put our hand in one of the holes which was generating an incredible amount of heat and steam. The craters and rock formations were amazing to see. The lava rock was very colorful in places and the overall view of the island at the end of the hike was breathtaking. It was interesting to see cacti and a ferns growing next to each other. It was not an easy hike and after two hours of hiking some were even happy to get back on the horses.



We also took a snorkeling trip through caves and bridges created by the volcano eruptions. The formation of the rock was very interesting and provided many a place to swim with sea life. The sea turtles in this area were huge. I swam with one that was almost as big as me. It was again less than five feet away from me and didn't seem bothered by my presence. We also snorkeled into caves where there were sharks. They were about three or four feet and came within a couple of feet of us. Our guide enjoyed stirring them up so they would swim out of the caves and come close to us. We also saw a native Galapagos lobster which was strikingly different from the lobsters we are used to seeing back home. We also swam with several sting rays which were several feet big. We so need an underwater camera!!!!



We again had no internet access on Isabella. Mark was able to skype his sister to wish her a happy birthday by standing in the middle of the street which was the only place he seemed to be able to get access. The call lasted five minutes before he was cut off. We are so frustrated that we have been unable to blog but are beginning to feel that internet access will become more of a luxury as time goes on.

We have posted our pictures of our time spent on Isla Isabella to the photo gallery.

We are leaving Isabella on Wednesday, 2/29 for Isla Santa Cruz the major port and hopefully it has internet access!

Galapagos

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