Our berth in Papeete (capital of Tahiti and all French Polynesia) was right alongside the town - in the harbour. This most convenient berth was, nonetheless, quiet with few other yachts. There are three jetty pontoons that go into the harbour at right angles to the main road running alongsid the harbour. I later found out that most yachts go to the marina up by the airport - far away from the town centre. We were in a good place.
Mid morning on the Sunday we were joined by Lesley (Captain's wife) and Jane (sarah's sister next down - Laura, the third daughter, had stayed in Sydney). After greetings and welcome drinks we went off for lunch together in a nearby fast-food place - the nearest restaurant was only serving drinks. So our first Tahitian meal was hamburgers and chips (pommes frites, it being French Polynesia) David and family then left to find a hotel for the night. Dennis and I mooched around and went for a long walk. We returned to the yacht for a quiet night in. Papeete seemed to sleep on Sunday.
Pictures here
Monday morning took me off to a travel agent and a flight booking for Thursday - perfect : I had hoped to spend two days to see the islands of Tahiti and neighbouring Moorea. On returning to the yacht I found that the Hetheringtons had not fared so well in the hotel which proved expensive and not very comfortable. So they had moved onboard. Dennis and I opted to go to a hotel ourselves and, having found a nice one in our walk yesterday, we moved out to the Tahiti Nui Hotel. So new is this hotel that it is not completed, but very smart it is and we took an apartment for two nights - see the photos ! Such luxury after 3 months on a yacht ......
Tuesday morning Dennis and I caught the 9.15 ferry over to Moorea. A very fast, large catamaran ferry took us across the channel in 50 minutes. We had wonderful views of Tahiti receeding behind us and Moorea coming up - through a rainstorm at one point. At the ferry point on Moorea was a bike and buggy hire place. We were not allowed to hire mopeds - apparently the local police had tightened their policy and unless you could prove you rode mopeds regularly you ahd to take a buggy. Actually it proved the cheaper option and was huge fun. The buggy (as you can see) is a frame with two seats and an engine in the rear. So we spent a very happy 4 hours buggying around the island of Moorea. Wonderful views from a place called Belvedere; glorious bays; those amazing hotels with rooms out on stilts on the water (we got chase out from one of those resorts - very salubrious and exclusive are they); steep hill sides and deep valleys; and the wind in our faces ..... Four hours was actually enough to get around and we sat eating lunch - just finished when I realised that the 3.00 ferry was about to leave. So we raced for a ticket and the kind ferry man waited those few minutes to let us onboard.
The photos are a photo-essay and don't really need explanation - enjoy the tour.
That evening we had dinner with the Hetheringtons in the open air food market. This is a remarkable space right by the harbour - an open piazza that during the day is a paved park and in the evening comes alive with vans that provide food. Each one also sets out a dining area with tables and stools. The food is fairly eclectic - ranging from pizza and hamburgers to fish dinners. The space is right next to the cruise ship jetty and did well when the Dawn Princess was in - but even this night when the Princess had gone was busy enough. Very pleasent to sit out in the open to eat dinner.
And so having finished Dennis and I said our farewells to David & Sarah (as crew) and Lesley and Jane - they were all going off cruising the Society Islands (Tahiti being the capital) and making their way up to Bora Bora from which Lesley and Jane would fly back to Tahiti and then to Australia. Scotty should be with them too.
Wednesday morning Dennis and I were up to collect a hire car, then finish packing and off for a day's drive around the island. We stopped first at the Tahiti Airport Motel to dump our bags and then off on a tour. The island is just over 100kms around and we took about 6 hours to do it.
The island consists of two roughly round portions centered on volcanic mountains, connected by a short isthmus named after the small town of Taravao, which sits there. The northwestern part is Tahiti Nui ("big Tahiti"), and the southeastern part, much smaller, Tahiti Iti ("small Tahiti") or Taiarapu. The island is similar to Moorea both being volcanic in origin. The peaks are sharp and the valleys deep, steep sided and very green. The terrain is only inhabitable either in the valley floors or on the coastal strip, although the less steep slopes behind the town of Papeete have houses on the slopes. The road around the island hugs the coast mostly. There are a few roads branching off into valleys and up a few slopes but only explored one of these.
We visited a museum of the island and Tahitian culture which was most interesting. The exhibits themselves are a bit tired and it was not easy to find what ought to be a central feature of any tour of the Island. The Plynesian culture was highly sophisticated and wonderfully artistic. Photography was not allowed in the museum but I am sure you could find good websites demonstrating the Polynesian culture.
Further along the road were a collection of tunnels which were clearly volcanic lava tunnels like we had seen in the Galapagos Islands. Water flowed over and through them and beautiful gardens have been created by them with lush grass and wonderful tropical flowers.
Communities are dotted around the island like pearls on a necklace. There does not appear to be a local architecture - it is all very similar to anywhere else in the tropical world - mostly single storey houses. No high-rise around the the island, just in Papeete. The churches were interesting, many of them having a balcony half way up their tower. And in almost every settlement of any size was a temple of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints (Mormon). That evening we met some Mormons briefly in Papeete who confirmed that there were about 14 temples on the island.
Again the photos, like those for Moorea, are your tour through my eyes ....
After dinner in the open air market again, Dennis and I set off to the airport, dropped of the car and went for a short night in the hotel.
Rising at 4.00 we made our bleary way down to the airport - the walk is short from the Motel - and checked in by 5.00 for our 7.00am flight out to Sydney via Auckland. We were on the same plane to Auckland. I went Air New Zealand and he by Qantas to Sydney. I flew out of Tahiti at 7.00 in the morning and landed in Sydney at 2.30 in the afternoon. However as we crossed the International Date Line I actually left Tahiti on Thursday and arrived in Sydney on Friday..... I still cannot quite get used to this quirk of Longitude.
So suddenly the adventure was over. I left Sydney on 2 January and returned on 1 May, exactly 4 months. I have seen amazing things and been to places I have wanted to visit - especially Macchu Pichu, the Panama Canal and the Galapagos Islands and I have sailed half-way across the world's largest ocean. I hope you have enjoyed following my travels - Farewell for now.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
PASSAGE MARQUISES TO TAHITI via the TUAMOTU ATOLLS- Saturday 18 to Saturday 25 April 2009
We left Hiva Oa under rain clouds and a good stiff breeze which died after and hour of sailing. The clouds cleared away as we left the vicinty of the island and then we settled for a week of much light wind and calm seas. Very nice if you are in no hurry but we had to push on. So there was more motoring now, when there was no wind.
We also had the main sail fall down twice. The first time the main halyard had frayed and ripped near the top of the mast. As this rope runs inside the hollow aluminium mast it was not possible to retreive it and run it up again. However the boom is supported by the Topping Lift - this rope runs up inside the mast and down to the outer end of the boom - it holds the boom up when the main sail is down. We tied this to the top of the main sail and hauled the sail up again. All was well for a 24 hours (literally) then this rope also failed. Fortunately the head sail has two halyards rigged (the working one and a spare) so we were able to use this to haul up the sail again. David went up the mast in the bosun's chair to inspect the damage and found that both main halyard and topping lift blocks at the top of the mast had worn away and jammed which had caused both ropes to fray against the sharp edge where they emerged from inside the mast.
On top of this the engined stopped working for a while but this too was solved being blocked filters and something else blocked (which, being of limited capability with all things engineering, I cannot describe). Once cleaned and unblocked we motored on to the Atolls of the Tuamotu.
Here are some Life at Sea pictures
The Tuamotu Atolls ...... We stopped for a day and night at Takaroa. Everything you have ever seen about remote Pacific coral islands is true ! White white coral sand, clearest water that is dark blue in the ocean and suddenly pale blue and then turquiose in the shallows and white over sand. You can see way down and watch brightly coloured fish swimming about in the shallows. Snorkelling is a dream and so many colours, shapes and sizes. It is a visual smorgasbord and after a while somewhat overwhelming ..... Sea slugs litter the sea floor in the shallows - some covered in sand and others gleaming black.
On the shore coconut palms lean into the wind and over the lapping sea. Large land crabs come out in the evening, warily from their large rat holes, and scuttle back in fright - they have good vision.
Black pearls are found here in abundance and many of the islanders engage in pearl fishing - I found a heap of oyster shells. These are black on the outside and gleaming, rainbow mother of pearl on the inside.
The shore is coral sand with bits of broken coral everywhere. These islands sit no more than a couple of metres above sea level - very vulnerable to the future. There must also have been times in the past when these did not exist as islands for they are formed on the rim of extinct volcanos, and were once islands and will be submerged again one day in the unending dance of time.
David had intended to anchor inside the atoll but the tide was streaming out through the narrow entrance so we came longside the cargo jetty to wait. The locals told us that the ship would not be in for a few days so we took advantage and spent the rest of our stay alongside a beautiful and very comfortable berth.
I spent the day wandering around the small town and out into the country (not much of it - the land part is no more than maybe 500 metres across) and onto the beach watching hermite crbs in the late afternoon sun. The evening stars here were bright spots in a velvet sky. No moon.
The Takaroa photos are here
We left at 0730 the next day, Tuesday, with a fine breeze which lasted most of the morning and then died away - back into our pattern of light, doldric winds..... The next 3 days passed with little incident - a lot of motoring - very poor wind, in fact the last 18 hours was all motoring (175 miles of it) with a short spell of sailing as we crept along the north coast of Tahiti. Tahiti appeared as a faint angle of light blue under a distant pale cloud - about 1000 on the morning of Saturday 25 April and gradually came closer and closer. Anticipation rose alongside increasing frustration at the lack of wind. Tempting gusts brought us flashing out the headsail and brief moments of joy as we raced along at 6.5 knots only to be crushed as the wind died and so on again with the motor.
We came into Papeete (the main town of Tahiti and capital of French Polynesia) at 2000 and found our way to the town yacht berth - actually very convenient, sheltered and comfortable. We had arrived. Time to relax, the end of a long voyage, and home now within reach. I return to Sydney on Friday 1 May.
We also had the main sail fall down twice. The first time the main halyard had frayed and ripped near the top of the mast. As this rope runs inside the hollow aluminium mast it was not possible to retreive it and run it up again. However the boom is supported by the Topping Lift - this rope runs up inside the mast and down to the outer end of the boom - it holds the boom up when the main sail is down. We tied this to the top of the main sail and hauled the sail up again. All was well for a 24 hours (literally) then this rope also failed. Fortunately the head sail has two halyards rigged (the working one and a spare) so we were able to use this to haul up the sail again. David went up the mast in the bosun's chair to inspect the damage and found that both main halyard and topping lift blocks at the top of the mast had worn away and jammed which had caused both ropes to fray against the sharp edge where they emerged from inside the mast.
On top of this the engined stopped working for a while but this too was solved being blocked filters and something else blocked (which, being of limited capability with all things engineering, I cannot describe). Once cleaned and unblocked we motored on to the Atolls of the Tuamotu.
Here are some Life at Sea pictures
The Tuamotu Atolls ...... We stopped for a day and night at Takaroa. Everything you have ever seen about remote Pacific coral islands is true ! White white coral sand, clearest water that is dark blue in the ocean and suddenly pale blue and then turquiose in the shallows and white over sand. You can see way down and watch brightly coloured fish swimming about in the shallows. Snorkelling is a dream and so many colours, shapes and sizes. It is a visual smorgasbord and after a while somewhat overwhelming ..... Sea slugs litter the sea floor in the shallows - some covered in sand and others gleaming black.
On the shore coconut palms lean into the wind and over the lapping sea. Large land crabs come out in the evening, warily from their large rat holes, and scuttle back in fright - they have good vision.
Black pearls are found here in abundance and many of the islanders engage in pearl fishing - I found a heap of oyster shells. These are black on the outside and gleaming, rainbow mother of pearl on the inside.
The shore is coral sand with bits of broken coral everywhere. These islands sit no more than a couple of metres above sea level - very vulnerable to the future. There must also have been times in the past when these did not exist as islands for they are formed on the rim of extinct volcanos, and were once islands and will be submerged again one day in the unending dance of time.
David had intended to anchor inside the atoll but the tide was streaming out through the narrow entrance so we came longside the cargo jetty to wait. The locals told us that the ship would not be in for a few days so we took advantage and spent the rest of our stay alongside a beautiful and very comfortable berth.
I spent the day wandering around the small town and out into the country (not much of it - the land part is no more than maybe 500 metres across) and onto the beach watching hermite crbs in the late afternoon sun. The evening stars here were bright spots in a velvet sky. No moon.
The Takaroa photos are here
We left at 0730 the next day, Tuesday, with a fine breeze which lasted most of the morning and then died away - back into our pattern of light, doldric winds..... The next 3 days passed with little incident - a lot of motoring - very poor wind, in fact the last 18 hours was all motoring (175 miles of it) with a short spell of sailing as we crept along the north coast of Tahiti. Tahiti appeared as a faint angle of light blue under a distant pale cloud - about 1000 on the morning of Saturday 25 April and gradually came closer and closer. Anticipation rose alongside increasing frustration at the lack of wind. Tempting gusts brought us flashing out the headsail and brief moments of joy as we raced along at 6.5 knots only to be crushed as the wind died and so on again with the motor.
We came into Papeete (the main town of Tahiti and capital of French Polynesia) at 2000 and found our way to the town yacht berth - actually very convenient, sheltered and comfortable. We had arrived. Time to relax, the end of a long voyage, and home now within reach. I return to Sydney on Friday 1 May.
IN THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS - Thursday 16 April to Saturday 18 April
The Marquesas Islands (French: Îles Marquises or Archipel des Marquises or Marquises; Marquesan: Te Henua (K)enana (North Marquesan) and Te Fenua `Enata (South Marquesan), both meaning "The Land of Men")
We left the Galapagos Islands at 1730 on Monday 23 March and arrived at Hiva Oa in Les Îles Marquises at 0145 in the morning of Thursday 16 April - a voyage of 23 days and 8 hours - and over 3000 nautical miles (I cannot be accurate about the mileage as the boat's log got fouled with barnacles and seized up - I went under the boat's hull to clear them away on Tuesday 7 April). The voyage was a mixture some fair days sailing and several days of very calm weather in the Doldrums. Very dull and frustrating, but we got through. There are some pictures of this Doldric weather in Life at Sea
We arrived at Hiva Oa at 1.45 in the morning - the moon was out but we came through some squalls on the way by the island. We anchored inside the small harbour of Tahauku just around the corner of the town of Atuona (in these islands all the syllables are pronounced thus : At-u-o-na).
The next morning I woke up to hear banging on the side of the boat - a large cargo ship was waiting to enter the harbour and we were in the way - the Aranui 3 who comes every two weeks with stores for the island. So up with the Captain, up anchor and away we motored to the outside of the harbour. Not so comfortable out there with a swell crossing the bay. The morning was lovely and revealed a stunning view around the bay of high green hills, and the breeze wafting green tropical scents in the air.
We all went ashore that morning; it was so good to walk again on dry land, be surrounded by trees, plants and flowers and greenness after endless blue. The walk to the town of Atuona was around the head of the bay, then the headland, up and down, and took about half an hour. The town of Atuona is small and very tidy. This is French Polynesia and receives large grants from wealthy France - a great contrast to what I have seen in South America. To be fair the Galapagos Islands also were well cared for but no like this. When David, Sarah and I stayed in Golfito in Coast Rica we had been told the the French Polynesians would be unfriendly and not speak much English. Nothing could be further from the truth. I came prepared with my schoolboy french ready to charm our former foes (the Englishman speaking here) and found instant resonses in good English - and such charm and friendliness. It was a surprise and delight.
Hiva Oa is gorgeous - we did not see much - but you'll see from the photos how stunning it was. We spent on two days here, and did not have time to explore the island - lots of time to catch up with the world on the internet and do the e-mails which was nice. We stocked up on some fresh food but not a lot as it is all horrendously expensive - $20 for hamburger ! This is island living and the French government heavily subsidises the population so they can afford to live on stuff that has to come vast distances by sea.
Paul Gauguin lived here for many years - and Atuona has a very fine Paul Gauguin Cultural Centre. We visited - and I did not have my camera on the first visit but was told that of course I could come back tomorrow to take photos - no extra charge ! So we did. A most lovely centre - four halls designed in a local vernacular with modern flair, forming a boundary on the western side of the site, and to the east of it a replica of Gauguin's house. I am not sure how accurate this is. The main room is upstairs - under it are two rooms with an open space between them. The original well is still in the garden. There is also a studio which is used now for classes - this is a culturel centre to promote art - all the paintings in the museum buildings are copies of Gauguin's work done by local artists.
The island was also home to Jacques Brel, a French actor, adventurer, pilot and yachtsman - his restored twin engine Beachcraft plane (JoJo) is in a hangar with boards of information about him. My French was not up to learning much about him !
Hiva Oa is really lovely and certainly worth a longer stay - but we had to press on to Tahiti as we had an appointment with the Captain's wife due there on 23 April.
Whilst I was entranced by the beauty of the island and was so happy to be ashore again, I was suffering from acute depression too and this was being reflected in e-mails home..... life at sea confined in a small boat was affecting me and the crisis was fast approaching ...... more in the next Blog Chapter on this
We left the Galapagos Islands at 1730 on Monday 23 March and arrived at Hiva Oa in Les Îles Marquises at 0145 in the morning of Thursday 16 April - a voyage of 23 days and 8 hours - and over 3000 nautical miles (I cannot be accurate about the mileage as the boat's log got fouled with barnacles and seized up - I went under the boat's hull to clear them away on Tuesday 7 April). The voyage was a mixture some fair days sailing and several days of very calm weather in the Doldrums. Very dull and frustrating, but we got through. There are some pictures of this Doldric weather in Life at Sea
We arrived at Hiva Oa at 1.45 in the morning - the moon was out but we came through some squalls on the way by the island. We anchored inside the small harbour of Tahauku just around the corner of the town of Atuona (in these islands all the syllables are pronounced thus : At-u-o-na).
The next morning I woke up to hear banging on the side of the boat - a large cargo ship was waiting to enter the harbour and we were in the way - the Aranui 3 who comes every two weeks with stores for the island. So up with the Captain, up anchor and away we motored to the outside of the harbour. Not so comfortable out there with a swell crossing the bay. The morning was lovely and revealed a stunning view around the bay of high green hills, and the breeze wafting green tropical scents in the air.
We all went ashore that morning; it was so good to walk again on dry land, be surrounded by trees, plants and flowers and greenness after endless blue. The walk to the town of Atuona was around the head of the bay, then the headland, up and down, and took about half an hour. The town of Atuona is small and very tidy. This is French Polynesia and receives large grants from wealthy France - a great contrast to what I have seen in South America. To be fair the Galapagos Islands also were well cared for but no like this. When David, Sarah and I stayed in Golfito in Coast Rica we had been told the the French Polynesians would be unfriendly and not speak much English. Nothing could be further from the truth. I came prepared with my schoolboy french ready to charm our former foes (the Englishman speaking here) and found instant resonses in good English - and such charm and friendliness. It was a surprise and delight.
Hiva Oa is gorgeous - we did not see much - but you'll see from the photos how stunning it was. We spent on two days here, and did not have time to explore the island - lots of time to catch up with the world on the internet and do the e-mails which was nice. We stocked up on some fresh food but not a lot as it is all horrendously expensive - $20 for hamburger ! This is island living and the French government heavily subsidises the population so they can afford to live on stuff that has to come vast distances by sea.
Paul Gauguin lived here for many years - and Atuona has a very fine Paul Gauguin Cultural Centre. We visited - and I did not have my camera on the first visit but was told that of course I could come back tomorrow to take photos - no extra charge ! So we did. A most lovely centre - four halls designed in a local vernacular with modern flair, forming a boundary on the western side of the site, and to the east of it a replica of Gauguin's house. I am not sure how accurate this is. The main room is upstairs - under it are two rooms with an open space between them. The original well is still in the garden. There is also a studio which is used now for classes - this is a culturel centre to promote art - all the paintings in the museum buildings are copies of Gauguin's work done by local artists.
The island was also home to Jacques Brel, a French actor, adventurer, pilot and yachtsman - his restored twin engine Beachcraft plane (JoJo) is in a hangar with boards of information about him. My French was not up to learning much about him !
Hiva Oa is really lovely and certainly worth a longer stay - but we had to press on to Tahiti as we had an appointment with the Captain's wife due there on 23 April.
Whilst I was entranced by the beauty of the island and was so happy to be ashore again, I was suffering from acute depression too and this was being reflected in e-mails home..... life at sea confined in a small boat was affecting me and the crisis was fast approaching ...... more in the next Blog Chapter on this
Thursday, April 16, 2009
THE LONG VOYAGE - Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas Islands: Monday 23 March to 15 April 2009
Galápagos Islands (Official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos)
The Marquesas Islands (French: Îles Marquises or Archipel des Marquises or Marquises; Marquesan: Te Henua (K)enana (North Marquesan) and Te Fenua `Enata (South Marquesan), both meaning "The Land of Men")
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume and the seagulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry [tale]1 from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
John Masefield
I am reminded again of the vastness of the ocean seascape. It goes on forever, even from a height of just four feet above the water. On clear day the sky goes up and up, forever blue and the sea reflects a darker version. You've all had those day by the sea when the whole world looks blue in different shades. It is the same here in the Pacific, just there seems to be more of it. And day after day....
Actually our first few days out of the Galapagos were marred and marked by the Doldrums. Seriously dull, the breeze may just take the heat off the day, the sails flap listlessly and annoyingly as the yacht lurches slowly from side to side. At first it is enchanting, this newness, this almost stillness. The sea is glassy and shiny, with a long rolling swell which causes the lurch and the flap. Falpping sails are more noisy than you would think. We are trying to conserve fuel and motor only when the battery is getting low on wiggly juice. Sometimes we motor a bit longer to get through this patch of no wind. we need to find some wind.
Wind and Weather
David is receiving text messages on his satellite phone from his wife Leslie in Australia. She reports that wind is to be found at 10 degrees south - these are the fabled Trade Winds which should blow from the south east all the time. We expected them further north at this time of the year. So we creep out way south and find wind. But this is not of the Trades but rather of local storms and squalls Direction is variable and often from the north. Well and good - we tack across this and continue our way south. Another period of doldric weather and then we are through into the Trade Winds which are all we hope for. A steady 15-25 knots of wind from the south west, occasionally veering east-south-east and sometimes affected by more local storms and squalls running through.
Watchkeeping
We keep watches, always two on, across the five of us, with a routine of 4 hours on watch, 6 hours off watch, with a change over every 2 hours. This works well for a small crew of 5 and means we can get 5 hours good sleep often enough. Even so it takes a few days to get used to the routine and to get one's sea legs.
Keeping ship-shape and Repairs
Leaving San Cristobal in the evening, after a long wait to get our passports back, we motored away in the evening sun. First to get the yacht looking shipshape we hoisted the Mainsail and furled away the Lazy Jack bag. For those who are not so nautical this is a large, shaped bag that sits on the top of the boom under the mainsail, with guy ropes on either side attached to the spreaders on the mast, which collects the mainsail as it is lowered onto the boom. Keeps it all tidy, and the cloth is also UV light protective. UV light rots the sail cloth in time. So the Lazy Jack bag serves two purposes. On short running kept it raised - it does not impinge on the sail performance - but for a long run it looks tidier to have it neatly furled away. You can see the crew at this tidy work !
After a few days of sailing we found that the Log (shows boat speed and records distance) was not reading correctly. David took it out of its mounting but count find nothing wrong with it. Removing the Log takes some doing. It is basically a little paddle wheel which sends and electronic signal to the reader. The wheel sits just proud of the bottom of the hull. Being below the waterline means we have to stick a bung into the hole quickly as a fountain of water shoots up when you take the Log up. Lots of fun..... potential for a flood.
Then one day I noticed that we had anenome creatures growing off the back of the stern - Scotty said they were a type of barnacle. It occurred to me that if they were growing off the back of the boat they might be growing under it too. So as we had a very calm spell we stopped the boat and I went for a swim with goggles. And my theory was correct - there was a small forest of them growing around the flange through which the Log protrudes. They were soon scraped off and away we went, the Log merrily spinning and recording our true speed.
On the same day we had to drop the mainsail as holes were appearing where it was rubbing against the spreaders - these are two arms that stick out either side of the mast to hold supporting guy wires. You will understand that a boat takes considerable punishing even in mild weather as it is in operation 24 hours a day. So down came the sail and on went the patches. Not as simple as just hauling it down - it had to be disonnected from the mast and reconnected. The bolts and fittings are tricky things to secure in a moving mast - even in calm weather out here there is always a swell and pitching from side to side hanging onto the mast fiddling with small nuts and bolts is some task. I lost one (only one) off the side !
And then we had to replace the header sail (also called a Genoa or Jib) as it was getting very ragged along the luff (the trailing edge of the sail). The problem is that the leading edge on this new sail does not fit into the groove of the forestay - the sailmakers fault which was only discovered once the sail was onboard in the Carribean (there was no time to fix it before sailing). So the new sail is now fitted to the forestay with string ! But the sytem works for now - they need replacing every now and again for wear and tear.
Food
We stored the boat for six weeks - all my old Naval skills coming back here. Although we have not stuck to the diet I created, it was sufficient enough to provide ample food for our long voyage. Indeed we have eaten very well. Sarah does most of the cooking, I do the occasional thing, and David makes fresh bread most days (he went on a breadmakers course before leaving Australia). The bread has got better and better each day - now that he has got used to the vagaries of the cooker! Fresh bread and soup makes great lunch especially if the sea is a bit rough.
Each day we also put out fishing lines. This has not been as successful as we hoped but Scotty has provided two fish so far - Mahi Mahi - and very good they are too. You can see a picture of one of them and Scotty eating the raw skeleton. Sadly we have only had two - just where the rest are we don't know.
The sky
We have had some wonderful and spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Out here the sky seems so big as it is only bordered by the horizon disc. The weather generally has been wonderful - sunny days and clear nights. For the early part of the voyage the moon was young so the night sky was full of stars. As the moon waxes towards full and shines in the night sky the smaller stars are floodlit out. The moon is now waning away, but still bright. We take the biminiy (the blue cockpit sheleter) back for night viewing. Jupiter is now rising in the morning sky, being chased now by the early morning Venus. Being on a moving platform does not allow for night photography but I am sure you will like the sunrise and sunset views.
Wildlife
There has been suprisingly little really. We did see a school of pilot whales briefly a few days out from the Galapagos, we see the odd bird (petrels and frigate birds) but mostly we see lots of flying fish. Some are quite small and others quite large. They land on the deck very often. See the picture of one of the larger ones. They use their strong tail to flip out of the water and then flick the waves with their tail again to keep the momentum going. They can 'fly' - well it is really gliding - for several tens of meters, an astonishingly long way. We have also occasionally had small squid land on the deck - mostly we find these in the morning. No large whales or sharks.
And the last mammal we saw was our sea-lion visitor - so tame, this one was also tagged. These had been a source of great amusement in the town of San Cristobal. Qutie fearless and very happy to live alongside the human population.
Filling the time
Life in this yacht is not all pulling on halyards, sheets and other ropes, trimming sails all the time, nor even much steering ! The yacht has fine self-steering gear (Otto, the autopilot) which works electronically and keeps us on course. The great advantage of this is that we can fine tune the course to within a degree to get the optimal use of the wind in the sails. So much for my vision of helming all the time. Actually I do enjoy turning Ott off and taking over the helm.... especially if the wind is strong and the waves loom large - this is fun and I think I have the knack of it now - at any rate there have not been too many complaints from the Captain.
Off watch time is spent reading - we have a small libary of books, including all the Harry Potters which I have read again (comfort reading). I am ploughing through the Complete Shakespeare, and trying also to get through the King James Version of the Bible - now this is a challenge. Should have brought a modern translation. Why am I doing this ? Well I guess it is something not many people do. It is quite an eye-opener too! All those sacrifices in Dueteronomy and Leviticus ..... I am told my maternal grandfather once read his way through the Bible too... quite a challenge.
I am also doing some writing - like this blog - and writing e-mails to send when we get to the next port.
And so what with watches, catching up on broken sleep, just sitting and thinking, the hours adn dasy are going by.
However, this slower pace of life, which I thought I would enjoy, is becoming frustrating. After a busy life of constant activity before coming away, I am finding myself restless at this pace of life dependent entirely on the vagaries of the weather. I am certainly a better human doing than a human being ! But when we get to Tahiti the voyage gets more interesting as we will have shorter legs between the islands at which we will stop - more on those as we progress.
I hope you are enjoying my Blog - to all friends and family - I miss you all and think of you often.... I will be home before too long ! Bye for now
Photos for this entry are here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/GalapagosToMarquesasIslands?authkey=Gv1sRgCOahkrng97jRvgE#
The Marquesas Islands (French: Îles Marquises or Archipel des Marquises or Marquises; Marquesan: Te Henua (K)enana (North Marquesan) and Te Fenua `Enata (South Marquesan), both meaning "The Land of Men")
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume and the seagulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry [tale]1 from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.
John Masefield
I am reminded again of the vastness of the ocean seascape. It goes on forever, even from a height of just four feet above the water. On clear day the sky goes up and up, forever blue and the sea reflects a darker version. You've all had those day by the sea when the whole world looks blue in different shades. It is the same here in the Pacific, just there seems to be more of it. And day after day....
Actually our first few days out of the Galapagos were marred and marked by the Doldrums. Seriously dull, the breeze may just take the heat off the day, the sails flap listlessly and annoyingly as the yacht lurches slowly from side to side. At first it is enchanting, this newness, this almost stillness. The sea is glassy and shiny, with a long rolling swell which causes the lurch and the flap. Falpping sails are more noisy than you would think. We are trying to conserve fuel and motor only when the battery is getting low on wiggly juice. Sometimes we motor a bit longer to get through this patch of no wind. we need to find some wind.
Wind and Weather
David is receiving text messages on his satellite phone from his wife Leslie in Australia. She reports that wind is to be found at 10 degrees south - these are the fabled Trade Winds which should blow from the south east all the time. We expected them further north at this time of the year. So we creep out way south and find wind. But this is not of the Trades but rather of local storms and squalls Direction is variable and often from the north. Well and good - we tack across this and continue our way south. Another period of doldric weather and then we are through into the Trade Winds which are all we hope for. A steady 15-25 knots of wind from the south west, occasionally veering east-south-east and sometimes affected by more local storms and squalls running through.
Watchkeeping
We keep watches, always two on, across the five of us, with a routine of 4 hours on watch, 6 hours off watch, with a change over every 2 hours. This works well for a small crew of 5 and means we can get 5 hours good sleep often enough. Even so it takes a few days to get used to the routine and to get one's sea legs.
Keeping ship-shape and Repairs
Leaving San Cristobal in the evening, after a long wait to get our passports back, we motored away in the evening sun. First to get the yacht looking shipshape we hoisted the Mainsail and furled away the Lazy Jack bag. For those who are not so nautical this is a large, shaped bag that sits on the top of the boom under the mainsail, with guy ropes on either side attached to the spreaders on the mast, which collects the mainsail as it is lowered onto the boom. Keeps it all tidy, and the cloth is also UV light protective. UV light rots the sail cloth in time. So the Lazy Jack bag serves two purposes. On short running kept it raised - it does not impinge on the sail performance - but for a long run it looks tidier to have it neatly furled away. You can see the crew at this tidy work !
After a few days of sailing we found that the Log (shows boat speed and records distance) was not reading correctly. David took it out of its mounting but count find nothing wrong with it. Removing the Log takes some doing. It is basically a little paddle wheel which sends and electronic signal to the reader. The wheel sits just proud of the bottom of the hull. Being below the waterline means we have to stick a bung into the hole quickly as a fountain of water shoots up when you take the Log up. Lots of fun..... potential for a flood.
Then one day I noticed that we had anenome creatures growing off the back of the stern - Scotty said they were a type of barnacle. It occurred to me that if they were growing off the back of the boat they might be growing under it too. So as we had a very calm spell we stopped the boat and I went for a swim with goggles. And my theory was correct - there was a small forest of them growing around the flange through which the Log protrudes. They were soon scraped off and away we went, the Log merrily spinning and recording our true speed.
On the same day we had to drop the mainsail as holes were appearing where it was rubbing against the spreaders - these are two arms that stick out either side of the mast to hold supporting guy wires. You will understand that a boat takes considerable punishing even in mild weather as it is in operation 24 hours a day. So down came the sail and on went the patches. Not as simple as just hauling it down - it had to be disonnected from the mast and reconnected. The bolts and fittings are tricky things to secure in a moving mast - even in calm weather out here there is always a swell and pitching from side to side hanging onto the mast fiddling with small nuts and bolts is some task. I lost one (only one) off the side !
And then we had to replace the header sail (also called a Genoa or Jib) as it was getting very ragged along the luff (the trailing edge of the sail). The problem is that the leading edge on this new sail does not fit into the groove of the forestay - the sailmakers fault which was only discovered once the sail was onboard in the Carribean (there was no time to fix it before sailing). So the new sail is now fitted to the forestay with string ! But the sytem works for now - they need replacing every now and again for wear and tear.
Food
We stored the boat for six weeks - all my old Naval skills coming back here. Although we have not stuck to the diet I created, it was sufficient enough to provide ample food for our long voyage. Indeed we have eaten very well. Sarah does most of the cooking, I do the occasional thing, and David makes fresh bread most days (he went on a breadmakers course before leaving Australia). The bread has got better and better each day - now that he has got used to the vagaries of the cooker! Fresh bread and soup makes great lunch especially if the sea is a bit rough.
Each day we also put out fishing lines. This has not been as successful as we hoped but Scotty has provided two fish so far - Mahi Mahi - and very good they are too. You can see a picture of one of them and Scotty eating the raw skeleton. Sadly we have only had two - just where the rest are we don't know.
The sky
We have had some wonderful and spectacular sunrises and sunsets. Out here the sky seems so big as it is only bordered by the horizon disc. The weather generally has been wonderful - sunny days and clear nights. For the early part of the voyage the moon was young so the night sky was full of stars. As the moon waxes towards full and shines in the night sky the smaller stars are floodlit out. The moon is now waning away, but still bright. We take the biminiy (the blue cockpit sheleter) back for night viewing. Jupiter is now rising in the morning sky, being chased now by the early morning Venus. Being on a moving platform does not allow for night photography but I am sure you will like the sunrise and sunset views.
Wildlife
There has been suprisingly little really. We did see a school of pilot whales briefly a few days out from the Galapagos, we see the odd bird (petrels and frigate birds) but mostly we see lots of flying fish. Some are quite small and others quite large. They land on the deck very often. See the picture of one of the larger ones. They use their strong tail to flip out of the water and then flick the waves with their tail again to keep the momentum going. They can 'fly' - well it is really gliding - for several tens of meters, an astonishingly long way. We have also occasionally had small squid land on the deck - mostly we find these in the morning. No large whales or sharks.
And the last mammal we saw was our sea-lion visitor - so tame, this one was also tagged. These had been a source of great amusement in the town of San Cristobal. Qutie fearless and very happy to live alongside the human population.
Filling the time
Life in this yacht is not all pulling on halyards, sheets and other ropes, trimming sails all the time, nor even much steering ! The yacht has fine self-steering gear (Otto, the autopilot) which works electronically and keeps us on course. The great advantage of this is that we can fine tune the course to within a degree to get the optimal use of the wind in the sails. So much for my vision of helming all the time. Actually I do enjoy turning Ott off and taking over the helm.... especially if the wind is strong and the waves loom large - this is fun and I think I have the knack of it now - at any rate there have not been too many complaints from the Captain.
Off watch time is spent reading - we have a small libary of books, including all the Harry Potters which I have read again (comfort reading). I am ploughing through the Complete Shakespeare, and trying also to get through the King James Version of the Bible - now this is a challenge. Should have brought a modern translation. Why am I doing this ? Well I guess it is something not many people do. It is quite an eye-opener too! All those sacrifices in Dueteronomy and Leviticus ..... I am told my maternal grandfather once read his way through the Bible too... quite a challenge.
I am also doing some writing - like this blog - and writing e-mails to send when we get to the next port.
And so what with watches, catching up on broken sleep, just sitting and thinking, the hours adn dasy are going by.
However, this slower pace of life, which I thought I would enjoy, is becoming frustrating. After a busy life of constant activity before coming away, I am finding myself restless at this pace of life dependent entirely on the vagaries of the weather. I am certainly a better human doing than a human being ! But when we get to Tahiti the voyage gets more interesting as we will have shorter legs between the islands at which we will stop - more on those as we progress.
I hope you are enjoying my Blog - to all friends and family - I miss you all and think of you often.... I will be home before too long ! Bye for now
Photos for this entry are here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/GalapagosToMarquesasIslands?authkey=Gv1sRgCOahkrng97jRvgE#
Monday, March 23, 2009
TOURING THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS - 21 AND 22 March 2009
Just returned to the yacht after two days visiting other islands in the Galapagos Archipelago and what a wonderful time that was .... just too short of course (isn't this always the way !)
Tour Day 1 - Saturday 21 March 2009
Saturday morning we were all up at dawn which, being the March Equinox was a 6 o'clock. A hasty breakfast and then calling for a water taxi to take us from our anchorage in the bay into the town jetty. Scotty dropped his sunglasses off the edge of the stern platform and fell off after them forgetting that in his pocket was his new digital camera. Alas salt water does not agree with it and it has ceased to work since...
Our man Bolivar (a ship's agent of sorts) met us with a taxi for the airport. These taxi are generally Toyota Hilux (or Mazda equivalent) with a cab with seats for 5 and an open tray at the rear. What fun - I get to ride in the back. Arrival at a deserted airport gives time for photographing some lovely little blue butterflies warming themselves in the early morning sun on a round bush with thin leaves. Some lovely closeup shots. The airport also has some interesting sculptures of local animals and birds - a killer whale and the head of the Booby (there are two species - blue footed and red footed, we only saw the blue [see later pictures]). AFter a while the airport came to life and we were processed and led to the plane, a twin prop 8-seater.
The flight from San Cristobal to Isabela took about 40 minutes over open ocean - see this page for a plan of the islands http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands
The air is fairly hazy around here so long distance views even from 4500 feet do not go far, but the views down were wonderful especially our approach to Puerto Villamal, the small settlement on this the largest of the islands. The sea water is a cristal clear turquoise, parts of the land are still barren lava flow (some 200,000 years old we were later told and not yet vegetated). In the distance faint views of a volcano (Volcan Sierra Negra) the nearest to Puerto Villamil. The rest of the island looked very green and lush.
We were met at the airport by our guide for the day - arranged by our man Bolivar - Senor Selsar, a short man, very tanned, with a mass of white hair under his blue cap. In his friendly, knowledgeable way he toured us through the day with pretty good broken english. First he took us to our accommodation in his own house and that of a friend just down the road. OUr route took us across more barren cold lava flow and past the electricity generator which hummed and clattered loudly in the quiet morning air. Small dark finches darted around - these are known as the Darwin finches (los pinzones). Once settled we jumped back in the Hliux and were driven off on our tour which took us to :
- salt lakes just inland of the sea to see flamingos - none around
- giant tortoise breeding centre
- a neach to walk among marine iguanas
- a lava tube connecting to the sea
- a the site of a prison camp with the remains of a wall built by the convicts
- up a hill to view the distant volcano Cerro Azul
- on to a place to see turtles (there weren't any)
- back along the beach
then lunch in the centre of Puerto Villamil.
The afternoon was taken up with a boat ride out to some rocky islands lieing next to the port area of Villamil where we went snorkelling in a slightly cloudy sea, saw a few Galapagos penguins, and then back ashore for a walk over a lava field quite different from those seen before. This was all jagged and rough with spikes covered on their southern side by white lichen - a scene worthy of Dante's inferno. Here we saw many beautiful red and orange crabs, more marine iguanas, penguins and the lovely blue-footed booby.
By now the sun was sinking in the sky so we returned to our boat and back to the shore. A small side tour took us to Concha de Perla a small platform bathing area which was too busy to stop at. After showers and a rest we walked back to the main square of the town and had dinner there. I returned to my very lovely room and went to an early bed - 8.30 ! It had been a long and wonderfully fascinating day.
Pictures here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/GalapagosIslaIsabela21Mar09# and I am sorry not to have time to label them all - I hope they tell their own story !
Tour day 2 - Sunday 22 March
Awake before dawn after a most refreshing sleep, I decided to go out walking with the camera. It was quiet and cool, finches flitting around and a soft breeze wafting through the scrub. Down at the dock I saw a penguin flying through the clear water, more sealions, crabs and a snowy white heron (or egret ?). Boys were on the beach working on their boats. I had earlier passed a large boat cut into three pieces - amazing to see how they are constructed. And also home to a small colony of wasps. I returned to the swimming place which was now deserted and the water flat calm - no need for goggles to see the fish swimming in the clear water. It was quite magical swimming there in the early morning and sealions cruised curiously by.
Just after 7.30 we collected by our driver and taken to the airport, again deserted. Later, after processing, our plane returned and took us back into the heavens on another wonderful flight this time up to Isla Santa Cruz, the large island in the middle of the archipelago. The airport is actaully on the small island of Baltra which was a US base in World War 2. This is where the flights from the mainland arrive and was crowded with tourists. Here we were met by Jose who shepherded us onto a local bus for the short ride to the ferry to Santa Cruz. OUr ferry ran out of fuel half way across the short straight [remember this]. On Santa Cruz we jumped into Jose's Hilux - and again, o joy! - I got to ride in the back. The road road across the island runs straight south-west for a long way and then curves south and southeast into Puerto Ayora.
On the way we stopped at a huge sink hole - formed when a gas bubble occurs during an underwater eruption which hardens and the later the top collapses leaving a large crater hole. Then on to another lava tunnel. This time the tunnel ran for some 200 metres underground, at one point the roof was so low we had to crawl under it and at later rose to some 8 metres. Well lit it was reminscent of lime caves in other parts of the world. Further on the road we stopped at a ranch and saw some giant tortoises in their natural state including a couple mating .... something that can take up to 4 hours! Scotty tried on an old tortoise shell. OUr final point of tour was to the Charles Darwin Research Centre. Here much research is done by the international scientific community into the ecology of the islands and ways to control introduced species. Here is a another tortoise breeding centre, and some captive land iguanas. These are orange brown in colour, whilst their much more numerous marine cousins are black.
After a quick lunch we got onto our boat for the 2 hour ride back to San Cristobal.... Remember the ferry from Baltra to Santa Cruz running out of fuel ? Well half way across the sea our boat also ran out of fuel so there we were olling about in the shortish swell with a fine chop on the top. Several passengers were not well ... happy to report that our crew fared well. After about 2 hours a relief boat arrived with four large drums of fuel and took most of the passengers off. We got back to Puetro Moreno at 6.30. Curiously the crew did not seem in the least concerned. Amazing adventure.
And so we returned to NEREID after dinner ashore in Puerto B Moreno.
Pictures from the day are here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/GalapagosIsabelaToBaltraSantaCruzAndBackToSanCristobal#
General impressions of our time in Galapagos :
The people here are very friendly, relaxed and easy-going. The towns we have seen are clean and well kept generally and in the case of Puerto B Moreno that work on improving the seafront is really good. Of course everything has to come here by ship so it is more expensive, but there is enough variety of product to satisfy our needs. Fresh food, though, is freshest when the boat comes in (of course) and it came in with us - so buying fresh on Monday, our departure day, was not so good.
The scenery is spectacular - I wish we had had time to visit a volcano and peer into the caldera, or even get close to the one that erupted last year (May 2008) but such is life.
The wildlife is extraordinary as we all know, but to see it up close - and very close - has been amazing. The sealions around the bay here in Puerto B Moreno are very friendly - as I write this one has just been to visit our stern transom - again. Quite fearless.
On Isabela and Santa Cruz, seeing the giant tortoises both in captivity and in the wild was all I hoped for. I learned that the introduction of goats, pigs, rats, dogs and cats has been more catastrophic even than the decimation caused by whalers in the 18th and 19th centuries (we know from records that 100,000 tortoises were taken for food - they would live on for months onboard piled up on each other - something we would not countenance today). Additionally they were killed for food - it is thought maybe 200,000 were killed. Each island had its own sub-species - on Isabela we were told there were 12 subspecies living on and around the different volcanoes... three of these are extinct - the rest recovering due to human assistance. The eggs hardly survive in the wild now - animals and fire ants (introduced aslo) eat the eggs. But the breeding program is working well. You can see me with tortoises - really wonderful creatures.
The iguanas are fascinating too - I did not know there were land iguanas - the marine iguanas are well known. The males are quite a bit larger than the females. Rather ugly creatures even so - only a mother could love one ! They sit in the sun to absorb heat, and when they reach the right temperature they turn around and point at the sun - less surface area to heat up.
The penguins were penguins - we did not see too many of them. The blue-footed booby was lovely - it is not mating season so we did not see the dance they do presenting their feet to each other - but we've seen this on TV !
Isla Isabela is a much younger island still with active volcanoes, so the landscape here differs from Santa Cruz which is well farmed and cultivated. It is more wild. Lots of cactus, very dry, and the remains of the penal colony - that wall built just for punishment - most interesting.
Santa Cruz was quite different and very green - plenty of farming here and indeed, the place where we saw the tortoises mating was a ranch. I was told it was possible to hire horses and ride out into the national park in which we would have seen many more tortoises. It was also a lot of fun riding in the back of the car ! Such child-like pleasures .....
The weather has been wonderful really. I thought, being near the equator, we would be very hot, but the days have been warm and dry with a breeze mostly which has been really pleasant. Quite a dry heat too which is comfortable too. The sea is a clear blue, sometimes turquoise, sometimes pale blue, sometimes almost indigo, and a delight to swim off coral sand beaches with sea-lions flopping about on the shore. And at night the clear warm sky is full of stars.
How blest am I to be able to be here, experiencing this. And to see that these islands are now the subject of so much care and scientific interest. There are challenges to be sure - modern life requires certain standards of living that cause havoc with nature (plastic plastic plastic - again). However .....
To be honest it is hard to describe accurately in a short article like this, and with time constraint (I must post this before we sail in a couple of hours) so I will end here and just say - look at the pictures. Next stop the Marquesas ....
Final pix - Farewell to Galapagos ! http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/FarewellToGalapagos#
Tour Day 1 - Saturday 21 March 2009
Saturday morning we were all up at dawn which, being the March Equinox was a 6 o'clock. A hasty breakfast and then calling for a water taxi to take us from our anchorage in the bay into the town jetty. Scotty dropped his sunglasses off the edge of the stern platform and fell off after them forgetting that in his pocket was his new digital camera. Alas salt water does not agree with it and it has ceased to work since...
Our man Bolivar (a ship's agent of sorts) met us with a taxi for the airport. These taxi are generally Toyota Hilux (or Mazda equivalent) with a cab with seats for 5 and an open tray at the rear. What fun - I get to ride in the back. Arrival at a deserted airport gives time for photographing some lovely little blue butterflies warming themselves in the early morning sun on a round bush with thin leaves. Some lovely closeup shots. The airport also has some interesting sculptures of local animals and birds - a killer whale and the head of the Booby (there are two species - blue footed and red footed, we only saw the blue [see later pictures]). AFter a while the airport came to life and we were processed and led to the plane, a twin prop 8-seater.
The flight from San Cristobal to Isabela took about 40 minutes over open ocean - see this page for a plan of the islands http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands
The air is fairly hazy around here so long distance views even from 4500 feet do not go far, but the views down were wonderful especially our approach to Puerto Villamal, the small settlement on this the largest of the islands. The sea water is a cristal clear turquoise, parts of the land are still barren lava flow (some 200,000 years old we were later told and not yet vegetated). In the distance faint views of a volcano (Volcan Sierra Negra) the nearest to Puerto Villamil. The rest of the island looked very green and lush.
We were met at the airport by our guide for the day - arranged by our man Bolivar - Senor Selsar, a short man, very tanned, with a mass of white hair under his blue cap. In his friendly, knowledgeable way he toured us through the day with pretty good broken english. First he took us to our accommodation in his own house and that of a friend just down the road. OUr route took us across more barren cold lava flow and past the electricity generator which hummed and clattered loudly in the quiet morning air. Small dark finches darted around - these are known as the Darwin finches (los pinzones). Once settled we jumped back in the Hliux and were driven off on our tour which took us to :
- salt lakes just inland of the sea to see flamingos - none around
- giant tortoise breeding centre
- a neach to walk among marine iguanas
- a lava tube connecting to the sea
- a the site of a prison camp with the remains of a wall built by the convicts
- up a hill to view the distant volcano Cerro Azul
- on to a place to see turtles (there weren't any)
- back along the beach
then lunch in the centre of Puerto Villamil.
The afternoon was taken up with a boat ride out to some rocky islands lieing next to the port area of Villamil where we went snorkelling in a slightly cloudy sea, saw a few Galapagos penguins, and then back ashore for a walk over a lava field quite different from those seen before. This was all jagged and rough with spikes covered on their southern side by white lichen - a scene worthy of Dante's inferno. Here we saw many beautiful red and orange crabs, more marine iguanas, penguins and the lovely blue-footed booby.
By now the sun was sinking in the sky so we returned to our boat and back to the shore. A small side tour took us to Concha de Perla a small platform bathing area which was too busy to stop at. After showers and a rest we walked back to the main square of the town and had dinner there. I returned to my very lovely room and went to an early bed - 8.30 ! It had been a long and wonderfully fascinating day.
Pictures here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/GalapagosIslaIsabela21Mar09# and I am sorry not to have time to label them all - I hope they tell their own story !
Tour day 2 - Sunday 22 March
Awake before dawn after a most refreshing sleep, I decided to go out walking with the camera. It was quiet and cool, finches flitting around and a soft breeze wafting through the scrub. Down at the dock I saw a penguin flying through the clear water, more sealions, crabs and a snowy white heron (or egret ?). Boys were on the beach working on their boats. I had earlier passed a large boat cut into three pieces - amazing to see how they are constructed. And also home to a small colony of wasps. I returned to the swimming place which was now deserted and the water flat calm - no need for goggles to see the fish swimming in the clear water. It was quite magical swimming there in the early morning and sealions cruised curiously by.
Just after 7.30 we collected by our driver and taken to the airport, again deserted. Later, after processing, our plane returned and took us back into the heavens on another wonderful flight this time up to Isla Santa Cruz, the large island in the middle of the archipelago. The airport is actaully on the small island of Baltra which was a US base in World War 2. This is where the flights from the mainland arrive and was crowded with tourists. Here we were met by Jose who shepherded us onto a local bus for the short ride to the ferry to Santa Cruz. OUr ferry ran out of fuel half way across the short straight [remember this]. On Santa Cruz we jumped into Jose's Hilux - and again, o joy! - I got to ride in the back. The road road across the island runs straight south-west for a long way and then curves south and southeast into Puerto Ayora.
On the way we stopped at a huge sink hole - formed when a gas bubble occurs during an underwater eruption which hardens and the later the top collapses leaving a large crater hole. Then on to another lava tunnel. This time the tunnel ran for some 200 metres underground, at one point the roof was so low we had to crawl under it and at later rose to some 8 metres. Well lit it was reminscent of lime caves in other parts of the world. Further on the road we stopped at a ranch and saw some giant tortoises in their natural state including a couple mating .... something that can take up to 4 hours! Scotty tried on an old tortoise shell. OUr final point of tour was to the Charles Darwin Research Centre. Here much research is done by the international scientific community into the ecology of the islands and ways to control introduced species. Here is a another tortoise breeding centre, and some captive land iguanas. These are orange brown in colour, whilst their much more numerous marine cousins are black.
After a quick lunch we got onto our boat for the 2 hour ride back to San Cristobal.... Remember the ferry from Baltra to Santa Cruz running out of fuel ? Well half way across the sea our boat also ran out of fuel so there we were olling about in the shortish swell with a fine chop on the top. Several passengers were not well ... happy to report that our crew fared well. After about 2 hours a relief boat arrived with four large drums of fuel and took most of the passengers off. We got back to Puetro Moreno at 6.30. Curiously the crew did not seem in the least concerned. Amazing adventure.
And so we returned to NEREID after dinner ashore in Puerto B Moreno.
Pictures from the day are here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/GalapagosIsabelaToBaltraSantaCruzAndBackToSanCristobal#
General impressions of our time in Galapagos :
The people here are very friendly, relaxed and easy-going. The towns we have seen are clean and well kept generally and in the case of Puerto B Moreno that work on improving the seafront is really good. Of course everything has to come here by ship so it is more expensive, but there is enough variety of product to satisfy our needs. Fresh food, though, is freshest when the boat comes in (of course) and it came in with us - so buying fresh on Monday, our departure day, was not so good.
The scenery is spectacular - I wish we had had time to visit a volcano and peer into the caldera, or even get close to the one that erupted last year (May 2008) but such is life.
The wildlife is extraordinary as we all know, but to see it up close - and very close - has been amazing. The sealions around the bay here in Puerto B Moreno are very friendly - as I write this one has just been to visit our stern transom - again. Quite fearless.
On Isabela and Santa Cruz, seeing the giant tortoises both in captivity and in the wild was all I hoped for. I learned that the introduction of goats, pigs, rats, dogs and cats has been more catastrophic even than the decimation caused by whalers in the 18th and 19th centuries (we know from records that 100,000 tortoises were taken for food - they would live on for months onboard piled up on each other - something we would not countenance today). Additionally they were killed for food - it is thought maybe 200,000 were killed. Each island had its own sub-species - on Isabela we were told there were 12 subspecies living on and around the different volcanoes... three of these are extinct - the rest recovering due to human assistance. The eggs hardly survive in the wild now - animals and fire ants (introduced aslo) eat the eggs. But the breeding program is working well. You can see me with tortoises - really wonderful creatures.
The iguanas are fascinating too - I did not know there were land iguanas - the marine iguanas are well known. The males are quite a bit larger than the females. Rather ugly creatures even so - only a mother could love one ! They sit in the sun to absorb heat, and when they reach the right temperature they turn around and point at the sun - less surface area to heat up.
The penguins were penguins - we did not see too many of them. The blue-footed booby was lovely - it is not mating season so we did not see the dance they do presenting their feet to each other - but we've seen this on TV !
Isla Isabela is a much younger island still with active volcanoes, so the landscape here differs from Santa Cruz which is well farmed and cultivated. It is more wild. Lots of cactus, very dry, and the remains of the penal colony - that wall built just for punishment - most interesting.
Santa Cruz was quite different and very green - plenty of farming here and indeed, the place where we saw the tortoises mating was a ranch. I was told it was possible to hire horses and ride out into the national park in which we would have seen many more tortoises. It was also a lot of fun riding in the back of the car ! Such child-like pleasures .....
The weather has been wonderful really. I thought, being near the equator, we would be very hot, but the days have been warm and dry with a breeze mostly which has been really pleasant. Quite a dry heat too which is comfortable too. The sea is a clear blue, sometimes turquoise, sometimes pale blue, sometimes almost indigo, and a delight to swim off coral sand beaches with sea-lions flopping about on the shore. And at night the clear warm sky is full of stars.
How blest am I to be able to be here, experiencing this. And to see that these islands are now the subject of so much care and scientific interest. There are challenges to be sure - modern life requires certain standards of living that cause havoc with nature (plastic plastic plastic - again). However .....
To be honest it is hard to describe accurately in a short article like this, and with time constraint (I must post this before we sail in a couple of hours) so I will end here and just say - look at the pictures. Next stop the Marquesas ....
Final pix - Farewell to Galapagos ! http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/FarewellToGalapagos#
Friday, March 20, 2009
PANAMA TO GALAPAGOS - Thursday 12 to Wednesday 17 March 2009
Our planned departure from Panama was delayed by two days due, firstly, to the muffler on the engine being repaired and then, secondly, to a problem with the alternator. We were running the engine to charge the batteries in the evening of Wednesday 11 March when David noticed that the battery was not charging. He tried a number of ways to diagnose the problem without success. So the next morning we contacted Jay, a young american who is sailing solo up and down the coast of south america in his ketch and who speaks fluent spanish. He was very happy to help us.
In order to save time we took NEREID round to the marina to fuel. The fuelling dock was busy and in any case the tide was very low and NEREID would not have been able to get alongside until the afernoon. So we used the dinghy and fuel drums to bring fuel over to the yacht. These eight extra fuel drums are needed to get us over the long passages between Panama and Galapagos, and then the longer still passage from Galapagos to the Marquesas and Tahiti.
David and Jay returned with news that the alternator was broken and in repair for collection in the afternoon. Having fuelled we returned to our anchorage on the west side of Isla Flamenco. The alternator was later collected and fitted - alas it still did not work so a quick dash back to the engineer was required. The alternator was working - the problem was eventually diagnosed as being something else. Once fixed we were able to be on our way.
We had dinner onboard, with Jay, and then, under a full moon we hoisted the main, weighed anchor and motored out into the Bay of
Panama. It has taken us six days to get from Panama to the Galapagos archipelgo. This is pretty good going - it is 900+ nautical miles and much of this time we have been in the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) otherwise known as the Doldrums. This area moves with the seasons and can be from 50 to 300 miles wide. We did not measure this, and we one fair day of wind. Most of the rest of the time we were motoring. Fortunately the extra fuel we were carrying saw us through this period. This is what the Doldrums look like - glassy seas : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/InTheDoldrums?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXWk-WNmcn4-AE#
On the way we have had clear nights under a million stars, a waning moon each night, rising later and later, one time change, and a journey towards the Equator where we experience 12 hour days and nights. And of course we crossed the Equator. It is quite a bump really. This is the fifth time I have crossed it - the other times were while I was in the Royal Navy ... twice to the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas in 1983 and 1985. We crossed at 0433 on Wednesday 17 March much to the excitement of those who had not done it before. I did get a photo of our chart plotter just after we had past over .... at the moment of passage I was photographing the others ! http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/CrossingTheEquatorAndComingToSanCristobalGalapagosIslands?authkey=Gv1sRgCOyO1qq4zv3-4QE#
And then finally yesterday we came into view of the Galapagos islands .... the first being Isla San Cristobal. Our approach was down the west coast of this long island with a small hump appearing first, followed by surprisingly green slopes, then a brown piece of laval flow which runs behind a large granite, volcanic block of immense grandeur. On passing this we turned to run between the main island and a flat-topped rock with a large menhir broken off on the north side. Eventually we came to the south-west point of San Cristobal to Wreck Bay and Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, a small town and one of the ports of entry to the Galapagos Islands.
There is a good piece in wikipedia on the islands – go here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands
We were greeted by turtles and sea-lions – the latter are here in abundance indeed – everywhere, on the beaches, on the jetty steps, on the back of your boat, in your dinghy (if you let them)
We had to stay onboard overnight and through part of the next morning waiting for customs clearance and immigration procedures (pratique). Once done we all went ashore in a water-taxi. It is good to stretch the legs after a period at sea. The town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is really quite nice - very lovely foreshore which they are working on hard to improve with noteable success. Photos here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/PuertoBaquerizoMorenoSanCristobalGalapagos?authkey=Gv1sRgCNK657TIkfSvLQ#
I wandered about the small town, found an internet café to pick up e-mails and then took off on a walk around the edge of the town to the local Interpretation Centre – its very good. See some pictures of it in the collection for this blog.
Out the back of this Intepretation Centre runs a long walk – through the scrub bushes over crumbled lava flow rocks (all black and brown) and up to a high look-out. A very fine view is had from here, and then the path winds down into the scrub again, past a swimming and snorkelling place with amazingly clear water, and then up to another lookout, on again round to the south and a further lookout this time with a 1942 British gun placed there in 1972 ….. quite why I do not know ! The path carried on down towards the bay where we are anchored. Several beautiful clean beaches are here – mostly of coral sand with small shells. Here in the sunset a number of sealions were either fighting or courting – hard to say which but there bumping each other did not seem too hard, serious or long either. Made for some good photos. http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/SanCristobalVisitorInterpretationCentreAndWalkingTheNatureTrail?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv377z_2ICqSA#
And then finally in the gathering gloom I made my way back to the town and caught a water-taxi back to NEREID. Shortly after I returned a dinghy pulled up alongside with an invitation for me to go over to a 38 foot steel yacht TETEGA owned by English John, crewed also by an English John (both of whom now live in New Zealand) and Canadian Taylor. Very nice to visit other boats and see the difference of living standards. Their much older boat is smaller, less spacious but well fitted out with mahogany furniture – really very pleasant. And on this note you can go here to see pictures of NEREID from the inside – something I have omitted to show you before. Go here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/OnboardNERIEDWhatSheLooksLike#
That brings us up to date – tomorrow we are off on a tour of other islands and this time I expect to see the famous giant tortoise. What fun !
In order to save time we took NEREID round to the marina to fuel. The fuelling dock was busy and in any case the tide was very low and NEREID would not have been able to get alongside until the afernoon. So we used the dinghy and fuel drums to bring fuel over to the yacht. These eight extra fuel drums are needed to get us over the long passages between Panama and Galapagos, and then the longer still passage from Galapagos to the Marquesas and Tahiti.
David and Jay returned with news that the alternator was broken and in repair for collection in the afternoon. Having fuelled we returned to our anchorage on the west side of Isla Flamenco. The alternator was later collected and fitted - alas it still did not work so a quick dash back to the engineer was required. The alternator was working - the problem was eventually diagnosed as being something else. Once fixed we were able to be on our way.
We had dinner onboard, with Jay, and then, under a full moon we hoisted the main, weighed anchor and motored out into the Bay of
Panama. It has taken us six days to get from Panama to the Galapagos archipelgo. This is pretty good going - it is 900+ nautical miles and much of this time we have been in the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) otherwise known as the Doldrums. This area moves with the seasons and can be from 50 to 300 miles wide. We did not measure this, and we one fair day of wind. Most of the rest of the time we were motoring. Fortunately the extra fuel we were carrying saw us through this period. This is what the Doldrums look like - glassy seas : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/InTheDoldrums?authkey=Gv1sRgCKXWk-WNmcn4-AE#
On the way we have had clear nights under a million stars, a waning moon each night, rising later and later, one time change, and a journey towards the Equator where we experience 12 hour days and nights. And of course we crossed the Equator. It is quite a bump really. This is the fifth time I have crossed it - the other times were while I was in the Royal Navy ... twice to the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas in 1983 and 1985. We crossed at 0433 on Wednesday 17 March much to the excitement of those who had not done it before. I did get a photo of our chart plotter just after we had past over .... at the moment of passage I was photographing the others ! http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/CrossingTheEquatorAndComingToSanCristobalGalapagosIslands?authkey=Gv1sRgCOyO1qq4zv3-4QE#
And then finally yesterday we came into view of the Galapagos islands .... the first being Isla San Cristobal. Our approach was down the west coast of this long island with a small hump appearing first, followed by surprisingly green slopes, then a brown piece of laval flow which runs behind a large granite, volcanic block of immense grandeur. On passing this we turned to run between the main island and a flat-topped rock with a large menhir broken off on the north side. Eventually we came to the south-west point of San Cristobal to Wreck Bay and Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, a small town and one of the ports of entry to the Galapagos Islands.
There is a good piece in wikipedia on the islands – go here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gal%C3%A1pagos_Islands
We were greeted by turtles and sea-lions – the latter are here in abundance indeed – everywhere, on the beaches, on the jetty steps, on the back of your boat, in your dinghy (if you let them)
We had to stay onboard overnight and through part of the next morning waiting for customs clearance and immigration procedures (pratique). Once done we all went ashore in a water-taxi. It is good to stretch the legs after a period at sea. The town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno is really quite nice - very lovely foreshore which they are working on hard to improve with noteable success. Photos here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/PuertoBaquerizoMorenoSanCristobalGalapagos?authkey=Gv1sRgCNK657TIkfSvLQ#
I wandered about the small town, found an internet café to pick up e-mails and then took off on a walk around the edge of the town to the local Interpretation Centre – its very good. See some pictures of it in the collection for this blog.
Out the back of this Intepretation Centre runs a long walk – through the scrub bushes over crumbled lava flow rocks (all black and brown) and up to a high look-out. A very fine view is had from here, and then the path winds down into the scrub again, past a swimming and snorkelling place with amazingly clear water, and then up to another lookout, on again round to the south and a further lookout this time with a 1942 British gun placed there in 1972 ….. quite why I do not know ! The path carried on down towards the bay where we are anchored. Several beautiful clean beaches are here – mostly of coral sand with small shells. Here in the sunset a number of sealions were either fighting or courting – hard to say which but there bumping each other did not seem too hard, serious or long either. Made for some good photos. http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/SanCristobalVisitorInterpretationCentreAndWalkingTheNatureTrail?authkey=Gv1sRgCOv377z_2ICqSA#
And then finally in the gathering gloom I made my way back to the town and caught a water-taxi back to NEREID. Shortly after I returned a dinghy pulled up alongside with an invitation for me to go over to a 38 foot steel yacht TETEGA owned by English John, crewed also by an English John (both of whom now live in New Zealand) and Canadian Taylor. Very nice to visit other boats and see the difference of living standards. Their much older boat is smaller, less spacious but well fitted out with mahogany furniture – really very pleasant. And on this note you can go here to see pictures of NEREID from the inside – something I have omitted to show you before. Go here : http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Stephen.Couling/OnboardNERIEDWhatSheLooksLike#
That brings us up to date – tomorrow we are off on a tour of other islands and this time I expect to see the famous giant tortoise. What fun !
Saturday, March 7, 2009
RETURN TO PANAMA - 27 February to 3 March
We said farewell to Golfito on Friday 27 Feb, late in the afternoon. It took all morning for David to complete formalities having chased over town from one office to another, being delayed by ofices being empty. His comment was that they don't encourage us to visit - formalities took ages to complete on the way in. Having fuelled we motored out of Golfito into the Golfo Dulce and were able to sail some of the way. However the winds were light and for the next two days we spent a lot of time motoring down the coast of Costa Rica,with a mixture of light winds.
Saturday 28 Feb I record in my journal "long day, lots of motoring, hot, slept in the afternoon, homesick". This is true - much as I am excited about this adventure, I have now been away for 2 months, and after 7 years in Sydney in a very settled, enjoyable, fullfiling and busy life, I have changed direction and altered my life radically in a short time. David and Sarah are lovely, the yacht is very beautiful, and I am seeing new things most days. The pace of life is much slower than in my city life, and I miss those who I love a great deal. But then David & Sarah feel the same and we will be happy to point NEREID towards Australia next week.
And on the way will be more exciting places to see - so keep watching this space.
The rest of our voyage back to Panama was frustratingly slow. At the bottom south west corner of the bay of Panama (Bahia de Panama) is the Punta Mala (Bad Point literally). Here the wind picked up from the north, and a strong current ran against our course, so we sailed and motored across both wind and current way off the course we wanted which added another day to our reckoning. Eventually we came out of the current and the wind backed a little enabling us to do some long tacks up the bay. We passed to the west of the Islas de las Perlas (see earlier Blog) and came at length to the approach to the Panama Canal by which time it was night. we had a spectacular sunset which you can see.
Sailing NEREID is mostly very easy - much easier than I expected, and am used to. She is fitted with GPS and a fine and useful Plotter which tells us where weare. No drawing on charts. She also has self-steering governedby some fancy electronics - with this we can sail close to the wind and trim the sails by altering course by as little as 1 or 2 degrees. Of course when tacking across the wind we need still to haul on sails. Other than that a lot of our cross-ocan sailing involves a lot of sitting around. we have been very lucky with the weather - fine, sometimes hot, days - some good winds, more motoring than I expected. I am wondering how our long voyages will be. At some stage on our way to Galapagos we will cross the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (the Doldrums) which could be 50 or 300 milees wide and across which we will have to motor. More on this later...
This will be my last Blog until after the Galapagos. Enjoy some pictures of wildlife - Fred (a black gannet who hitched a ride on our pulpit one night as we motored down the coast of Panama and stayed there until we hauled up the Genoa at 3.00 in the morning), and a huge pod of dolphins who joined us the next morning. Some fine jumping ! see the pictures here : http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/WildlifeCostaRicaToPanama#
So to all my dear friends and family who are following this - keep us in your thoughts and prayers as you are in mine. Missing you all in the midst of adventurous wanderings ....
Saturday 28 Feb I record in my journal "long day, lots of motoring, hot, slept in the afternoon, homesick". This is true - much as I am excited about this adventure, I have now been away for 2 months, and after 7 years in Sydney in a very settled, enjoyable, fullfiling and busy life, I have changed direction and altered my life radically in a short time. David and Sarah are lovely, the yacht is very beautiful, and I am seeing new things most days. The pace of life is much slower than in my city life, and I miss those who I love a great deal. But then David & Sarah feel the same and we will be happy to point NEREID towards Australia next week.
And on the way will be more exciting places to see - so keep watching this space.
The rest of our voyage back to Panama was frustratingly slow. At the bottom south west corner of the bay of Panama (Bahia de Panama) is the Punta Mala (Bad Point literally). Here the wind picked up from the north, and a strong current ran against our course, so we sailed and motored across both wind and current way off the course we wanted which added another day to our reckoning. Eventually we came out of the current and the wind backed a little enabling us to do some long tacks up the bay. We passed to the west of the Islas de las Perlas (see earlier Blog) and came at length to the approach to the Panama Canal by which time it was night. we had a spectacular sunset which you can see.
Sailing NEREID is mostly very easy - much easier than I expected, and am used to. She is fitted with GPS and a fine and useful Plotter which tells us where weare. No drawing on charts. She also has self-steering governedby some fancy electronics - with this we can sail close to the wind and trim the sails by altering course by as little as 1 or 2 degrees. Of course when tacking across the wind we need still to haul on sails. Other than that a lot of our cross-ocan sailing involves a lot of sitting around. we have been very lucky with the weather - fine, sometimes hot, days - some good winds, more motoring than I expected. I am wondering how our long voyages will be. At some stage on our way to Galapagos we will cross the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (the Doldrums) which could be 50 or 300 milees wide and across which we will have to motor. More on this later...
This will be my last Blog until after the Galapagos. Enjoy some pictures of wildlife - Fred (a black gannet who hitched a ride on our pulpit one night as we motored down the coast of Panama and stayed there until we hauled up the Genoa at 3.00 in the morning), and a huge pod of dolphins who joined us the next morning. Some fine jumping ! see the pictures here : http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/WildlifeCostaRicaToPanama#
So to all my dear friends and family who are following this - keep us in your thoughts and prayers as you are in mine. Missing you all in the midst of adventurous wanderings ....
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