Lat: 00:53.7 S: Long: 89:36.7 W – Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristobal, Galapagos

28^th February 2013 Leaving Las Perlas Islands, Panama to Galapagos

Our journey from Las Perlas Islands, Panama, to the Galapagos Islands was quite uneventful.  We were at sea nearly six days, motor-sailing for about 90 hours and only caught a glimpse of a few dolphins in the distance, but no whales and certainly no tuna, mahi-mahi or marlin wishing to commit suicide on our fishing line.

The high spot was on March 2, not because it was my birthday, but because it was a 25-hour day (due to putting our clocks back in line with the Galapagos) AND because we crossed the equator. Tradition has it that the person on board who has already made the crossing should take on the role of Neptune and do all sorts of horrendous things to his crew. None of us qualified so Alan donned the crown, the fishing-net cape and a rather fetching gold lurex mini-skirt festooned with shells (don’t ask).

We gathered on the aft deck at sunset as King Neptune paid homage to Poseidon by tossing a measure of rum overboard and then produced a bottle of innocuous-looking liquid which he poured over the unsuspecting Will and Jack. It only took them a millisecond to work out what the bottle contained – the foul-smelling contents from the fridge drainage system (a not-so-subtle blend of milk, cheese, rotting fruit and veg, etc).

They both took it in great fun but I’m sure that smell will stay with them forever; and they did apparently get off quite lightly. Another Oyster-owner friend of ours, who crossed the equator with his skipper, who qualified for the role of Neptune, was “invited” to drink a vile concoction of fish heads……… The owner gamely obliged but was immediately violently sick.

Fortunately he had a sense of humour and the skipper didn’t lose his job!