Pacific Crossing - Day 8 - Dorado

[April 16]

Lat/Long: 06°01'S / 105°51'W
24hr distances: 143nm and 140nm

Well, at least the conditions are consistent out here. We continue to cruise along at 6 knots, and clock excellent mileage each day. We're out of chicken, so we managed to catch a nice Dorado for dinner a couple nights ago. Yum.

Not much to report. We're not very productive, as a result of the uncomfortable motion, but each day does seem to be getting better. For example, I haven't taken my daily gravel yet, and it is almost afternoon snack time!! As you can see, our days revolve around meals. Kind of like the hobbits, I suppose. But we usually have breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, dessert, and then various late night snacks as a way of keeping awake during night watches. No wonder we seem to be the only cruisers who don't lose weight on long passages! My mum send down yummy easter eggs, and we've finally finished those, but luckily, we seem to still have a healthy chocolate supply on board.

Pacific Crossing - Day 6 - Rock and Roll

[April 14]

Lat/Long: 05°03.20'S / 101°08.48'W

Still crusing along out here. We've had two more great days: 140 and 138 miles respectively. And it is relatively easy sailing. We haven't had to change sails the whole time, and simply reef the sails at night (wind seems to pick up overnight), and then shake them out again in the morning. Once in a while we tweek the monitor wind vane to stay on course. But it is a pretty rolly ride. There are good size swells out here, and wind chop that are not always coming from the same direction, and we're getting tossed around pretty good. We've both got a few new bruises from being caught offguard when we roll unexpectedly.

Then again, if I had to choose between fast and rolly, or slow and stable, give me a galloping stallion any day!!

Pacific Crossing - Day 4 - WOHOOO

[April 12]

Lat/Long: 03°57.61'S / 96°38.28'W

Well, we're finally getting our sea legs after our first few days at sea. We've both been feeling a little 'under the weather' so working at the computer hasn't been a lot of fun, but we seem to be turning a corner. Most of our queasiness is a result of the lively seas out here. The swell and waves are working together to keep the boat bouncing along in a somewhat unpredictable motion. But we're happy with the motion, because we're KICKING BUTT!!

For the last few days, we've been averaging 6 knots of boat speed. Our first 24 hours saw a record 142 miles, the second day was 135 miles and today we tallied up 144 miles - another record! So we are ticking off miles, as we set off towards the South Pacific.

Getting out of the Galapagos was interesting. Took some time to get our ZARPE (exit documents) and passports, and the fuel and water delivery didn't come until the final hour. It was chaos aboard Renova, as we tried to siphon fuel into our jerry cans, and fill our water tanks, simultaneously, in a super rolly anchorage, at dusk! Sheesh. Oh well...we grabbed as many groceries as we could carry, and weighed anchor, excited about our passage. I'll write a future post on the Galapagos, as many of our cruising friends have asked for more details, stay tuned.

We've been listening to the Pacific Puddle Jumpers Net each day on the high frequency radio, and noting the positions of our friends as they do the crossing also. Sounds like the ITCZ (sometimes called the doldrums) is a wide swath at the moment, so we are feeling sorry for them, as we know the pain of being adrift in no winds! We don't have an SSB transceiver on board, so we can't join in on the conversation, but friends have offered to relay our position to the net, so the group knows where we are. It's pretty wild that there are so many boats are out here doing the crossing, yet you wouldn't know it...you never see another soul out here.

I'll been playing around with new sat phone software, and I'll keep you updated on our progress. I'm hoping to cut down on the minutes that we use to download our weather files and emails. Since we really enjoy receiving email out here, it is worth it for us to look at alternative options.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKEY....we miss you!!

Cruising costs $$$

You may notice a new feature on the blog!

On the right side, below our picture, is a new series of Google Ads. We've discovered that we're spending more than we had originally budgeted, and we're looking for ways to make money as we travel. I'm doing some contract work. John is selling his body (kidding). But seriously, our blog is getting good readership, so we thought we'd try to post a few ads. If you feel like clicking on an ad once in a while, we'd sure appreciate it!!

(Multiple clicks aren't necessary - one click per visit is all that we will be compensated for).

Passage Preparations

For Dom's final day in Santa Cruz, we wandered around the Charles Darwin Centre - with it's tortoise breeding program and giant enclosures that let you wander around with the big beasts! We saw several different species, but had trouble finding Lonesome George - the last of his species. It was interesting, although very similar to the breeding centre that we had already visited on San Cristobel Island.

After our usual Almuerso (lunch special), John wasn't feeling well and returned to the boat, so Dom and I jumped in a cab, and went off to explore the lava tubes. Our taxi driver served as our tour guide, and took us about 25 minutes out of town to a private farm where we were directed to don rubber boots in order to stampede through the mucky farm in search of more
tortugas. We only saw one, but we didn't mind, we had seen many tortoises already on this trip. The highlight for us was wandering through the enormous lava tubes, formed by the lava flowing within hardened volcanic rock creating tunnels that were often 10 feet wide and up to 40 feet high. Only one time did we have to crawl on our hands and knees in order to creep under an unusually low overhang to pop out the other side. Our guide/driver was wise enough to drop us at one side of the tunnel, and pick us up at the far side, some 15 minutes later. Although there were a couple of tour buses also looking for tortoises on the farm, we felt lucky to be the only
visitors to the lava tubes.

We celebrated Dom's last night with lobster dinner on the malecon, and we were sad to see him leave the following morning. He's been a great crew - standing watches with us, cooking, cleaning, easy going, and hasn't even had too much trouble adapting to cruiser's midnight...usually around 9pm. (We used to laugh about that too...but you really are tired out here!)

Now we're working on our final preparations before we set off again on our next passage, to the Marquesas, approximately 3000 miles from here. We have arranged for fuel and water to be delivered to the boat tomorrow (Thursday), so we expect that we'll be ready to leave Thursday night, or Saturday morning, after all...a very old mariners' superstition dictates that you never begin a voyage on a Friday!

Arrived at Isla Santa Cruz

For our final day at Isla Isabela, we rented bikes and rode up to the Muro de los Lagrimes - the Wall of Tears. Many years ago, the island was used for a penal colony, and the inmates were forced to build this enourmous wall with severe consequences for working too slow or stepping out of line in any way. The wall was huge, and must have been extremely difficult to build. There were viewpoints and a freshwater swimming hole along the way, so we enjoyed our morning trek.

Dom has introduced us to the fabulous Almuerso...or the lunch special. Essentially this is a set menu with juice, soup of the day, and a main course with fish or meat, rice and beans or salad. And all for $3 or 4. For that price, we can't usually be bothered to cook on the boat!!

Our trip to our third Island in the archipelago, Isla Santa Cruz, was uneventful. We left before daylight, and followed our GPS trail back out of the harbour, under the light of the moon. We took turns napping, keeping watch, avoiding the rain showers, and arrived at sunny Puerto Ayora in mid-afternoon. After a brief siesta, we went ashore in search of our agent...and to check in with the Port Captain. After a couple of failed attempts we were told to return in the morning.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring town, and bought a lovely piece of albacore tuna for dinner. Sushimi again for dinner!!

Isabela is Awesome!

We've had a glorious few days at Isla Isabela. The anchorage is great, and there are about a dozen boats here with us, although every day one or two boats leave to jump the puddle, and another comes to take it's place. The other night we had cocktails with Precious Metal - Pamela's boat from Port Hardy! And one of her crew members, Jim, was from Campbell River...small world.

In San Cristobal, the common mode of transport was via scooter or taxi - there were very few privately owned cars in the city. By contrast, there are privatly owned trucks on Isabela, but most families seem to get around on mountain bikes. It's not unusual to see three people on a Giant or Marin coasting down the sandy roads of town.

We've seen incredible wildlife. Yesterday, Dom and I went diving to Isla Tortuga, and swam with the white tip sharks, giant tortoises, and an incredible variety of sea life. Today, all three of us went on an incredible panga ride up the coast to Los Tunneles, where I swam with a humongous Manta Ray that was at least 4 meters wide! We also travelled in and around an incredible maze of lave tunnels and towers, and were able to snorkel with sharks again. We even saw penguins, a sea horse and a turtle!

We have one more day on Isabela. We're trying to decide if we hike up to the rim of the Volcano, or perhaps spend a day snorkeling around the anchorage
and renting a surfboard...the surf breaks here are incredible! Tough life.

Cost of Cruising in the Galapagos

When we went to the Galapagos in the spring of 2010, there was a lot of uncertainty from cruisers about what the costs would be. We chose to secure an autographo, enabling us to take our boat between the five approved harbours among the islands. We're glad we did. But, of course, all of this comes at a price. We used Bolivar as our agent, and the process was smooth and flawless.

Here is a summary of our expenses, in US dollars to check in with our 36 foot boat.

Port Captain Fee: $88
Signal Fees: $30
Immigration: $30
National Park Pass: $200 (2 people)
Autographo and Agent Fee: $300
Ingala: $20

TOTAL: $668

FYI, we also paid $3.50 per gallon for diesel fuel, and $3 per 5 gallon jug of bottled drinking water - all delivered to the boat.

Other expenses in the islands were typical - $70 for a single dive, $5 for the lunch special, and pricey canned veggies, but nothing atypical.

Of course, the regulations for cruising sailboats in the Galapagos changes continually, agents charge different fees, and each visitor's perspective will add additional colour...but this was our experience.

Images from the 'Slow Boat to China'

We not-so-fondly referred to ourselves as being on the 'Slow Boat to China' on our passage from Mexico to the Galapagos. Here are a few of the images that we captured along the way.

Dolphins visited us daily, and when we were moving fast enough, they liked to play in our bow wake.


I dove mid-ocean to cool off, and to check on the status of our zinc:Once John determined that I wasn't going to get eaten by a shark, he jumped in for a dip too:

This boobie isn't walking on water - he's riding on the back of a turtle. We know this because we were adrift beside him for over an hour!!


We caught this lovely tuna, and it made delicious sashimi!!

Boobies were forever trying to hitchhike a lift:
These guys also liked to travel beneath the shade of Renova:

We celebrated crossing the equator in style:

Enjoying Being on Land Again

We've got our land legs back, and we're delighted to be here on San Cristobel Island. Dom has moved on board and has been an awesome crew member. As I write this, he is scrubbing the bottom of the boat. And, his spanish is heads and tails above my survival spanish, so we're relying on him heavily for our day-to-day communications!!

We've been occupied with re-provisioning the boat with fuel, food, and water. But we're also exploring and today we hired a taxi to take us on a tour of the island where we hiked up to the rim of a volcano, toured a tortoise breeding centre (saw ENORMOUS tortoises), explored a beautiful beach, and other adventures. It was a great day. Unfortunately, internet isn't easy to come by here, nor is it very quick, so uploading photos will not be easy. I'll keep looking for a good internet connection.

Our current plan is to travel to Isla Isabella tomorrow (Wednesday), as other cruisers often say this is the most interesting island to visit. Now that we've seen tortoises, boobies, sea lions, and marine iquanas, we're on the search for penguins!! After a few days at Isabella, we'll back track to Santa Cruz, where Dom's plane departs from, and the only island where we can get our new-fangled propane tank filled. We expect that we'll begin our crossing to the Marquesas between the 8-10 of April.