Day five underway and all is well.

We have water accumulating in the starboard bilge at a very slow rate (the pump run three times - about every 5 hours or so - for a couple seconds). Trying to track this down but it is such a small amount it is hard to trace.

Seas are still up around six feet and sharp making the ride pretty bouncy. We have been waiting for a lift predicted by the weatherman to allow us to fetch San Cristobal but so far we are still 20 to 30 degrees high (250 degrees-ish). We put in a test tack this afternoon to see what we could manage and we peaked at 140 degrees. Not so good considering our mark is 225. We had a VMG of 0 on the starboard tack. We made our way down to 2 degrees north and tacked back (we were all sick of seeing 2 degrees something...).

Last night was pitch black. I mean dark. No, like really crazy dark. It was 100% overcast and the moon set around 2AM. This made the bio-luminescence bubbling in our wake really easy to see which was fun. We were under sail alone so we were showing only a tricolor. The Boobys didn't like this, they were used to the good fishing offered by our mast head light. They sat on the pull-pit rail in protest all night (and pooped...).

On Nobu's watch a big ship was on a collision course with us. We hailed him on the VHF to inquire as to his intentions. No answer. Typical. Either arrogance or poor watch keeping and no excuse for either. We were close hauled in big seas with rain (restricted visibility) threatening and couldn't fall off without trying to cross in front. We were the starboard vessel in a crossing situation and a sailboat, making him double burdened. All he had to do was say, "I see you" on the VHF and we could have gone along our way without concern. Instead we had to go head to wind, stall the boat and get bounced around for a bit until we could lay off and make way again after his stern. It was something to do anyway.

Today we were getting close enough to have to come up with a final approach plan. We couldn't go fast enough to get in tomorrow before dark without; A: beating our brains out in these seas and B: getting some help from the wind direction. So it had to be the day after tomorrow. This meant we could not sail faster than 6 knots VMG (otherwise we'd arrive at night). So we put a reef in the main and jib and pinched up to 35 degrees off the wind. The wind is supposed to back down to 180 tonight so hopefully that will put us on course for San Cristobal. We should be in around noon the day after tomorrow.

Nobu says: "Come on Galapagos"

Ed says: "hope we get there soon, we've been skunked for fish the last two days"

Hideko says: "I have finally started to understand what it is like to be on a long passage. You get to catch up on a lot of sleep."

209 nm to go...