Underway the motion of the boat tells us of how she is doing, what the weather is like and if anything is broken or about to break.

At anchor the motion of the boat is the pulse of the harbor. After a week we are learning the pulse of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno. The persistent underlying pulse is the fingers of the Pacific Ocean that reach in this west facing bay with a gentle 4.5 second swell that rocks us in our berth all night. Each morning at 6 am a back beat as dinghies, water taxis and excursion boats begin to move. The flux of tourist excursions to dive, snorkel, birdwatch and hikes adds a shaper, shorter, intermittent roll that pops us out of bed if we are not already up. At sunset the process is reversed with excursions returning, ferries from other islands arriving and water taxi moving people about the harbor, again a sharp roll added to the ocean swell. After sunset the large overnight cruise boat slide into the harbor to meet regulations about where they can anchor. As we eat dinner in the cockpit it is disconcerting to see their red and green lightsof a 100 foot cruise ship heading straight toward our wine glasses (if you can see the red and green lights of a ship you at right in front of it). We listen intently for the toot of the ships whistle and the clank clang clatter of the anchor dropping and watch the lights swing so we only see the red (the boat has turned so we are only looking at its port side). These boats disappear before dawn as they positioning themselves in a new adventure for their clients.

The beaches sea lions and humans also have a daily pulse. At night the beaches are the sea lions but with daybreak more and more humans try to establish space for themselves on the beach to swim sunbathe and eat. A tentative time share agreement is reached with humans high above the water line and in the center and the sea lions along the edge. After dusk we hear the sea lionsplaying under the boat, blowing bubbles. From the beach we hear the bleating of the females and the howling of the alpha males.

After a week the anchor is well set (stuck into the sand so we are not going anywhere). The drag alarm on the GOPS has only sounded once indicating we have not moved only 100 feet since we dropped the anchor last Friday.

The weekly pulse of the town is also coming into view as we have rocked in the same place for 7 days. Last Saturday when we cleared customs, we watched 4 jets land full of tourists. On Saturday and Sunday, new visitors were quickly shuttled from the airport to waiting cruise ships. Flat barge like boats bring in trash from the cruise ships and take out boxes of food. The cruise ships do little to support the Galapgean economy. The tourists rushed to the anchored boats and leave little cash behind. If you visit you can see all the same things by staying in towns and hiring local guides and boats. The Ecuadorian people are very welcoming and make this easy.

Once the resupply ship only came twice a year but now the ship arrives once a week to restock the shelves of the grocery stores and bring in new fruits and vegetables. By Friday it is anchored right behind us. Without a large dock the offload of containers full of staples is a multi-step operations. Trucks drive onto a landing craft, the landing craft drives out to the ship, a crane drops containers on to the trucks frames, landing crat returns to dock, truck drives into town. Repeat all day.

Saturday has that relaxed sense of our first lunch here. Children are playing in the street again people dancing to music after lunch in small alleyways and recreation swimmers (human) circle the Mabel Rose for fun.