FW: 00:44.9125S 090:18.454W

We made it!  1035 nautical miles from our start point on the Panama Canal and 950 NM for our last leg from the Las Perlas Islands.

We arrived on Galapagos yesterday (Sunday) at 1030, Mike having sighted land while on watch around 7am.  But before Galapagos there is much to be said about Saturday which after a couple of very quiet days was exciting from start to finish. 

We woke to a familiar smell I could not place and then realised it was Ria baking bread.  Rather surreal in the middle of the Pacific but it was fabulous. One of the two loaves was eaten by tea time. 

And with loaves you need fishes so......

..... while the bread was still in the oven one of the fishing lines pinged and all swung into action to land a Mahi Mahi (aka Dorado).  Stunning looking fish, very bright yellow, silver and blue in the water although it quickly fades to mainly silver once it is landed.  We guessed it weighed about 15lbs.  Once landed we needed our breakfast and the fish had to go somewhere; so head down in the kitchen sink it was.

Shortly after, as we were getting ready to cross the line we spotted dolphins and then whales!  What a sight, quite a few of them.  They were Pilot Whales (according to the whales and dolphin recognition handbook that we have on board.) They were a couple of hundred yards away but we still had a really good view. 

While recovering from the excitement we approached the equator so, Mike donned homemade crown (cereal box), gown ( a throw from the sofa) and trident (wooden fork with three prongs) and as the only Shellback (person who has crossed the line by sea before) he lead the ceremony for the three of us Pollywogs (person who has not crossed the line).  This involved drinking a tot of rum in one go and pouring one into the sea for Neptune.  Then a shave; or at least a smothering in shaving foam, and a dunking; or at least a mug of seawater over your head.  Then the three of us are allowed to get our own back so Mike ended up with a bucket over him.  Grateful thanks to our friend Tom Sunter for his expertise via e-mail that ensured Mike followed Royal Navy tradition.

A quick shower on deck to rinse of the seawater was followed by a champagne lunch.  All very civilised and very much helped by the complete lack of wind and very calm sea.  It would have been rather more difficult if we were rolling or bouncing around.

Then a turtle swam past.  We turned the boat round to try and get a better look but it wasn’t up for being looked at and went underwater.

At the end of a relatively quiet afternoon the second fishing line ran out and I saw something very large leap out of the water.  Again, much activity; Mike taking in the second rod that was now tangled with the first; Duncan working hard to bring the fish in while Ria got him into a harness and clipped on to the boat.  This one was even bigger and weighed in at 30lbs. 

Quite a joint effort to get that one on board. 

So now we have a great deal of fish and it was time to deploy the ‘Sushi Made Easy’ recipe book that Ria had been given for just such an occasion.  Impressively she had the sushi rice,  seaweed wrap, rice vinegar, pickled ginger and wasabi paste to hand as well.

Supper was Cerviche (thinly sliced raw fish marinated in lemon juice so that the acidity ‘cooks’ the flesh, served with raw onion and olive oil  - very yummy) to start with followed by sushi. Delicious.  Fortunately there is a freezer on board although we will be enjoying the fish in a number of different recipes over the next few days without doubt.

The night was incredibly still and calm with the sea so flat that you could see the stars reflected in it.  Because the moon is smaller and rose later it was much darker than it had been so the stars showed very clearly; especially the Milky Way.  When Mike and I did our watches in the early hours there was quite a haze and all the colours of the rainbow in rings around the moon.  Finally a frigate bird circled the boat and kept me entertained with her attempts to land on the mast which she eventually did; put her head under her wing and went to sleep.  As it came light Mike watched her sit up, stretch and then fly off.

We anchored in Academia Bay on the island of Santa Cruz and the wind got up just as we were coming in.  Typical after three days of motoring rather than sailing. We saw turtles as we motored past the island and many more birds of course.  We went ashore to get our bearings and it is a nice little town with cafe’s and souvenir shops as you would expect but most striking (after a week at sea) are the vibrant colours of the flowers and trees.  We have found a laundry (hooray!), a bakery (hooray!) and several promising restaurants.  We are now deciding which tours we would like to take and are rather spoilt for choice.

In the water taxi on the way back out to the boat we watched a sea lion waddle round the deck of a large motorboat, climb up onto the window and go to sleep in the most comfortable spot resting his head on a strut.  He had certainly done that before.

The fish had to go somewhere while we had breakfast.                             King Neptune and Pollywog                                                                                 The Shellbacks revenge

The appropriate technique when the fish fights back.                                Another perfect Pacific sunset.