GHOST

Steve here, the newest Ghostie. Kat has been pestering me to contribute to Ghost's blog, and I've finally given in.

I first contacted Brad and Kat back in July, looking to join them to sail across the Atlantic. They ended up choosing Jay, who had a little more experience than me. I was disappointed, but it was fair enough. I managed to find a spot on another boat, but stayed in contact, and followed them via this blog. Since arriving in the Caribbean, I have been travelling around South America. One of the 'must-dos' on my travels has been the Galapagos Islands, and I emailed them again with the idea of sailing with them here. Thankfully, they had a spot available, and when they invited me (or did I invite myself?), the offer was too good to turn down. So here I am, with them, in the Galapagos.

Since we left Panama, we have all been reading up on the islands and its wildlife. Here is a short excerpt from the Rough Guide: "By far the most expensive way to see the islands is to sail in on your own boat...". Dammit! I thought I was doing this on the cheap!

So, here's what we've been up to since we arrived.

After sailing as slowly as we could over Friday night (so as not to arrive in darkness), we arrived in Puerto Ayora on Isla Santa Cruz on Saturday morning. While setting the anchor, Kat, Jay and I were too busy spotting rays and sea lions, much to Brad's annoyance as he manoeuvred Ghost through the crowded anchorage. We managed to find an ideal spot, relatively well sheltered from the southern swell, and close to the water taxi dock. From here we are we can even manage to sniff some free wi-fi (albeit rather unreliable). Result!

The Galapagos islands, as expected, teem with wildlife. We have not even left the town, and already we are amazed at the amount and variety of wildlife. Pelicans fly overhead, diving for fish, and it is quite common to come back to your boat to find sea-lions sunbathing on the deck.

We have all been rather impressed with the little town; we were expecting a touristy hell-hole, with people aggressively trying to sell you tours on every street corner and the locals milking every last dollar and cent from your wallet. But instead, it has a very relaxed and friendly feel to it. We think that they might be missing a trick for visiting yachts - there are no mooring buoys or a dinghy dock - which they could justifiably charge any price they wanted for. So we have to take a water taxi whenever we need to go ashore. At $0.60 a time, it really isn't that bad.

Antonio, our agent, and his beautiful assistant Conchita, have been assisting us with getting checked in, dealing with various port officials, finding us local electricians to look at the alternator, booking tours, hiring bikes, and recommending restaurants and bars. On Saturday night, they invited us to one of the two bars in the town, Bongo Bar, where they had a lingerie show - much to my and Jay's excitement - Brad, naturally would not be interested in such things! After a week at sea, a fair few beers and cheap rum & cokes were consumed, and the party continued to the night club in the basement below. After the lights came on, we were invited to a house-party by some locals. It turned out that the party consisted of just us and a couple of guys watching TV. So we made a quick u-turn back to town and caught a water taxi back to the boat for some much needed sleep.

Yesterday was spent (a) being very hungover and tired (myself especially), (b) getting our fix of internet access, and (c) exploring some of the sights around the town. The highlight of which was Las Grietas, a volcanic fissure with saltwater grottos. It being the weekend, it was pretty busy with local kids impressing us by jumping the 20m into the deep pools.

We're all very much looking forward to doing some day trips to the other islands, and also doing some dives - hopefully with giant turtles and hammerhead sharks!
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Now, as a slight diversion, and while I have access to the blog, I thought I'd share a bit of my experience as the newbie on board Ghost.

As any sailor will tell you, every boat, and every skipper, is different. So here are a handful of things that I have learned over the past couple of weeks about Brad, Kat, and Ghost (none of which, you'll notice, are about sailing):

1. To be a Ghostie, banter is important. Also important is the ability to play cards and Trivial Pursuit, and to drink beer.
2. Ghost is part boat, part home (the pictures on the wall, the TV and the comfy sofa), and part hotel (the Molton Brown hand soap and towels provided for guests).
3. As Ghost has been their home for the past year-or-so, Brad and Kat have it well kitted up for living at sea, from the water and leccy generators to the plastic playing cards, beer fridge, wakeboard and water-skis.
4. Like me, they are addicted to the Internet and can spend hours glued to their laptops / iPod Touches whenever and wherever free wi-fi can be found.
5. Brad is a bit of a clean freak - which naturally comes with running a boat. His favourite possession is his handheld Dyson.
6. Woe betide anyone who spills anything above or below decks - which tends to be me; milk, sunscreen, peanut butter - you name it I've spilled it - I'm close to being made to walking the plank!
7. They enjoy a beer during a passage (just one), and a few more when not. Kat is a very friendly drunk and (Jay can testify) an excellent wing-man.
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For those that are interested, I write my own blog here: http://steviep.ontheroad.to/americas. Come visit some time!