Puerto Ayora, Galapagos

Mojo 2
Andrew Partington
Sun 17 Jul 2011 19:02
That was tough but we have made it. We are all sitting around a table in
the Isla Grill having just demolished some burgers.
The passage here was testing in every way. We always had the feeling that
the headwinds were going to moderate but they continued right until the
last night, and even then we had a couple of gusts to 27 knots.
As the sun rose on our last morning of the passage we were greeted by
clear skies and 14 knots winds. We had slowed our boat speed from 60NM out
so that we were not too close to the islands and their strong currents
prior to dawn.
We had a great motor-sail for the last 20NM as we cruised around the
eastern side of Santa Cruz Island. There were dozens of huge turtles and
hundreds of manta rays. One manta gave us a great display spinning
backwards in the air a couple of times. We also passed whales, dolphins
and several other boats.
We entered the port just before lunchtime. In the harbour are dozens of
local tour boats with some of them the size of small cruise liners. All
day there was a continual flow of tourist being ferried back and forth
from these boats.
The town itself is fabulous and very much set up for tourism. We had a
meal last night and went for a walk after. The port araa was bustling with
activity. There were people everywhere enjoying Saturday night. Many
people gather at a huge playground next to the water. There were kids
everywhere playing in the playground whils their parents sat nearby
chatting with their freinds. All the while the port, which is really just
a couple of concrete jetties, continued at a frantic pace. At one point
they were unloading window panes with a huge loader right next door to
people cooking on a BBQ.
We intend leaving this great place on Wednesday but it looks as though it
may just be Jane and I heading on to the Marquesas. Daniel is heading home
to Australia to take up a job offer and there is a very good chance that
Dean will go with him.
It will be very strange to no longer have Daniel aboard. He has been with
me since the Canary Islands and it will be sad for me to see him go. We
have shared some great times, some very tough times and lots of laughs.
Before they go we intend to tour the island and see its amazing wildlife
and continue to enjoy the hospiality of the delightful locals.
Andrew Partington.

16th April 2011
La Rochelle, France

Day of leaving for our journey.