Freebird ~ Day 7/8 Panama - Galapagos
Balvenie
Mark Farrell & Amanda Church
Tue 23 Jun 2015 22:17
|
Position at 2330 local YESTERDY 22 June
was 00 05.77S 088 24W
COG 245degrees SOG 8knots Double Reefed
Main, Reefed Gib, True Wind 14 knots still just in front of the beam, 2 metre
swell
Another Cloudy Day but no squalls since
morning, still 4 booby birds on the bow,
A decent days sailing on a close reach, keeping
things as comfortable as they can be for a windward trip. The wildlife is
increasing, 3 black tip sharks have swum by, 2 big turtles - one of which was
face to face with a small crab, looked like they were having a standoff, well
the crab wasn't going to eat the turtle, and I thought turtles were vegeterians
so who knows what that was all about.
The booby birds have been making an invasion, they
seem to think we are a small island and have all moved in, sitting (or should
that be s*itting) on the pulpit, hanging on for dear life. Think we peaked
out with 12 of them up there and two on the dinghy davits at sunset. They
are great company and have been keeping us amused, spirits onboard are rising at
last.
We gave King Neptune a Mt Gay Rum on the equator
and so far the South Pacific is being kinder to us than the North Pacific
was. The wind has backed some and finally is just in front of the beam and
we are romping along doing 8 knots with everything still reefed (cant unreef the
gib cos it will make the birds fall off!!!)
23 June
Heavy cloud cover again overnight but there was a
spell of about 2 hours when it clearted and the stars came out at last, what a
treat.
Land ahoy at 6.30am, just after dawn, reached the
northeast tip at 8.30am then had one of the best sails ever down the lee of the
island in flat water, about 15 on the beam, fabulous. Amazing scenery, a
few tour boats around, crystal clear water. Lost count of the amount of
giant turtles we saw, the clouds cleared and a brilliant blue sky has stayed
with us now all day, it is stunning here.
Anchor down in Wreck Bay, San Cristobal,
Galapagos at 1430 local (actually 1330
local, need to change our clocks another hour), a Danish boat we met in Panama
here and an American one a day or so behind us so will have some
company.
Our Agent has been and rid us of $1345 USD, the
fees for our 3 month permit here and we gave (sold) him his 6 bottles of Johnnie
Walker Black Label he asked us to bring. He will be back in the morning
with all the officals - meanwhile skipper has jumped overboard with the sealions
to make sure our bottom is still nice and clean, then we will have a very early
dinner and and VERY long sleep.
WE ARE IN THE
GALAPAGOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
|