What a trip, 10 days at sea and we dropped anchor in Academy Bay, Santa Cruz Galapagos on Thursday afternoon. The sun has been shining and we are enjoying restaurants and shops galore- much more than we had anticipated seeing here.
I intend to write more about our journey here soon.
Ok, here goes: My diary of the passage to Galápagos.
After almost two long weeks of waiting, our new jib pole was installed and we had the all clear to finally leave Panama! It was late in the day and neither of us felt ready to start heading out into the wide open seas just yet, so we headed over to Tobago Isles just 8 miles away. We were surrounded by thunderstorms all night and into the morning. That didn't stop Joel from being winched to the mast top to reinstall our damaged wind vane or me from getting out there and scrubbing the decks first thing in the morning. As the light rain fell, and the sky continued to light up, with rumbles all around I worked to wash the filth that comes with a canal crossing and having half a dozen or more people on the boat. I prepared some bread and chopped up dinner for later, and by 2 pm on June 2nd we left for Galápagos Islands,
Our first night was very special as we were greeted by huge pod of dolphins. They frolicked by the boat for at least thirty minutes and kept us entertained before dinner. The girls were quick to point out their jumping, splashing and air acrobatics and Joel and I took turns to go the bow and watch them swimming there. They are fast, powerful and yet graceful all in the same motion. I saw some belly rubbing at the bow and grabbed some video footage to recall this memory one day. When I went down to check on dinner I could hear their clicking noises through the hull, amazing.
By day 2 we realized that the wind was not around. It was a slow day. We motored all night but tried to sail by day. There were still plenty of cargo ships around and we had to keep a watch out to be sure our paths didn't cross. Joel saw a mantra ray jump. Lots of deep blue sea to be bobbing around in.
Day 3 and our slow progress continued. I have not been sick so far this trip and is making cooking and entertaining children far easier as we are level in the water. So a catch 22 really....to be sick and moving, or basically stationary in the water but able to function?
Day 4, and the wind still evades us. Some more dolphins came to visit tonight and I managed to give Joel's beard a trim...it is somewhat shorter but somehow scruffier? I had a lovely warm shower today thanks to all our motoring heating up the water. We are approximately a third of the way now....which means it'll be another 8 days at this rate!
Day 5 provided us with clear skies and no rain for an easy overnight watch. Since we had been motoring Joel and I had been sleeping in our forward cabin, but tonight it had started to get a little lumpy - didn't stop me grabbing some zzzs though. Of course, the lumps also indicated that the seas were starting to work to our advantage and we finally hit some wind today. So tonight, after 4 nights of motoring, we had the sails up and were enjoying the stiff breeze. The creaking and thumping of waves against the bow meant we were making progress, even though it didn't do too much for my nerves!
Day 6, girls were up way too early which meant my sleep got interrupted...so to stop them going up in the cockpit where it was still dark with dawn approaching we had a bed picnic. Cheerios and raisins are the standard fare for breakfast these days; no milk, too messy. I've even taken to having my own small bowl- it's not bad. Being heeled over all the time now is making cooking duties, baking bread and even pouring Cheerios tricky. Toys are everywhere after we tacked last night....oh dear we must try to secure everything in better.
Lots of wind is now helping to push us on our way. I managed to grab a warm shower again which was delightful, only to be salt sprayed thirty minutes later! I was clean at least. We have had some cool nights with rain and overcast days over the past few days but the sun is out today and it's warmth is delightful as we face lots of breeze. It warms the soul and tells me we are bound for big things in the Pacific.
Joel and I have both noticed how the ocean is different here compared to the Caribbean. The colour: it is a deep dark blue with no contrasts obvious; whereas the Caribbean Sea had lines of colours where the light blue met the dark. And when waves were cresting I could see the crystal clear aqua blue water at the peak of the wave. The wind was behind us there and the sun shine more so I will keep this in mind and see if the Pacific brings any change to its somewhat uniformity.
The Galapagos Islands are now within the minds reach, less than 200 miles. So we won't be there by my birthday but perhaps by Thursday morning. I can only just imagine what they will look like on the horizon, especially if the sun holds up and we have blue skies dotted with puffs of clouds. It seems so quintessentially like the Pacific Ocean of the movies.
My birthday today - a new experience, one at sea. Last night on watch, the moon was full and shining down on the water. It was quite pretty and had me reminiscing on life. I am also really missing both my parents at the moment.
Wow, what an interesting day! Joel cooked breakfast for us and we spent most of the morning trying to clean the hull of the boat free of barnacles so that if inspected in Galapagos we would be ok. Joel was (obviously?) the one jumping into the water, it was only 10,000 feet deep. Can you believe that we were literally in the middle of nowhere and Joel was in the water, and what do I see - a flag, then a buoy, and then more...oh dear. We just happened to have stopped in the middle of fishing gear. Thankfully we drifted by the first lot only to then get caught in a second line! I had already spotted a fishing boat and we spent the next 15 minutes waving to them to come to our aid. They finally came over and after many 'Holas' we hand signaled that we had their line round our keel and they motioned for us to wait. They pulled in one buoy and then just cut the line- something we were glad they were happy to do. What shocked us though, was that their boat contained at least half a dozen 5 ft sharks. So they were fishing with long lines ( long enough to get in our way!) with hooks on them to catch the sharks. This means Joel was diving where there were sharks! Then as we motored away, we saw a bigger fishing boat with lots of the fishing boats around. It must have been the base boat. Just as we were passing one of the fishing boats came rushing towards us, and we thought we were heading into lines again. They came so close, and after lots of friendly waves and rounds of 'holas' they indicated they wanted something. Finally they said "cola" and were ecstatic when I threw 3 cold cokes across to them. We waved goodbye and were on our way yet again. What a morning! Not, one but two memorable and friendly encounters. As the day whittled away, I was at the helm while everyone slept in the afternoon. Reflecting on 34 years of life, it is hard to know when one is grown up. But it seems by now, I am.
After 10 straight days at sea we finally set down the anchor in Archipelago de Colon, or the Galápagos Islands. It has been an interesting mix of challenge, enjoyment and at times even boredom- the long days at sea without children would certainly give someone a lot of time on their hands but with two demanding toddlers there never seems to be a quiet moment, except at night, and then it is a battle to stay awake!
We are here, we made it. On to the next chapter.