We are off!!!
It is 4:00am, we have twelve knots of wind, no real seas to speak of, the moon is bright and Indy is cruising along averaging 7kts. Overall, life is great. If this is any indication of what the weather will for the trip then bring it on!! I could do this all day long. Either way, it's a nice way to start the trip.
We actually left San Cristobal yesterday, but in true Indy fashion, there was a "situation" which forced us to turn around. After doing the last minute run into town, we pulled anchor around 11:00am, it was a stunning day...clear sky, nice breeze and calm seas. After setting sails and getting ourselves settled, O went to put the fishing lines out...EXCEPT..they were no longer in their holders!!! They had been stolen off the back of our boat the night before. I am sure you can imagine how we took the discovery. There was no way we were crossing the Pacific and not fish!!!! As O says "Going across the Pacific without fishing is like going to Napa Valley without having any wine". Yeah, I know we could have rigged up some hand lines but we were only an hour out and reasoned that buying a pole would be much more expensive in Tahiti. Not to mention the hassle of rigging and using a hand line for the next three weeks. So, we turned around. O kept trying to cheer me up by pointing out that at least our outboard motor wasn't stolen....that would have been the end of me, I swear.
Once we dropped anchor, O went into town in search of a new pole. Naturally nothing was open because it was Sunday and election day. Word on the street was that the poles were most likely already in Santa Cruz or on their way to Guiaquil(sp). Long story short, O bought a used rod and reel from our agent Bolivar that will do the trick. FYI: If you are going to the Galapagos Bolivar is a FANTASTIC agent, he was invaluable to us during our stay. I cannot say enough good things about him or the services he provided. I will post his info on the next blog for those interested. We pulled again today around 5:00pm and headed out.
I was beginning to feel like a human Goodwill store in the Galapagos, except without the goodwill or tax write off.
At this point, I am just grateful to be underway...three weeks late but underway never the less.
Tomorrow we have to get on schedule. School in the morning, lunch, craft, little present, dinner and movie. Tomorrow's craft will be something simple, I can't begin too strong or all the other crafts will pale in comparison!! Ben will read us Rainbow Fish and Sharing a Shell for inspiration, and then we will make glitter fish!! No boat is complete without one!!
So, that is all for now.