We knew the great conditions we were having couldn't last forever, and they didn't. The winds picked up again early this morning and our sail change of taking down the main sail in favor of the storm trisail (like a small mainsail but it doesn't attach to the boom so you don't have that crashing around( and that worked out real well, but after a while the winds caused the seas to get lumpy. So we've still got good wind and are moving along just great, but it's just not the comfortable ride we were enjoying for about 36 hours. But the skies are clear so it's not too bad -- just need to fasten our seat belts
2500 miles to go!!
| All |
|
Comments [2]
Stay safe and know you have fans watching.
Well the first days of adjustment are over and like magic last night when I went out for my 4:30 to 7:30 shift it finally felt comfortable. The boat is still a rockin' and a rollin' but we're moving along well and when I got out there the stars were out lighting up the world -- just beautiful. And it wasn't long until the sky started brightening from the approaching sunrise -- always my favorite part of that early morning shift.
So far the wind and seas have been pretty steady and we haven't had to change the sails since setting them when the wind first came up over 24 hours ago. The winds blow from 10 - 20 knots pushing us along between 5 - 6.5 Knots which is real comfortable on this old boat. Right now we're traveling with a double reeffed mainsail, a reefed Genoa and a storm staysail. We could have more sail area up and go a bit faster, but for us it's comfort over speed -- we're in no rush to get there so we might as well enjoy the ride. And it really is just like going for a ride, because the windvane is set and doing all the steering, so we just have to keep an eye on things to make sure there's nothing in our path and that all systems are working. We aren't slaves to the steering wheel, we can read or do anything else we'd like as long as the conditions stay constant.
Even Rosie is getting her sealegs and is a lot more lively this morning after doing a lot of sleeping for the first days. So so far, all is well on Cetus.
| All |
|
One thing we always do on a passage is calculate how many miles made good to our destination in a 24 hour period. Since we left Puerto Villamil at noon yesterday I will be doing our position update at noon every day. We've traveled 120 miles since noon yesterday and just have 2769 to go!!
| All |
|
The weather forecast showed very light winds for the first 24 hours of this passage and we were prepared to motor sail for most of the first day, but we were pleasantly surprised when the winds picked up last night so we've been able to sail steady at 5 plus knots. It would have made for better sleeping last night if we hadn't had to deal with sail changes at 2 am, but we're happy to be moving along without the engine and can catch up on the missed sleep today.
The seas are a little choppy, but not too bad so all and all we're pretty comfortable -- as comfortable as you can be in the first few days of a passage. Those first 3 days are always hard as your body and mind adjust to all the awkward movement. Simple tasks can be arduous, but after a few days you get in the groove and it doesn't seem so strange living on a slant and crashing through waves.
| All |
|
Went in to town and got our departure papers from the port captain, picked up some fresh bread and fruits so now we're doing the final stowing away and then we'll be on our way!
| All |
|
It's been two months since we celebrated Leave Eve in Huatulco, Mexico to begin this adventure to the Galapagos -- a very quick two months -- we can't believe it's already time to leave.
This has been a wonderful adventure and we hate to leave this magical place -- it is at the very top of the list of our favorite places and we hope to come back again one day.
But our allotted time is over so now we'll begin a new adventure when we sail from here to the Gambier Islands of French Polynesia 2900 miles away from here. That voyage may take as long as 30 days, though we're optimistic that it will be a bit shorter than that.
So we celebrated Leave Eve with a nice dinner in town and tomorrow we'll go into the Port Captain's office and get our Zarpe -- our official clearance papers for leaving this port. Then we'll be on our way!
| All |
|
We had a "water day" -- first we dinghied 10 5 gal jugs of water out to the boat to fill our tanks and then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the water. But we weren't playing in the water, we were working. We took advantage of the nice day to clean the Galapagos Green off the bottom of the dinghy and the anchor chain. While the water in the anchorage is clear and clean it is full of nutrients and some nice thick grass has been growing since we've been here and it was time to get it all cleaned up in preparation for our departure.
In the past we've taken the dinghy ashore and flipped it over for its bottom scrubbing, but we saw a guy from one of the tour boats clean an inflatable right out at anchor by taking the engine off and then just flipping it over -- looked like a lot more fun than the other way and it was. So once the dinghy was cleaned and floating upright again, we took a scrub brush to the anchor chain and got the green off of it so it won't be a big mess when we haul it up on Monday.
| All |
|
With plans to set sail for the Gambiers on Monday, May 28th, we are down to our last week here in the Galapagos.
We took advantage of the overcast skies yesterday and did a long hike out to some nature sites that we saw on a taxi tour at the beginning of our stay and wanted to look at again. The best part of the hike was seeing a new flock of Flamingos in one of the ponds along the way. This group of 14 birds were larger in size than the ones we'd seen previously and more brightly colored.
Today we're topping off our diesel tanks and will pick up some more provisions in town. Even though we don't want to leave this lovely spot, we are getting excited about the up coming passage and seeing new sights.
We've seen some big changes in the temperatures here in the last 2 weeks. The heavy rains that we had when we first arrived have gone away and the outside temps are more moderate. The water is cooling by the day as the Humbolt current re establishes itself -- a welcome change to much of the sealife, especially the penguins which thrive in the cooler water.
| All |
|
So I talked about all the costs associated with cruising in the Galapagos, but there is a lot you can do without spending a dime, too.
There are great nature trails that you can walk without a guide and even a nice snorkeling spot near our anchorage that you don't have to be accompanied to go to.
Our favorite trail here on Isabela starts right at the outskirts of town and it is a boardwalk over some ponds where you see marine iguana, ducks, wading birds and even Flamingos as well as all the interesting vegetation on the island. There is a prickly pear cactus that as it grows it forms a regular tree trunk to protect it from the tortoise that like to eat the cactus leaves.
At the end of the trail you come to the tortoise breeding center where you see the giant tortoise of all ages. They bring them there to breed and then return the young to their place of origin to help restore the populations that were destroyed through the years.
We've also enjoyed kayaking around the anchorage and walking the beautiful long white sand beach studded with black lava rocks and fascinating tide pools. And then there have been hours of entertainment right from the deck of our boat (or swimming in the waters around it) where we see everything from penguins, sea lions, sea turtles, pelicans, frigate birds and blue footed boobies.
Being able to live in this magical spot for the last couple months truly has been priceless.
| All |
|
That's a saying we've heard from other cruisers -- and it is true, in a way. Some say it in a rather disgruntled way and we can't tell if they regret coming here or if they are just grumbling. We have no regrets, and as I've said before we've found it an even better experience than we'd expected.
That may be partly because we had read about the costs involved so were mentally prepared for it to cost to visit here. And it was also because this was a dream of a lifetime for us and we'd decided that the cost was worth it to us. We really weren't sure how much it would be in the end -- there were a lot of unknowns such as the price of food or dining out, water, diesel, laundry and other services plus the tours we would take.
We were pleasantly surprised at the cost for our tours -- we thought they could be as high as $200 per person. But since we are only taking day tours our costs have ranged from $10 per person for taxi trips to the highlands and wetlands seeing things such as the farm, caves, tortoise and Flamingos in the wild and the Wall of Tears. Our two all day snorkeling trips to the Tunnels were $60 per person for a 5 hour trip where we snorkeled with sea turtles, white tipped shark, rays and lots of colorful fish in a beautiful setting formed by broken down lava tunnels that turned into a magical setting of caves and archways. The tour to the volcano Sierra Negra was also $60 per person and can only be done with an official National Parks guide. The only other tour we've paid for was to the islands that form the boundary to our anchorage and that was $40 per person for a guided tour on land and a short snorkel. We do have one more trip that we're hoping to take if the tour agency can get enough people and that would be an all day boat trip to another side of this island for snorkeling and seeing some wildlife we haven't seen yet such as the flightless Cormorant. That will be the most expensive of all if we get to do it at $165 per person.
Food has also been at a good price. You can have a great breakfast for $5 which includes juice and coffee and dinners at our favorite restaurant range from $10 to $15 per plate. We even had a very special dinner out with Vicky and Jeremy before they left and had lobster for $20 per person. Prices in the grocery stores seem reasonable, though more expensive than Mexico. And of course, the selection isn't very good compared to Mexico.
Diesel is another mater. We had to pay $6.50 per gallon to have it delivered to our boat in Santa Cruz. That wouldn't be so bad if we didn't know that it's subsidized for the locals and they get it for only $1 a gallon! It's very regulated and we had to purchase it through our agent and the port captain.
We can buy water to fill our tanks at either $1 for 5 gallons or $2 for 5 gallons depending on who you buy it from. Laundry is $1 per kilo.
So for those of you who have been wondering what it costs to cruise through the Galapagos on your own boat -- that will give you an idea. Right now we think we will have spent about $5000 on this trip including our agent, all of our entry fees, tours, food, water, boat supplies, diesel, dinners out taxi's etc by the time we leave. It may sound like a lot, but when you consider that that was our living expenses for the past 2 months it comes down to about $80 a day -- and we weren't just "living" we were enjoying the vacation of a lifetime and getting to sleep in our own bed every night. Priceless.
| All |
|
We have exactly 2 weeks left here in the Galapagos, so the big countdown has begun.
In the next two weeks we will complete all the boat projects we've listed, do our provisioning, top off fuel and water and prepare for the 2,800 mile trip to The Gambiers in French Polynesia.
But most important we will enjoy every minute of the time we have here in the Galapagos. We will hike, snorkel, kayak, walk the beach and just enjoy the beauty of this place and the unique animal life. We looked forward to going to the Galapagos for a very long time and we have not been disappointed, in fact, it has been even better than we anticipated and we really don't want to leave.
.
| All |
|
We finally got the kayaks out and enjoyed an early morning paddle around the anchorage. We had several cute small Galapagos sea lions that had fun swimming around us jumping and playing. The penguins and pelicans were always nearby and I was able to get up close to a blue footed booby for a pretty good picture.
I've been waiting a long time to kayak in the Galapagos, so another dream fulfilled.
| All |
|
Vicky and her new crew Jeremy will hoist anchor today and set sail for French Polynesia where they have plans to meet up with her daughter - and his girlfriend - Melanie mid June. We are sad to see them go, but we are happy that we still have a few more weeks to enjoy this wonderful place and look forward to meeting back up with Inspiration at Sea in Tahiti in July. Vicky will be looking for new crew to sail through the Tuamotus and up to Hawaii once Jeremy and Melanie fly home, so if you're interested and have some time, drop me a line and I'll pass it on to her.
| All |
|
Hiking yesterday one of the guys mentioned the movie, Master and Commander, because in it they go to the Galapagos, so last night we pulled it out and watched it. It as great as usual and a lot of fun to see the sea lions and iguana of the Enchanted Isles. If you haven't watched it in a while, pick up a copy and enjoy!
| All |
|
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
We celebrated with a death march to the local volcano. It's one of the big tours on this island and everyone we talked to said it's worth it, so we gave it a try and it was great -- though sometimes painful. It was about 10 miles round trip -- you can do a shorter version where you only see the big caldera (2nd largest in the world) but Julio, our National Parks guide asked if we wanted to go on the other nearby peak, Volcan Chico. We were glad we did because the view and lava tunnels were just beautiful, but it did make for a longer hike with more up and downs, but since I survived it I would say it was worth it. We were very lucky as we had some overcast weather today, so we didn't suffer from the heat and we didn't even get rain.
So now that we're happily back home aboard Cetus, we'll have a Margarita to celebrate one of Terry's favorite holidays.
| All |
|
My internet time here in Puerto Ayora went way too fast so I didn't accomplish all I wanted to -- but I have put together a few more albums in our gallery -- enjoy!
| All |
|
We've had a few people asking us now that we've reached the Galapagos what's next on our agenda. And until we reached here we weren't really certain, because from here we could head SW to French Polynesia or E to Panama -- both were intriguing, but we only like to make plans one port at a time.
It seems we're planning on sailing to the Gambiers when our time is up here. They are a part of French Polynesia that is a bit off the beaten path, as most boats go from here to the Marguesas. Well, we've been to the Marquesas and even though they are farther south, the distance to the Gambiers is about the same -- infact a couple hundred miles less.
So that's the plan (for now) and after the Gambiers we will go to Tahiti and then into the Tuamotus until our 90 days is up in French Polynesia. Then it will be up to Hawaii to wait out the South Pacific cyclone season which runs from November through March. Our friend Vicky, on Inspiration at Sea will be leaving the Galapagos for French Polynesia sooner than us, as she will be meeting her daughter there in June. We plan to meet back up in Tahiti shortly after that.
So those are the latest plans we've been writing in the sand.....
| All |
|
I finally am able to upload pictures -- it's a slow process with this internet connection, but I'm not complaining!
My first album is Wildlife of the Galapagos and features the Flamingos, Penguins, Marine Iguana, Tortoise, Sea Lions and other wildlife we've been enjoying on these islands.
In the next few days I hope to add more albums showing the towns, highlands, underwater and more.
Enjoy!
| All |
|
WiFi has been nearly non existent to me since we arrived on Isabela, which has been very frustrating to me since our boat neighbor, Vicky on Inspiration at Sea has been able to pick up the intermittent signals from the government supplied WiFi, redgal, since we got in.
The reason she could get it and I couldn't was she had a WiFi antenna that extends her range. Well, I too have a WiFi antenna but it has been useless with the new computer because the drivers that came with it don't work with Windows 7. I knew this before we left Mexico, but in my mad rush to get the computer working with the ham radio systems for our passage, I ran out of time to get new drivers for the WiFi antenna and a few other systems I want to get going.
I've been too busy to worry too much about getting WiFi, but yesterday evening I went over to Vicky's, used her computer to locate the new driver online and loaded it on a memory stick and today tackled the problem. It took me the better part of the morning to get it all set up and working, but it finally is and we have WiFi! It may be slow and intermittent, but we'll finally be able to have a link to the outside world.
But best of all I will finally be able to post some of the pictures we've been taking the past few weeks!
| All |
|
When planning our cruise to the Galapagos we relied heavily on advice from our friends Roy and Winona on Saucy Lady, as they spent 54 days here a few years ago. One of the last things they told us was to clear into the country then make your way to Isabela to spend your time, so that's what we did -- and are happy we did.
The other ports we entered, San Christobal to check in and then Santa Cruz to pick up Joni were nice and the towns interesting, but this spot is ideal for a long stay. It's more protected than the other anchorages and less traffic from tour boats, so it is calm and the scenery is beautiful and the water inviting to swim right off the boat. There is a great dinghy dock ashore with garbage and recycling bins for us and it is a short walk to the cute little town of Puerto Villamil where we can buy supplies or have a meal out.
And there's nothing more delightful than waking up to penguins and the small sea lions swimming around the boat! This isn't the most beautiful anchorage we've ever been in -- the Tuamotus and even the Sea of Cortez offer more pristine and isolated anchorages, but we both agree this is the best back yard we've ever had.
So we've settled in here and don't plan to leave this spot until it's time to prepare to leave the Galapagos. Our permit expires on May 20th, so about a week before that we may move back to Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz (the big city) to do our final provisioning and check out of the country. So for now, we're happily at home on Isabela.
| All |
|
