Galapagos

OK, we're in the Pacific! We thought when we started to head west from Trinidad that we'd be sailing downwind the rest of the way. Wrong! The weather in the Gulf of Panama and East Pacific is either Doldrums or southwesterlies - that's right, 25 kts, on the nose! We had to motor for a solid week, so make sure you leave Balboa with plenty of fuel.

On the left you see the Captain demonstrating the old adage that "You're only young once but you can always be immature". On the right are some nimbus clouds in the ITCZ, aka the Doldrums. Note how flat the ocean is here, many hundreds of miles out to sea.

The sailing directions often recommend sailing towards Isla Malpelo, which is on the left. We wanted to try diving it but Columbia has a ranger station there and we didn't have any idea as to a good anchorage, so we passed. On the right is Isla Santa Cruz in the Galapagos - we made it!

We had conflicting information regarding rules for going to the Galapagos. Yacht visits used to be highly restricted and you still can't get a cruising permit without jumping through a lot of hoops and hiring a guide to stay on board during your entire stay. So, we took the cheap route and sailed to Academy Bay on the south side of Isla Santa Cruz. It's still not cheap: it cost us about $300 in port and immigration fees and we were only allowed to stay 10 days. However, it's one of those experiences you don't want to miss and well worth the bucks.

On the left you see the town of Puerto Ayora; the Port Captain's office is under the radio towers at the right. The photo on the right shows boats anchored in the bay; Amante is the ketch on the left. This is one anchorage where a stern anchor is essential. The swell enters from the southeast and is huge. This is another place where water taxis are the only real way to travel, and your friendly driver will be happy to set your stern anchor for you. One thing to be aware of is that if your stern rode lacks chain then you may lose your anchor to the jagged volcanic rocks. Ours cut free and required 3 days of diving to find it.

On the left you can see the admiral riding the elusive Galapagos Cow, which is strangely angular. On the right is an example of the sometimes weird vegetation, a mutant prickly pear.

One pleasant surprise we encountered was that Puerto Ayora is quite good as a provisioning stop! This is not to say you should skip Panama, but you can get cheap fuel and water here. When we were there, diesel was only $1.05/gal at the filling station. It's no doubt gone up, but is probably still cheaper than Panama. You can also get fresh fruits and veggies at the Mercado. Remember, you will soon find that exotic fruits such as tomatoes will be impossible to buy in the Marquesas. If you need water, don't buy it from the water taxi drivers, get pure RO water from a store in town: it's only $0.25/gal.

When you visit the Galapagos you expect turtles and we weren't disappointed. The girl on the left is happy in her mud puddle. We thought of the Galapagos as barren and arid, but it is really quite diverse, with cattle ranches and huge trees. The guy in the background on the right was trying to put the moves on the hot chick in the foreground, but they both decided an afternoon nap was a better choice. Seriously, the male was trying to mate with the female when they both stopped and fell asleep. After all, they're both over 100 years old.

Here's a sunset from the passage to the French Polynesia

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