Green………… Tomatoes, Ba nanas & Oranges
Rich's 2025 World ARC PatBon Blog
Richard Hurd
Fri 7 Mar 2025 03:38
Our time in the Galápagos Islands has sadly finally come to an end. We’ve spent a very special two weeks in three of the islands, San Cristobal, Isabela and Santa Cruz, which are the only islands in the archipelago the ARC fleet are permitted to anchor off. But now, as the islands fade into the distance, we turn our attention to the 3,000 miles that lie ahead.
The forecast isn’t great for the first few days, with the ITCZ (doldrums) lying to the south of the islands and we have to punch through this band before we can pick up the south easterly trade winds that will take us west to the Marquesas Islands, probably around a latitude of 6 or 7 degrees South. We’re currently having to motor, as the winds are very light, but of course we have to be careful regarding fuel use for both the engine and the generator. We’ve probably got fuel to last about 6 or 7 solid days of engine use, so hopefully 3 days up front of motoring will get us through the ITCZ band when we can turn off the engine and sail! That’s our plan anyway😁. Heading south west may add another 150 nm (about a day) to our route, but hopefully we can make up that time with the more favourable trade winds.
Our last couple of days in Santa Cruz was spent provisioning the boat. Initially plenty of tinned and dried foods that we can eat in the later part of the passage, but then all the fresh meat, veggies and fruit. That is where the green aspect of this blog title comes in! At home, you normally try to buy ripe fruit and veg, but not too ripe - here you want unripe produce that will slowly ripen as we travel these next few weeks. Green tomatoes and bananas are difficult to find, however the oranges out here are actually green when ripe - why were they called oranges then and not greens?? My time on Tuesday was spent trawling through the local market, trying to find the greenest of veggies and fruit - sadly quite hard to get! Anyway, our larder is well stocked, with Val trying to find out the best ways and all the nooks and crannies where to store everything flooding onto the boat from the boys shopping sprees! Now got to remember where it all went, otherwise a smelly rotten onion might be found lurking in the bilges in a few weeks!
It was sad to say bye to Paula last Sunday after she joined PB’s crew in Panama City. She had a fab time on board, even though her passage from Panama to Galapagos was a pretty unpleasant experience. However she is officially a Shellback - as are we all, having crossed the Equator by sea. We took off to a rustic cabin up in the highlands for our last couple of nights on the island, which was fabulous - just walking amongst the wild tortoises roaming the fields with cattle in. I had hoped to get in another dive, but time just ran out, and I guess it would be hard to better the previous dive I did at Kicker Rock, so I’ll have to wait until French Polynesia, which is meant to be amazing too.
The islands of Isabela and Santa Cruz are complete opposites. Isabela, the largest in the archipelago, being sparsely populated, with one small town only and the rest of the island left to nature and Santa Cruz clearly the developed human island, with Puerto Ayora a large bustling town, several villages and plenty of agricultural land to provide food for the population. Both were great places to visit and we did a great tour on Isabela to the Los Tuneles, which is a lava landscape filled with sea water channels and arches. Paula, Nathan and I also went on a fab bike ride to see the Wall of Tears, where prisoners from the mainland were held and told to build a completely pointless wall, where many died. Iguanas, sea lions boobies, frigate birds and giant tortoises everywhere.
We’re now a day into our passage to the Marquesas, with about 170nm travelled so far. Last night we had heavy rain, thunder and lightening for most of the evening and early part of the night - and no wind of course! We also found a nasty crack in the vang bracket holding it to the mast, which was a bit worrying. However Peter and I have rigged up a good solution, following some advice from an engineer in Palma, so hopefully all will work fine once we get the mainsail up and start sailing. Hopefully we can get the bracket welded or we can get a replacement part sent to the Marquesas.
A quick shout-out as it’s Peter’s birthday today - we’re not allowed to give him the bumps though - skipper wouldn’t appreciate that😂. A pod of Sperm Whales came by to wish him ‘many happy returns”, along with an amazing sunset.
So the good ship Pat Bon sails onwards, hoping for the winds to drive us onwards, but to also keep us just a tad cooler!
Ta ta for now
An amazing sunset
A Sperm whale spouts alongside PB
Enjoying sundowners on Peter’s birthday. Poor Nathan had just come on deck from the galley, where he had been cooking!