Day 1 - Longest Sailing Leg on Earth
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Mon 10 Mar 2008 19:35
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01:42.789S 92:01.601W
We are off to a good start. The weather
forecast had indicated no wind, but instead we are enjoying plenty of wind, and
from a very proper direction. Initially we had to zig-zag our way through
the rest of the Galapagos Islands, but once we cleared all the land obstacles,
we picked up speed and are now on a nice southwest heading going at 7-8
knots. If only this would last.... The forecast calls for decreasing winds
and increasing rain squalls over the next three or four days. We'll
see.
Our exit from Academy Bay was not all that
pretty. Because of the ocean swell there, we had both a bow and a stern
anchor out (two anchors set in this way keeps the boat oriented such that
the bow is pointed into the swell, thus reducing side-to-side roll), and when we
(Don) went to pull up the stern anchor, it just didn't want to come. Don
pulled and we ran the engine in reverse to try to dislodge the
anchor. Then Don pulled some more and we continued to run the engine
in reverse, and Don pulled some more. Nothing. Well, not quite
nothing, we were generally making a spectacle of ourselves while providing a
good 45 minutes worth of entertainment for everyone. The noon start
time was looming and we were still messing with the stern anchor, having no
luck. Finally, the boat was positioned directly over where the stern
anchor was lodged in the ground. At that point, the water was clear enough
for us to see that our anchor was tangled up with a very big-ass bow anchor
belonging to a very big-ass fishing boat floating nearby. Aha!
We now understood the problem. Super Don donned his snorkeling gear as
fast as possible and dove down to disentangle our anchor. A mere thirty
seconds later we were free. The noon start time was almost upon us and all
of the other rally boats were successfully pulling up their anchors and moving
toward the start line. Super Don then whipped the stern anchor out of the
water, twirled it and the 20 feet of chain attached to it up in
the air and around his head a couple of times and then caught the anchor and
chain in mid-air and stowed it all neatly in the back locker - all in
the space of 45 seconds. Wow. Ok, not really. But Don did get
the anchor and chain up out of the water in record time and settled on the back
deck before moving fast up to the bow anchor and getting it out of the water and
back on board as well. We crossed the start line ten minutes late looking
pretty with our head and main sails out. We figure we'll be able to make
up for the 10 minutes lost over the course of the 21 days we estimate it will
take us to get to the Marquesas. If not, then we will really be
embarrassed.
Cheers from the South Pacific -
Anne
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