Galapagos to Marquesas

Wandering Dream
Steve Litson
Mon 20 Apr 2015 20:12
03:12:4S 101:31:6W
 
Cake
We had a “black cake,” at least that’s what Marisa and Robert call it (fruit cake to me), delivered in The Galapagos. The fruit had been soaking in alcohol for over a year. It was delicious and has sustained us thus far. Sadly this very special food has come to an end and it is back to hard tack for the rest of the passage. A great big thank you to Marisa and daughters for going to all that trouble, especially when she was in desperate search for a new passport.
 
Patacone
Our plantain has ripened really well. Following Bruce’s instructions, we left them until the were black and soft. They are exceptionally sweet, so when crushed and fried we drizzled them with Nutmeg Syrup made from the soft nutmeg shell and bought whilst on tour in the Caribbean. Breakfast was soooo tasty this morning!
 
Whales
We were visited by a pod of what we think were fin whales yesterday. There were about six of them all travelling east to our west. They were black about 10 metres long and had pronounced blowholes, from which they regularly blew. None of us are experts on whales, so if anyone knows a website to look at, it would help with our identification.  Please post to the WD Group Fb site. It is so exciting to be near these huge mammals, all the books tell you to steer well clear s they can be aggressive. We were no nearer than 100 metres, but the binoculars gave us a stunning view.
 
Weather
Last night the wind stopped, changed direction through 180 degrees, rained heavily for one and a half hours, soaking me to the skin. Whilst also drenching David and Ken, unfortunately one of the consequences of the autopilot breaking is that someone has to remain at the wheel when there is little wind, while the preventer is switched to the other side. The preventer stops the boom swinging across dangerously in a gybe. Both David and Ken were very keen to hurry back below to their bunks a soon as that manoeuvre was completed. Today the current has switched sides at least five times during the morning. We are in the area where two main ocean currents meet and we assume these current changes to be huge eddies. You can see them approaching in the distance when there is wind against current, the sea gets very lumpy at such times!
 
Miles covered in the last 24hrs: 135 miles
Our daily average is slowly creeping up passed the 120miles/day planned average.