Galapagos
African Innovation
AJ
Wed 21 Apr 2010 03:46
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When we lifted anchor from Ensenada Playa Grande,
we were planning to sail over to the nearest village to see if we could connect
to Internet, so that we could get the Sat phone working properly. On our way
ther we sailed past another catamaran named Alexis and after conferring quickly
witht hem, it became apparent that we would not be able to connect to Internet
there. This meant that we would be unable to get weather updates. So in the
course of 5 seconds I made the call to do a 180 degree turn and follow Alexis
out to sea. They gave us a good weather update from their GRIB files and based
on that we actually sailed all the way to Galapagos.
The original plan was to sail with them, but we
were almost 2 knot faster than them, so it didn't take us long to leave them far
behind (out of radio contact range). We were lucky with the wind leaving Las
Perlas and managed to do a very decent 170 nm run for the first 24 hours. The
wind died shortly after that and we had to motor a bit, but compared to other
sailors that we've spoken to on Galapagos, we did very well.
The sail down here went very well. We did a bit of
motoring, but in total only used about half of one tank, so I was happy. It was
light winds, but despite our heavy weight, we're still moving very well. I was
happy to see that it was a smart move to buy around 50 cases of beer: Already
the beer prices have tripled and if rumors are true, the prices will quadrouple
again when we get to French Polynesia ... We will be VERY happy to have our own
stock with us then.
We are now anchored in position 0:53.507S 89:36.693W in Wreck Bay on San
Cristobal.
The wildlife here is AMAZING. There are sealions
everywhere ... you basically can't go into the water and not bump into one. Topi
and I went snorkling yesterday and saw 10 huge Galapagos Sea Turtles. The
frigate birds and boobies are everywhere and it is very lively here. It's also
good to see that they really cater to the animals and everything is set up to
conserve and protect nature.
Now it is bed time, because tomorrow we are going
on a dive where we will hopefully see a ton of sharks and if we're lucky even a
few hammerheads.
Our loose plan is to spend another week here on
Galapagos before we set sail for the Marquesas. We will probably do a 4 day tour
starting on Saturday, where we will go on an organized tour to the islands we
are not allowed to sail to. It should be good fun.
but now ... it really is bedtime. I need to be
fit for fight for the sharks tomorrow.
- Andreas
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