After
we received the news that Bristol Rose was safe and well, we continued our sail
to the Galapagos. Because we did not wish to arrive before the 21st February, we
did not motor, but sailed at 2-3 knots in the very light
winds.
On
the 20th, the skipper enjoyed some unusual birthday presents, secreted by Mrs
Skipper continuing the Norwegian mechanic saga.
Finally
we arrived at San
Cristobal
in the early hours of the 21st in company with 'A Lady' and 'Crazy Horse' who
had come from La Libertad, Ecuador.
Anchored
in Wreck
Bay,
we explored the Island
and encountered our first Galapagos wildlife. In particular, we took a trip to the sensational
Kicker Rock where we watched the
nesting Paquero Patas Azules (Blue
Footed Boobies) The snorkeling was absolutely fantastic (from one who finds
snorkeling boring!), through a gulley with many sharks below us and then along a
beautiful wall.
The
World ARC was based in the Hotel Miconia in San
Cristobal,
a basic dive of a place which also had quite a good restaurant. As a lobster
dinner was as cheap as anywhere on the planet at £9, we did rather pig out on
the stuff!
On
the 27th we sailed to our next port of call, Puerto Ayora on Sanra Cruz. This
anchorage is extremely uncomfortable but the town does have t e best
provisioning and repair facilities in these Islands.
We were planning to take various day tours and diving trips, but were not
expecting what happened next.
On
the 27th February at 0440, we were awakened by tapping on the hull. It was Paul
Tetlow of WARC with a warning of a Tsunami following the Chilean earthquake. The
Wave was expected at 0714 and all yachts were advised to put to sea. Being
English, we immediately made a pot of tea, waited for dawn at 0600, lifted our 2
anchors and headed for deep water. The Town was evacuated and the population
moved to high ground. We were out for almost 7 hours but felt nothing at sea.
When eventually we were permitted to return the conditions in the harbour were
difficult with swirling undercurrents. In our absence there had been quite some
damage to vessels. Charles & Marie of 'Dreamcatcher ' had gone away for a 5
day tour and 'Ronja', a Norwegian family with children had evacuated to shore.
The yachts had become entangled, causing substantial damage to both,
particularly 'Dreamcatcher' In addition many yachts which had buoyed their stern
anchors returned to find them missing.
The
news of drama did not end there. We were all pleased to see 'Chessie' arrive a
couples of days late but wit an engine failure, one of many gear
failures experienced by this yacht. The real story however was of Jochem. being dragged overboard whilst they were
fishing under sail He is not the
smallest man in the World and his wife not the largest, but she managed to get
back to him, get a floating line to him and eventually recover him
overboard.
By
now, many of the yachts were experiencing mechanical and electrical problems,
but everyone has mucked in to help each other and with the help of local
facilities most yachts will leave on the 7th March as
planned.
We
have all taken several wildlife tours and diving trips which are best summarized
by the photos below (sorry haven't cable to upload diving photos!!)
Today
we finish our final provisioning for the long leg to Marquesas, starting
tomorrow.
