This report and the Galapagos reports are out of order because the internet at Galapagos was so slow that the sites usually timed out before we could use them .

It was common knowledge on the local cruiser net that boats going to Equador, Galapagos and even the Marquesas were having a rugged time with strong headwinds and squalls up to 45 knots. Many of us were waiting to leave but opted to try for a better weather window. We decided to leave on Wednesday 8^th June.

The day dawned fine, hot and humid with little wind. Before lunch, we motored out into a flat sea. By late evening, we had to decide whether we would motor through the night or drop anchor at Las Perlas, a group of islands about 50nm from Panama. It was late by the time we motored into 15 metres off the largest island and dropped anchor for a quiet night.

The next two days were hot and humid. We sailed until our speed dropped to 2 knots, then we would motor. Those two nights gave us the most spectacular show of lightning, with the sky lit from horizon to horizon all through the night. Both nights, the storms caught up with us at about 0200 and hit us with pouring rain but surprisingly, no wind, necessitating that we go out in the driving rain and spectacular lightning to furl the sails. The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone is not a fun place to sail.

Day 4 was a better sailing day with 15 knots of SW wind but this soon became a curse as it increased to 20-25 knots with frequent squalls. It was right on the nose so we had to tack back and forth, some days sailing 150 miles for a total gain of 20-30 miles in our chosen direction. The big seas meant that we could not do any better than 60 degrees to the wind.  This weather stayed with us for a week, making for a long and frustrating trip.

The first Sunday, we were visited by a pair of gulls. They had decided that flying was “for the birds” and settled in for an easy trip. Their fish diet seemed to give them diarrhoea and they were making a terrible mess of the deck. We managed to encourage them to sit near the anchor but when green water started to come over the deck, they retreated back again. In the afternoon, they would fly off and return at night when they would fly beside us in the light from our starboard navigation light. What a way to spend the night! After a few days of this, they left as suddenly as they had arrived only to return each night for the night flight. They brought their friends and we eventually had an eerie flock of eight flying near our green light. We still have their calling card splattered on our headsail.

Nothing like making yourself at home.

Who is in charge here?

We crossed the equator a couple of days before arriving at San Cristobal.

Split Island off the west coast of San Cristobal at day break.

By day 10, there was more south in the wind and we were able to plot a course directly to Galapagos. On the last night, we pottered slowly along the west coast of San Cristobal so that we could arrive in daylight. We dropped anchor at Wreck Bay at 0645 on Tuesday 21^st June after a very frustrating passage.