Days 18 - 20 - 21 Galapagos & Beyond 02:02.7S 92:48.9W
Five Islands
John & Sue
Fri 8 Jun 2012 16:57
We have light SE winds and about a 1.5 knot favourable current and we hope that we will get some stronger winds as we get further south and west. Liseron has enjoyed the better conditions and we have been sailing at up to 7 knots in about 10 knots of wind so she should get going when the wind picks up.
We really enjoyed our 3 days in Galapagos, and will definitely come back here to spend more time having a good look around. Academy Bay on Santa Crus was a lovely place, the people were friendly, it was clean, no graffiti, and plenty to see and do. It is a bit touristy but very relaxed and laid back. On our last day we visited the Charles Darwin Research Centre and then took a taxi up into the mountains to see the tortoises in the wild, and we also did a walk through the second longest lava tube in the world, then stopped and sampled some local coffee. Will post some photos when we next get a decent internet connection. We found a great little local street restaurant area where each night about 15 or so little restaurants set up tables on the street and you could get a meal for $5 to $8, so we ate there on 2 nights. We were also able to Skype some family, and also managed to talk to Terry and Elaine who are currently in Papeete in the Society Islands.
We are having trouble sending via the sat phone (not connecting) so may not be able to update every couple days but we will try. Sailed all night with between 10-15 Kts of wind giving us a speed over ground of between 6 & 7kts. We have done 140nm in the last 24hrs. We are currently sitting on 8 knots with full genoa and second reef in the main (only reef as the other reefing line is being used as the outhaul). 'Liseron' is going well, as are we after a breakfast of pan cakes. The guys are going to fit a T piece onto the fuel line for the starboard engine and the generator as the genset filter is clogged and we couldn't buy a replacement in Academy Bay. Still no fish, so if all else fails we have a Baked Chicken dinner tonight. Only 5300nm to go to Suva (Fiji).