How we got here and the plans
Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Thu 2 May 2013 15:56
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Right now we are in a small town called Villamil on
Isla Isabela, the largest island in the Galapagos.
We are still not allowed to leave the boat, there
will be an inspection, about 4-5 people from different authoraties will
come aboard and check everything from our trash to the black water tanks.
There will probably be some kind of fumigation as well. Then I will be allowed
to go ashore and see the port captain to pay our dues. It is very expensive to
come to this place, well not compared to going here with a flight from home, but
from a sailors perspective.We have to pay park fees, 100 USD per person, 150USD
for and agent that is required, different tonnage fees (for instance lighthouse
and buoys) 200 USD, disposal of garbage fee 50USD and so on.
But what we heard from the other boats that
are around it is worth being here.
So when it is all done we plan on having some
"expeditions" ashore
Well being under house arrest is not as bad as it
sounds, we can swim in the water around the boat, the water is cold!!
About 21 degrees C! We can watch a marine life from the first row. Yesterday we
had two pinguins (yes there is a Galapagos pinguin) swimming under the boat. The
sea lions are already a commodity. Actually boats with the new design with a
sloping aft, like steps so you can nicely walk down to the water? Well they are
made for sea lions so they can climb up! Chilly Cat actually had sea lions in
the cockpit! You may think is is a big thing for a sea lion to get up on a boat?
Well we saw yesterday a sealion that looked up to an empty boat, then it decided
this is the place I wanna be. It dived, took speed and formely jumped on the
boat in the air! All new boats with sloping afts have built fences with fenders,
oars and you name it to stop sealions from coming in. If you leave your dinghy
in the water, well you can imagine the rest...The sloping aft on boats is now
kalled the "sealion design" on Salsa (no we have the old fashion step
aft).
Above us we have beautyful fregatt birds circling
the sky watching for food. And then there is the blue footet boobie that flies
around and when it decides to go for a fish, it dives from 100 meter or so, like
a rocket, full speed into the water, no wings out, just a rocket and it sounds
like a small bomb!
Last blog was more about crossing the equator. The
day after we still had very smooth sailing and soon enought the wind died as we
approached San Christobal the eastermost island. There was a lot of current
coming up to the surface, this creates a foggy situation since the cold water is
forced up from the bottom (due to the islands in the way), in the sky we have
what some metereologists call mechanical rise of the air, the high mountains on
the islands force the air to rise and creates a lot of clouds and rain on the
south side.
We where greeted as we came in to this waters, by
sealions coming in a big group, making tricks just like dolphins.
Then the most peculiar thing happened, Manta rays
(Djävuls rockor), came up through the surface, high, about 2 meters or so, made
backflips and bounced back in the water again!!! We asked ourselves, why do they
do that? (A´fter "reading" Madonna I think I know)
As we headed for Isabela, the island with the
smallest settlement and to be known to be the best for boats that are only
allowed to anchor in one place (comment on thet in the end), we had another 70
nM to go, problem being that we did not want to enter in the dark, so we had to
slow down the boat, that was no problem, because the only thing moving was the
current. So at night we started the engine and went just as fast as we needed to
get an approach in the morning light.
It was a long night, because we went slow and we
did not dare to sleep. Boats have had problems here with currents dragging them
aground.
When the first light came in the morning we
approached Isabela and we can only say, thank god we did not try this at
night.
Dangerous reefs all the way in and the few buoys
(those that we pay for) where in the wrong place.
The maps in the plotter are really not very good in
this part of the world.
It is really important to make progress and keep an
outlook when approaching a place like this, because the reefs are dangerous in a
way, but worse are the breaking waves and they can rise even when there is 2-3
meters of depth. Before you are in the protected waters there is nothing from
Antarctica to the Galapagos, so it easy to imagine what kind of swell there is
to crash against the bottom.
And funny enought, when we where at 2-4000 meters
of depth we could not sense any seas but when we got to shallower water it
became uncomfortable again.
Well I tried to speak to the port captain on the
VHF because the buoys did not make sense and to make things worse, the rule we
are used with in Europe, green buoy on starboard when entering is not the same
in Americas, they have the rule: Red Right Returning.
So I asked the Port Captain in my
spanishitalianenglish: Buenos Dias Capitan del Puerto Villamil! Barco di Vela
Salsa arriba a Villamil, comos del boyo, Verde a Porto? The capten
answered : Positivo Salsa, benvenudi a Villamil!
I looked at the buoys and wandered why I had to do
a slalom trick in braking waters, what could it be that was so good about going
like that? So I called again: Confirmando Capitano, Verde al Porto.
He answered: Si Si!
So I started a this strange approach and another
spanish voice got in: -No No! Non e, Verde a starbordo!
Wow this was getting confusing! I was slowing down,
Ellinor went to the bow, at least some eyes can warn before we hit lavarock
(ouch!).
Then an english speaking guy in a yacht in the
anchorage had their radio on (thank god) and got in and told us one of the bouys
is in the wrong position. Well one buoy is more than enought to create
confusion...
Once inside we where greeted by Per on the
Norwegian SY Oda, he came over with fresh bananas and sat in the cockpit and
informed us on what was going to happen. Soon Miss My came up on deck (we did
not know we where one hour earlier, since we should have moved the watches
backwards on this trip) and greeted us. Charles and his son Luca from
Chilly Cat came also on board and greeted us before they took off. Their journey
has been a real challenge! Their main sail tored apart on the way here, in a low
wind!
They have had a real hard time to find someone to
help them, and they found out that their Italian sailmaker has not used UV
resistant thread in the sail. So now they wonder how it will go on the Pacific.
We are all now beyond help from professionals and spare parts, other than what
we can help each other. And to remake a sail is beyond anybodies ability.
Comment on rules in the Galapagos.
Galapagos belongs to Equador and they take their
role as protector of the islands very seriously.
This means that all turism is extremely regulated.
All excursion have to be lead by a professional naturalist and they have put a
limit on how many people that can visit the islands, making it all very
exclusive in a way.
The 200 yachts that come to the islands every year
are enforced rules as well, but they change frequently and if there is any
rumour that is going on among yachtees in this area, it is what to use to get in
here.
You can always use the international paragraph
saying that you are sick or in need for repairs. That will give you some time
here.
But officials have learned the game and will visit
the sick or see the damage.
Then there is the rule that we go for, you can get
a 20 day visa with an agent that will allow you to stay in one anchorage. But we
are free to take excursions with other boats etc. This is something we prefer,
then we can relax and enjoy the knowledge from the biologists that go with these
trips. Going to Isabela does the trick because they are not really a port of
entry, but they have come around it without imigration. Then we are in one of
those islands that everybody wants to go to. If we would go to St Cruix or
Cristobal, wich are the official ports of entry we would be stuck with the crowd
and would not be allowed to go here.
Then there is the most complicated visa, called
Autographo, that you have to apply from ashore, in Equador, that will grant you
the freedom to sail around to 7 something islands (there are 30ish), but with a
naturalist on board (200USD per day), and a lot of costs to get the visa.
Actually thats what we did when I was here shooting a film. But even with an
autographo you can run into problems, because the local authority can come up
with their own rules....
From next year it is going to be even worse,
then no yachts will be allowed here other than with
autographo!
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