The time has come to leave Isabela. We have really enjoyed a few days of total downtime. K knows G is relaxing when he spends all day reading books. We even rigged the new Ecuadorian hammock on the foredeck – now, that is super-comfy so long as the swell does not start you metronoming and try to eject you over the side.

The weather has changed in Isabella, meaning the last two days were not that comfortable at anchor. A big swell has picked up from the south, which is sending really big waves crashing onto the beach but also setting up lots of reflection waves around the anchorage, which means there is a constant chop from many directions. With that, the flies and the humidity it all becomes fairly uncomfortable, so it’s better to head to pastures new. In fact, five out of seven boats left the anchorage in the last 24 hours, so it’s pretty empty now. But we have loved our visit and Isabela is so quiet and relaxing; and we still have the delights of the Big Smoke - Santa Cruz - ahead of us.

As we head for Santa Cruz, we are aware that this is our last planned port before Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, which lies 3,000 miles to the west. So some of our time in Santa Cruz will be spent on provisioning and final maintenance before we head across in late March.

Today’s blog picture shows our track when we sailed through Isla Tortuga which is the crater of a volcano – it is almost completely submerged. We sailed through this on the way to Isabela but passed it again today on the way to Santa Cruz so felt it justified another appearance in the blog.