February 24. Today we had to look out for Rivadeneyra Shoal. Good thing i'd had a look at the chart, because i had expected all deep water out here, yet here was this shoal, rising 2500m from the seabed in the space of a few miles to be just below the surface over the area of a few miles. It happened to be right on our track so we altered course a little bit to make sure to miss it.

We were sailing toward a very black squall in the morning so decided to be safe and tack away from it. Had a nice veer in the wind from the cloud but then all of a sudden the rain came and the wind increased rapidly. The boat started to lay over, things crashing off benches and shelves below. We quickly furled the headsail and restored order, but as soon as it had started it was over. No damage below, but Is did break a nail.

The day turned out quite good, sailing along on port tack, just below course. We noticed another yacht about abeam of us and maybe six miles distant. We tried to raise them on the VHF but were unable to. They stayed there all day, disappearing in and out of rain squalls, until we lost them in the evening.

The clouds cleared a lot by sunset and it was a perfect twilight. The moon was up already and almost full. It lit up the boat as if we were floodlit on a movie set. It was lovely sitting up on deck absorbing it all. Another delicious dinner of pasta, enjoyed under the canopy of moon and stars.

It became a little squally during the night and in the morning noticed we had lost out bbq cover, but more tragic, our newly fixed fishing rod and reel. I can't think how it happened but we did have a loose halyard waving around at one stage. may have snagged the rod. At least we had a few spare rods.

There were lots of fish jumping out of the water so i put out our other line with one of Charley's lures and i had only just started feeding it out when a fish struck the line, metres from the boat. Hauled it in and it was another Skipjack, a variety of tuna, the kind we hadn't really liked, and the Only fish we had been able to catch. I tried Charley's advice and cut it at the heart to bleed it straight away. At least it hadn't had enough time to build up any lactic acid from a struggle! Cut it up immediately and it made quite nice sashimi for later on.

Is had the first watch that night and woke me at 10 for my shift with the news of an approaching squall. I tacked away from it to clearer skies, had to furl the headsail up more, ran in to more squalls, tacked, tacked again. Poor Is, trying to sleep below, had to change sides below each time we tacked as i hadn't rigged up our leecloths yet ( sheets designed to hold you in your bunk when the boat is leaning over). Soon it was just all rain clouds and i settled in for a damp night. At one stage the moon found a chink in the clouds and shone on the water like a spotlight in front of black curtains. The wind eventually died and we had to motor the rest of the night, from 2 til 9 when the skies cleared and an easterly appeared. Sailing with eased sheets at last!

February 25.

Had porridge for breaky. Had it all ready to go with honey and cinnamon and milk but when i tasted it, realised that the oats must have been a bit off. They'd been sitting there for a few months in the tropic warmth, and the porridge tasted a little - tangy.

At least we had something else for breaky- A flying fish had landed on deck during the night, our first one. It was small but we fried it up anyway because i'd heard how tasty they were. Yes, quite delicious.

The wind lightened off during the day untlil there was nothing so motored from 2pm until 2am before some wind appeared. Just as well becasue the oil pressure had started to drop a bit. And what a nice brreze it was. Southerly, 15 knots, cloudy, and we were flying along on course.

It was a great night's sail. At one stage i noticed an odd bit of phosphorecence out to windward , like the foam of awave crest. Then i saw an underwater comet! And another. And another -Dolphins! They looked incredible in the blackness of the night. For once i was glad of no moon as they appeared only by the fiery, phosphorescent, twising tubes that shot through the water.

February 26.

Sun up and still flying on course. Looking good for landfall on Is' birthday now.

This morning's breakfast was squid. Rather small though, only a finger length long but tasted quite nice. The wind stayed and the sky cleared. Deep, deep blue, clear water- the south -east trades at last,( though a little more southerly here).So long doldrums.

It was a good fast sail all day if a little uncomfortable below for cooking. I tried to take a little extra southing to put some in the bank as i didn't expect too much east in the breeze before we got to the Galapagos.

Crossed the equator at 5.33pm. We sat together and watched the GPS count down the minutes and seconds of northerly latitude until it read 0.000 and then started to read southerly latitude. We later toasted King Neptune with a ¨delicious¨ watermelon juice concoction that Is had made up, though i think Is was a little too eager to get rid of hers!

Still the breeze continued in to the night and we knew we'd be making landfall sometime near dawn, so Isabelle decided to take the 6-10 and 2-6am shifts so she could see the sun come up on her birthday.

February 27.



A super night of sailing and just as the sun was coming up, Isabelle saw the first outline of the Galapagos, Isla San Cristobal to be precise.

What a great birthday present.

We could see some large rock formations and the outline of some gentle slopes. As the light improved, we saw light green vegetation covering the slopes and some beaches. Is was very tired so went below to sleep for a bit while we sailed along the northern coast. Still 25 miles to sail to the other end and our destination port of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, or Wreck Bay. Probably a good choice of this side of the island as I received am SMS, and then a follow up phone call, on the satellite phone from my sister Robin, about an 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Chile and an ensuing tsunami warning, Pacific wide! I figured it would take around 5 to 10 hours for any tsunami to reach us here, and we should be sheltered on this side of the island, so i slowed down a bit to keep us at sea until the afternoon. Plenty of time to enjoy the coastline then! There were unusual fins in the water. At first i thought they were sharks but they turned out to be rays, flapping their wingtips up through the water as they glided along. there were lots of them and one leapt way out of the water chasing something. A pod of dolphins swam by, then a lone sea lion. I noticed a strange, sweet fragrance. What could it be? Of course, the land!

I prepared breakfast and set up the table in the cockpit ready for Is to awake. So we enjoyed pancakes and sparkling grape juice as we drifted by Leon Dormido ( the Sleeping Liion), some spectacular rocks rising sheer from the sea for a few hundred feet. We later learnt that you can go snorkelling in a gap in the rocks with hammerhead sharks - nice.

We finally made Wreck bay at 3pm. A modestly crowded harbour with fishing boats, tour boats and a coast guard vessel. Only about 5 yachts.
We were both looking forward to a full night's sleep in some calm waters.

We'd made it!