Leaving Galapagos was almost as spectacular as arriving there. We sailed around the southern tip of Santa Cruz Island, up the eastern shore past Isla Seymour (where we had gone to see the wildlife) and on up through the chain. We were treated to a pod of dolphins escorting us around the tip of the island.

Our first night was a starry one and lying on the trampoline looking at the show of shows was breathtaking. Waiting to cross the equator could not have been in a better place. Most of the day and night we had winds of 10 knots and were sailing 9-10 knots with lots of sun.

Well, Joanne has been sailing with us for 2 full days now (since we left the Galapagos), and has quickly settled into the routine on ES.

Last night was quite strange in that we had 5 red footed Boobies either crash into or land on ES over the night. The first time it was sort of cute and Dale quickly became the "mother Boobie", but after seeing the mess these guys left on ES, we quickly ejected the rest of the freeloaders.

As I see it, based on our average speed of 9 kts, and 1,181 miles left to go to Banderas Bay (a few miles north of Puerto Vallarta), we should be there in slightly over 5 days.

Today is overcast, humid, and 85oF...it's really shaping up to be a lazy day....the only chores are to tighten up the standing rigging(the wires that hold up the mast), and change the secondary water filter for the water maker (an amazing machine that pumps the sea water at very high pressure through an extremely fine filter that removes all the salt and leaves behind only fresh water for our water tanks.

This is a lot more pleasureable than yesterdays crises when the rolling seas forced open the hatch under the companion way on the starboard side. This hatch is only foot or two above the water, and measures 2' by 2'. It's primary use is to provide an exit should ES flip over. This required the delicate task of removing the defective "Maxwell" hatch handles, all the while having gallons sea water from each passing wave being forced up my nose, and at the same time trying not to let go of any of the small pieces until the new spare handle was securely in place....a task that was repeated twice - once for each of the 2 handles - a total of almost 2 hours!

Anyways, as the old cliche goes, ..."a bad day at sea sure beats a great day at the office".

I miss you all.

( ness@gmn-usa.com )