THE CHALLENGING PROTOCOLS OF SAILING AROUND THE WORLD

                   (Just one of the many first world problems we encounter!)

On our journey round the world, our Rally support team, while helping us ‘enjoy the moment’ (mostly by hosting great parties), also help us prepare for our next destination.

This mostly consists of making sure we comply with all the port of entry requirements and prepare and present appropriate documentation.

Galapagos rules  

These usually consist of copies of passports and COVID vaccination certificates for all on board, and boat documentation - registry, insurance etc

The preparation list for Galapagos, however, was much more challenging.

We needed to:

        1. Ensure the boat’s hull was completely free of a any marine growth or marine life,

        2. Restrictions on food on board

              - No fresh meat - frozen meat had to be vacuum packed

              - No fruit with leaves attached that may harbour insects

              -  No berries, mangoes

     3. We had to laminate crew instructions about recycling - numerous laminated messages NOT to throw anything overboard.

  4 A hull cleaning certificate (written by me and signed by Roger!)

     And lots more!

The Galapagos Reception Committee

We  arrived after dark in San Cristobal and were informed that the Agent and inspectors would come aboard  at 8am the next morning.

The Agent duly arrive initially with 2 doctors, who checked us all out, checked health certification etc. He then returned with 6 inspectors, including :

-  Immigration officer to check passports, previous ports visited, next destination etc        

- 2 divers to inspect the boat’s bottom.

- Quarantine inspector who checked out food stores, fridges and freezers

- Engineering inspector who checked the boat over

- Safety inspector, who checked life rafts, life jackets etc

One boat was sent 40 miles off-shore with professional hull cleaners to remove barnacles etc from their hull.

We passed first time on all counts which allowed us to go ashore.

We are not allowed to use our own dinghies, but the port is well-served by water taxis.

One’s first experience of Galapagos is breath-taking. The wild-life has no fear of us and treats passers-by with indifference. As we walked along the pier, sea lions are EVERYWHERE, lying in our path, lying on park benches. And a marine iguana was strolling up the pavement, ignoring all human activity.

A sea lion encounter

The sea lions were not all sleeping, however. One alpha male was guarding the ramp down to the water taxi, positioning himself right in the centre. He snarled at me as I attempted to politely sidle by. I backed off and then nonchalantly tried the same again. He barked loudly, raised himself on his front flippers and chased me! I survived and treated the alpha males with caution thereafter - even resorting to walk-in across a wet beach and climbing over a fence to avoid further confrontations.

We spent an amazing week ‘meeting’ and learning the history of the amazing wildlife of Galapagos - a detailed report will follow in a subsequent blog.

We have just had our pre-departure inspection - 7 uniformed officials boarded and sat with serious faces and large files. They returned our passports duly stamped and gave us our ‘clearing out ‘ papers required for our next destination . Four of them then searched the boat to check we were not taking any highly protected wildlife with us. It is even forbidden to take shells, pieces of rock or lava and there is a $1000  fine if found guilty.

We now had to depart within 24 hours.  

A hairy encounter

But first, I had an urgent mission!

My hair, in the past the subject of great care and attention, has not been touched by a hair professional for 4 months - the result is an Essex bleached- bright blonde straggly mess!I decided I needed a trim with the encouragement of my niece Sarah who has come to join our trip for a few weeks. We trailed around Puerto Ayora on the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos, a centre not noted for its high end hair care.

We found a ‘salon’, no clients but a hairdresser surrounded by previous cuttings on the floor.      To my ‘delight’, he could fit me in to his busy schedule, quoted $5 for a cut!

I was desperate!  He sprayed my hair with gunk, cut my fringe straight across, agreed a chin length trim, so cut straight across, washed at the basin, returned me to the ‘styling station’, combed it through and said ‘OK?’I said yes, paid the agreed fee of $5 and left!     A whole new concept in the ‘just out of the hairdresser’s’ look, otherwise identified as ‘the drowned rat’ look!

We laughed a lot, achieved a slight improvement to my new image and laid what will be a long lasting memory.  

Now, 4 weeks later, it has proved to be a great cut, in these times of minimal hair grooming activity!

While still in Galapagos, we were under pressure to prepare all the required paperwork for entering French Polynesia:. All completed with help of Rachel of Oyster Support Team.

We still have to apply for a visa to visitAustralia - due there in July.. Must do that while we have access to internet !



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