To be able to cruise in the Galapagos, sailors are required to obtain an Autographo which is effectively a visitors pass that allows anchorage at three locations - our first stop Puerto Baquerizo Moreno at San Cristobal; Puerto Ayora at Santa Cruz and Puerto Villamil at Isabela. Given that you are only able to check out and leave Ecuador at Santa Cruz, the usual itinerary is to arrive at San Cristobal, head next to Isabela and then on to Santa Cruz. That way, you get to maximum benefit out of your permit however .......

Cruising isn't always about visiting exotic locations and soaking up the sights - there is constant activity onboard to complete maintenance, check and double check systems and of course, there's the cleaning! Whilst still at San Cristobal, we commenced our preparations for our upcoming Pacific crossing to French Polynesia. All was going well until we discovered that our masthead wind vane, which had been showing intermittent fault on our Panama to Galapagos passage, had completely failed. This wind instrument provides wind direction and speed and we rely on it to aid with setting and trimming our sails. Given that Santa Cruz is the tourism hub for the Galapagos and offers a larger number of services, we decided that we needed to head there to try and source a new wind vane. We had a comfortable 7 hour passage and in line with the local protocols, set both bow and stern anchors. This is necessary to ensure that the anchorage area is maximised - there are many local vessels from luxury cruise ships down to day tour boats that call Puerto Ayora home. Soon after our arrival, we were met in the anchorage by Ronny Sanchez, our agent's rep for SC. Paul chatted to him about our needs and was happy to learn that there was a Raymarine representative on the island at a place called Electronatico. We had previously tried to email another SC contact (info sourced from Noonsite) however had not received any response, even after a follow up phone call to discuss. So, Day 1 of our Santa Cruz experience, which coincidently was our 36th Wedding Anniversary, became a mission to organise a new wind vane plus find a good hardware store where Paul could replenish a number of items. After taking a Taxi Aquatico ashore, we spied a Ferreteria near the dock and cutting through the sea of taxi/tour drivers made our way inside. Problem one - no staff in the store spoke any English. Luckily, another customer, a local guy called Roberto, was able to translate for Paul. Unluckily, all the things he had on his shopping list were in stock however the staff member wrote down the name of another, bigger hardware store and suggested that we get a taxi to go there (all trips around town are USD1.50 flat fee). So off we headed for a cab; while we were waiting at the crosswalk Roberto came along in his Jeep and very hospitably offered us a ride. On the way, we chatted about best places to eat and sights to see. He dropped us at our destination, Mechanica Gallarda, pointing out a young lady inside who "speaks good English". Hardware shopping completed, we headed off to find Hans, the Raymarine guy - who actually wasn't. We were redirected to the local FedEx agent who painted a pretty dire picture of the delays in getting anything freighted in. All imported goods must go through Quito, mainland Ecuador to be inspected by Customs and apparently "Ship in Transit" translates to "Let them wait awhile". We do have a commitment in Tahiti in late July and not wanting to risk having to really rush through the Marquesas and the Tuomotus, we decided to go to Plan B - have part shipped directly by Marine Warehouse in Miami to their agent at Nuka Hiva. With that agreed, we headed off to "La Garrapata", a long established local restaurant and Roberto's recommendation, for a delicious Ecuadorian seafood BBQ as our anniversary celebration.

Santa Cruz, the second largest isle in the Galapagos, is around 990km2 with a maximum elevation in the highlands of 864M. Puerto Ayora is the most urbanised town in the archipelago and boasts a permanent population of almost 14000. Add to this commuting workers from both Isabela and San Cristobal who ferry tourists daily into the port, and the tourists themselves and you'll appreciate what a busy little harbour it is. There's a great Municipo Mercardo with cheap fresh produce available Monday-Saturday; there's a very entertaining Muelle de los Pescadores where you can watch the antics of the sea lions and the pelicans as they are fed scraps by the fish mongers; colourful art markets and galleries line the main street, Avenue Charles Darwin (I was particularly intrigued by the Gaudi inspired silversmiths workshop/home); and of course there are countless turista shopping opportunities, tour companies, bars and eating spots. Tourism in the Galapagos has increased significantly over the last 20 years and the demands of visitors have obviously been the catalyst for the growing population and the pressure on resources and infrastructure. The Ecuadorian government has now put a cap in place, limiting the number of tourists to 250,000 per annum in an endeavour to temper economic benefits (the Galapagos derives over 80% of its annual income from tourism) to conservation and preservation of this unique place.

Being a large, dormant volcano Santa Cruz is home to some amazing lava tunnels and as part of our time here, we went out to explore a few in the highlands. Paul loves the Giant Tortoises so a visit to El Chato to see them free roaming in fragrant guava orchards plus a trip to the Charles Darwin Research Centre were both on our "to do" list. We took a day trip to Isla Seymour Norte via the MV Galapagos Shark - being spring, love is in the air and we were privileged to see courting Blue Boobys as they danced together; a very special courting ritual to view. Mated pairs had eggs and chicks in their nests and we learnt that although Blue Boobys produce three chicks each season, they can feed just one, insuring only the dominant offspring survive. Mature male frigate birds, resplendent with their puffed up red chests, were seeking to attract a mate; we were amazed that we were able to get within a few metres of them as they perched in their scrubby nests. Seymour is a dedicated National Park, and has been used to successfully relocate and breed up the Land Iguana population which had been decimated throughout the archipelago by introduced species - wild pigs, cats, dogs and rats. A great hike on a stunning isle with unbelievable access to wildlife. We went snorkelling at Baltra with the marine iguana and we've been amazed by the variety of marine life here in the Admiralty Bay anchorage - golden rays; many juvenile and subadult black tipped reef sharks; Pacific green turtles; more leaping mantas; sea lions; Galapagos gulls, petrels and frigate birds.

Our preparations for our Marquesas passage have continued - our masthead OGM navigation light decided a few days ago to fail so yes, another item on the way to Nuka Hiva. Luckily, we have a second system at deck level; a steaming light and two very powerful LED spreader lights which will light us up if necessary. We've decided to leave from here, and will skip Isabela. We've tested everything; we've cleaned and polished; we've done fresh provisioning and we are full of both fuel and water. Our track is plotted and we are ready to depart. The weather window looks good with favourable SE trades and we are anticipating we will complete the 3020NM trip in around 20 days. It's going to be a new experience for us without the benefit of our wind instruments - we'll be sailing like ancient mariners and we're treating the experience as a way to really develop and hone our skills.

I'll be blogging along the way using Sailblogs via our HF again. The system is only suitable for posting text so will have to leave any photos until we make landfall again. We also don't have any way of retrieving any comments left on the blog and will look forward to catching up with those in Nuka Hiva. I'll be position reporting on the blog plus through Yotreps and we will be joining the Poly MagNet twice daily.

Our Pacific Puddle Jump begins!