After three weeks spent anchored in Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz, we're back at sea. Our route to Easter Island is just shy of 2000 nautical miles, and should take about 14 days. This is by far the longest we've ever been offshore. What's more, this longest passage will also be double-handed. Dad and I will split night watches 3 hours on, 3 hours off. In this way, we essentially lose half of a night's sleep every night, or equivalently, a week of sleep in our two week journey. I'm tired just thinking about it! We try to nap during the day, but there's simply no way around becoming increasingly sleep deprived while offshore for this long. Today is day 3 offshore and I still feel totally fine, if not a bit groggy from my most recent nap. Alas, passagemaking is exhausting but simply must be done if one is to ever go anywhere. Thankfully, so far it's been very calm and life aboard is pleasant. We're sailing very slowly, however, so I have ample time to recount some Galapagos experiences for you.

We spent our first couple of days getting the lay of the land, and seeking tours to visit the various islands. The Galapagos can really only be explored while on a tour, accompanied by a naturalist, so we sought their services and eventually settled on Galatravel. Grace, at the agency, was extremely helpful (thanks in no small part to her excellent English) and we chose to do business with them largely based on our dealings with her. We booked a tour for North Seymour Island, to see the blue footed boobies, and to Bartolomé, with our hopes set on snorkeling with Galapagos penguins.

The tour to North Seymour was quite good, again, thanks mostly to our great guide, Jacinto. Again, he had impeccable English, and was just a good-natured, enthusiastic guy. We got the rare treat of seeing many blue footed boobies performing their courtship dance, which they seldom do outside of mating season. I have some cool photos and videos of these most interesting birds. My mother noted that the boobies would be perfect characters for an animated film akin to Madagascar only set in Galapagos. Indeed, these feathered friends are truly goofy to look at! We returned to the tour boat for a wahoo lunch (quite unexpected!) and chatted with Jacinto a bit. He asked me if I surfed, and I told him yes, I do. Ironically enough, the true value of the day came from learning where the surfing beach is on Santa Cruz. Jacinto told me that it's a beautiful sand beach, with a nice break that comes in pretty much all the time. I decided to check it out the following day.

So, board in hand, inadequate sunscreen applied, I trudged to the beach. Now, this is quite a trek. The beach may only be reached by a footpath cut through the thick cactus of the lowlands. The walk is about 4km one way, meandering up and down through the small hills near the coast. It's a pleasant walk, but certainly long. Couple that with surfing, a highly strenuous activity, and the fact that I'm not exactly in shape for either, and I was pretty crushed the next day! The waves were pretty crappy, I got a killer sunburn in the equatorial sun, but I had a lot of fun.

We went to Bartolomé the next day for another tour. I got on the bus in the morning, and to my surprise, a guy about my age hopped on the bus with Mako freediving fins. I had seen him out surfing the previous day too, and we instantly took up a conversation. Henry was from Delaware, and was just traveling through South America a bit during his vacation. He works at his family's orchard, Bennett Orchards, and there's little work during the winter. We talked about spearfishing and surfing. The day was off to a good start. When we finally got to Bartolomé on our tour boat, we hiked up a beautiful volcano and looked out over some amazing terrain. Aqua, reefy waters directly below gave way to the breathtaking blue expanse of the Pacific Ocean. We walked back down and got ready to snorkel, the goal being to find some penguins. Thankfully, we were successful! The penguins would be wonderful characters in the film Galapagos as well. Watching them glide effortlessly right past our faces, not caring at all that we were there, was just too comical. These little guys - and they are quite small at about a foot tall/long - are fast and nimble below the water, let alone very cute. They were hunting some small fish near the surface, and all the while paid us no mind. I got plenty of video, and was overall completely satisfied with our excursion.

On the bus ride back to Puerto Ayora, Henry and I decided to meet up for some drinks and a bite to eat after. We met in front of the Reef shop, the only landmark we both could easily agree upon, and snagged some cheap grocery store double Pilseners. No open container laws to stop us, we simply toted the brews around town for a while, grabbing more beers at corner stores here and there when we ran out. Eventually we grabbed some dinner, and parted ways, agreeing to head out early the next morning for a surf session. We went out to the beach in the morning, me meeting Henry there since I slept a little later than planned, and got in the water. We surfed for a while, but then Henry had to leave to catch a ferry to San Cristóbal island. I was bummed to see him go, as we truly got along well in the short time we knew each other. However, Henry helped reignite my love for surfing, and in fact, surfing became pretty much my whole Galapagos experience from there on out.

Each day followed a similar routine: coffee, breakfast, hang out, lunch, go in and steal wifi from the travel agency, and finally get some zinc oxide on my face and walk to the beach for an evening session, followed promptly by some beers and cheap food ashore. I surfed every day (except for maybe 3 days) in the three weeks we were there. I improved markedly, which is always so rewarding. In the Bahamas, I got considerably better at approaching fish and picking my shots. In Cayman, relegated to simply diving sans spear gear, I became a much better freediver. Panama helped my capacity to do not a whole lot and to make sure I get out and meet people. And Galapagos relit the flame I once had for surfing.

Our next destination, Easter Island, is known for some hectic surf. I'm very excited to try out my improved skills on this faraway island, both on the waves with my board and on the reefs with my gun. I'll write again in not too long to delve into other aspects of Galapagos and to provide some insights into our passage so far.