The long passage to the Marquesas–3000 nautical miles–and the Galapagos

Ocean passage relaxation

Apologies for being so long since our last post, but life has been extremely busy with the Galapagos and then departing for the Marquesas. We are into the afternoon of the third day and since yesterday morning we have had good winds and good boat speed. Let’s hope that we are properly into the trade winds. Our course to the Marquesas is c 260 degrees and we have been trying to get south first to find winds so sailing 220 degrees to begin with and now 240. We are now 8 degrees S and the Marquesas are 10 deg S and 135 deg W.  The Galapagos are on the equator and 90 degrees west, so you see the amount of westing we have to make – one eighth ot the globe’s circumference.  The wind is just south of East and so we have been on a beam reach all day making 8.5knots.  Can we get to 200NM in 24 hours?  We are five up with Alex and Roger and Dinah

Daytime snooze in the Nest

who joined us in the Galapagos.

All well and the food which Nicky spent such time in Panama preparing is delicious. [note from Nicky: most recipes are my mother’s – layered ratatouille and chicken with Noilly Prat, for instance – but I also have four Meg Campbell boboties frozen. I’ve made mocha squares this morning and Charles and I take turns making bread – his ciabatta with sunflower seeds yesterday was a great success.] We need to eat food in the freezer and fridge to make space for any fish we may catch. Alex caught a 7kg yellow fin tuna within about 3 mins of putting the line in last week which provided delicious sashimi and tuna steaks.  With five on board and single two hour watches, you can get plenty of sleep and we are now adapting to the rhythm of the boat and watches.  It is strange to feel so small and alone on a night watch – no other vessels, only stars and sea.  We had two dolphins accompanying us day before yesterday and the odd bird flies past, but mostly it’s just…emptiness. The Pacific is huge.

Lucky at the helm

The Galapagos Islands were amazing – wildlife and scenery you can’t see anywhere else.  At the airport Nicky managed to get past security into baggage reclaim to meet Alex whom we hadn’t seen since October after his Ambling through Africa, and Pippa whom we last saw in January.  Floods!   Mike – stand by for Tahiti airport! 

Sea lions on the transom

You kept on thinking what the next superlative could be: we dived with hammerhead and Galapagos sharks off San Cristobal, swam in a ball of fish and watched shoals of 1000 yellow fin tuna and barracuda swim past; we walked volcanoes and volcanic forest paths, stepping over marine iguanas, black as their lava rocks, with spiky crests; we swam with turtles, sea lions and sea horses in Isabela; we visited tortoise rearing centres where we saw tiny babies and 160 year olds (ugly and slow, yet fascinating); and then, just as Pippa was about to leave us, we went snorkelling off Pinnacle Rock on Bartolome (an extraordinary, moon-like place) where we found new reef fish and then three little penguins, who obligingly dived in off the rocks and went fishing right in front of us about a metre away.  Oops – I nearly forgot seeing the humpback whales and manta rays, 5m in width, jumping. All the animals are so unafraid that on San Cristobal we saw marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies and a sea lion on the same rock next to the pier.

Bluefooted Love

The steps to the dock were covered in sea lions jostling for the best spot.  [Nicky again: I’m embroidering animals and birds we’ve seen – at the moment I’m sewing turquoise feet on a pair of blue-footed boobies, which we saw courting and nesting].

I hope the Ecuadorians keep the Galapagos safe and keep the visitor numbers balanced.  On the one hand it is good it is all very controlled; but on the other hand there are masses of regulations, some more sensible than others, everything is a tour which provides employment but does make it all feel a bit packaged. Our cruise boat had engine failure and so we did a series of DIY outings, which I think we actually preferred.

San Bartolome

PS how do we get a postal vote?  4 out of 5 of us will be out of the country.
Alex: fans of hearing about our sat phone data allocation will be disappointed to hear I’ve got nothing to add on that front. Dad’s covered most of what we’ve been up to, although I feel Pippa’s contribution is underplayed – she barely gets a mention! It was lovely hanging out with her for the first time in six months: she’s still as competitive as ever; it was entertaining to compare her tan with ours; she may have mentioned once or twice that she’s got a boyfriend called Will… Mum breaking through security at Galapagos airport was a highlight, and thankfully the police decided to not get between a lioness and her cubs. Every time you think the Galapagos have exhausted their wonders, they manage to surprise and delight once again. Uniquely unique. Oh, and many thanks to the universe for putting on an excellent private nightly shooting star show out here in the middle of the Pacific – it feels like you can reach out and touch the Milky Way, although given that there’s absolutely nothing for hundreds of miles around us, and a 4,000m drop to the sea floor, I haven’t tried too hard!

Crossing the Equator - two up to the Galapagos

Hitch-hikers

We arrived safely in Galapagos after an uneventful and windless for the last two days crossing from Las Perlas.  But we successfully made it two up without incident including flying the asymmetric two up and the poled-up genoa.  We had company the whole way, with Miss Tiggy following us as their autopilot wasn’t working and and it’s much easier, when hand-steering, to follow – especially at night.  There was no moon so it was very dark and the stars and planets were magnificent.



We also had company in the form of birds: four of them perched on the pulpit all the last night, leaving a lot of guano evidence, and each night white birds swooped around our navigation lights.  I’m not sure what was in it for them, but they accompanied us for hours and it felt as though they were watching over us on those long (4 hour) night watches. This system gave us just enough sleep over five nights, although dodging fishing vessels on the last night into Galapagos was tiring.

We crossed the equator at 3am and paid homage to Neptune, though we had celebrated with a bottle of champagne when Miss Tiggy swam across at 5pm.  We did have two days of good sailing in flat seas.

San Cristobal is our first Galapagos island, with a bustling little town and efficient water taxis to pick you up from your boat – just as well, as any dinghy left in the water for even a moment is colonised by smelly, moulting sea lions.  We all put fenders and other obstacles on the boat’s swimming platform (our “seal defences”), but several friends have had their cockpit occupied overnight.  The whole archipelago is a national park with very strict ecological rules, so when we arrived we were visited by eight officials, who checked that we were separating our rubbish (though when we came ashore we found it all goes in one bin…), didn’t have any fruits with seeds on board (I hid the lemons at the back of the fridge) and that the boat’s bottom was clean. 

Miss Tiggy

Movement of yachts between islands is strictly regulated, so there’s a whole industry of ferries and tours – we are hoping to visit Espanola on Wednesday.  Yesterday we went diving (Charles) and snorkelling (Nicky) to Kicker Rock (Leo Dormido), an impressive hunk of rock with masses of sea birds, including blue-footed boobies and frigate birds displaying their red neck pouches.  It was rather overcast, so not ideal diving conditions, but we ticked off various sharks, including a hammerhead, as well as many fish and impressively large turtles, close enough to touch.

Punta Pitt, San Cristobal

Ecuador held an election yesterday and citizens were not allowed to drink alcohol for 48 hours leading up to election day.  Might a similar ban have affected the Brexit vote or the US elections?  Anyway, today there is a recount and it seems the same party has stayed in power – at least, I think that’s what our taxi aquatico driver said.  One thing I definitely do NOT miss is politics!