Las Perlas>Galapagos June 30 2011 - Day 1: DTF 819nm (05:59.7N 79:35.6W)
Aquamante
Vries Peter Pons
Thu 30 Jun 2011 22:50
hours thus far in very light winds. Yesterday we saw our first whale at some
150m distance, jumping out of the water twice and the fin tale rising out of
the water majestically. A truly spectacular sight. Photos will follow. It
was followed immediately thereafter by a group of some 15 dolphins playing
around the bow for at least half an hour. Always a lovely sight, but with
the whale sighting in the back of our minds this was almost ordinary. Today
a dolphin show as well, there must have been at least some 40 around the
boat. That was just before we sailed into our first storm on the Pacific,
way too early after a day sailing. Winds up to 28 knots (Bf7), rough seas
and torrential rain. Only now (18.30h local) the skies have cleared. And
we're motoring again, both to charge the batteries and to head in the right
direction, as the wind is predominantly coming from the SSW, and by sailing
we hardly make progress towards our waypoint. Thus far we've logged some
165nm, but we're only 140nm closer to our target. Shortcuts don't apply to
sailing. We hope that after another 100nm going south the winds will turn S
to SE and we'll pick up some equatorial current to make up for lost miles.
We're tired, as we did not sleep much yet, it always takes time to get into
the rhythm. Daph wisely decided to have a more substantial lunch, so that we
eat something light before we start our watches, which is also easier to fix
in the evening.