Rio Cacique, Isla Del Rey, Las Perlas

ANGEL
David & Valerie Allen
Fri 12 Mar 2010 23:36
08:17.98 N   78:54.17 W

Saturday, February 27, 2010

This morning we weighed anchor quite early and were underway by 0730.  As we were sailing around this spectacular rock formation, we saw AQUALUNA and another boat anchored on the south shore of Isla Canas and decided to turn on the radio to give them a call.  At that very moment boats from the rally were sending out an urgent message to all rally members to get out to deep water as there had been a massive earthquake in Chile and a tsunami was expected in our area around 0900 hours!  Apparently, Jonathan, from AQUALUNA had just returned from dinghying over to the other anchorage to make sure we had received the message.

Suddenly we could see yachts leaving the anchorages and heading out to sea!  As it turned out, it was a non-event and there was less than a metre of surge, but it was nice to know people were watching over us and each other.


Small islands south of Isla Canas

We continued on to the anchorage at the Rio Cacique as planned.  It was a huge anchorage but there were soon about ten rally boats sharing it with us.  It is a great staging point for the Galapagos.  Furthermore, there is a lovely river here which is high and dry at low tide.  However, with a tide of about 10-15 feet, it is an idyllic dinghy ride as it fills with water.  We basically drifted along with the rising tide and then motored back at high tide.  (We actually DID go cruising down the river on a Sunday afternoon!)

Over the next few days, fellow rally boats began to set sail for our next destination- the Galapagos.