From Galapagos

The autographo is supposed to show up either today or Monday- we're hoping today. But we still need to fill up with diesel. This is a bit of a project here in the Galapagos! You need to specify exactly how much you need (which needs to match up with how much you can carry & how much you have left per your report). Then the port captain comes to the boat to complete the paperwork. Then you take a cab with your jerry cans to the station and present your papers, get the fuel, cab back, water taxi back out to the boat and then try to transfer these jugs onto a heaving boat. I couldn't sleep last night again because of the ocean swell rolling into the anchorage from some faraway storm so I had time to troubleshoot how this project might work but I didn't come up with much except to just try it. Fuel is subsidized in Ecuador although not for yachts, which is the reason for all the government involvement in us getting some. This swell is the worst we've ever experienced and it makes living on the boat difficult let alone transferring fuel, but we need to get this done. You might not know it, but San Cristobal is a hot spot for surfing. These swells are breaking on the beaches making large waves and right now, I think they're even too big for most of the surfers here.

A couple of days ago we got the first significant rain since we started this trip back in October. To date, we've never had more than an infrequent, short shower. But this rain lasted for about 2 hours and after the decks were all cleaned off, we collected a couple hundred gallons of water. Our watermaker makes 8.5 gph and we need to run it about 2 hours a day to meet our needs so sometimes we fall behind. It's nice to get an occasional rain shower to top off the tanks- and we sure did! Tim & Nathan don't have a watermaker, so they arranged to buy water from the Casa de Aqua at 64 cents/gallon. It was delivered minutes before the rain began- what great timing! Most boats in the anchorage had someone out on deck messing around in the rain cleaning something or collecting- too funny. In the afternoon, we went into town to take a walk and grab a few groceries. The harbor was filled with debris & silt from the runoff and I think the sea lions were disturbed by it. We witnessed a pup dying, was probably sick long before, sad. We've really enjoyed having them all around the boat. You hear them splashing, breathing, coughing, bellowing and snorting whether you're down below or topsides and at times, they play under the boat and blow bubbles which burble up the hull and make me smile. It sure makes getting in the water to clean the bottom an easy chore since they will inevitably come swimming past at close range, looking like a torpedo.

One day we took a walk out to some cliffs and noticed these swallowtail gulls nesting. I read that they are mainly pelagic except when they come to nest along the cliffs in the Galapagos. When we finally get over to Isla Isabela, there are 2 more birds to see- the flightless cormorant (evolved to have non-functional wings since apparently they don't need them here) and the penguins. There are also active volcanoes to climb. I don't imagine we'll be hiking up BBQ coals like we did in Guatemala, but supposedly it's a popular sight to see.

We thought of a couple more funny things we've noticed here. One is that when we were in a little hardware store looking for a temperature sensor, we had to watch where we walked because over half the floor, there was salted fish drying! Jon accidentally backed up onto some and the lady said "Cuidado!"- careful of the fish! I mean, why not? The other is that we've noticed over the past couple months that lots of people carry backpacks, especially men. I think they come from the US perhaps as overstocks but they are invariably very feminine. They're often pink or purple in Hello Kitty brand or similar. Why we can't ship more masculine packs down here I'm not sure, but when you need a pack, you get what you can get so...

Yesterday we went to lunch with Tim & Nathan to a local's restaurant where you get a 2 course meal for $3- no gringo food here! It's slightly air conditioned, which gives you a break from the heat until you start eating course one- a big, hot bowl of soup! Then the main dish is seasoned rice, a token piece of meat and either plantains or potato (we've eaten there twice) and a glass of juice. It's really pretty good & you're plenty full when you leave. The place is filled with locals along with some backpackers and we even met our agent Bolivar in there. Jon & I took a walk afterward on some park trails and wished we'd brought the camera. We could have gotten a great picture of a big marine iguana and a pelican sitting on the same small rock, looking out to sea, side by side as if they were buddies.

As I sit here in the cockpit this morning, 3 more sailboats have pulled in. Some friends we met from the slip adjacent to ours at Shelter Bay on Twice Eleven pulled in yesterday and Andy on Impiana is on his way. When you're on shore looking out into the harbor, there are all these masts swaying back & forth. It's kindof funny when I think about it. But the day is starting to heat up & it's time to get out of the sun or at least goober up with sunscreen before being out in it more.