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 ....
Thursday, February 26, 2009
IN COSTA RICA 20 - 26 FEBRUARY 2009 - revised 27 Feb
Friday 20 February - a day of doing the bureacratic stuff and exploring Golfito. This small town used to be a big banana exporting port but something happened in the 1980s and this ceased see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golfito Lonely Plant says that the place is slowly being swallowed by the jungle - this is so. It has one main street which runs up the side of the bay. There is a large commercial jetty and a number of smaller jetties and three boat service providers, one of which is a small marina.
In order to complete formalities (called Pratique for shipping) we had to go first to the Port Captain, then Quarantine, then Immigration, the Customs, then a bank to pay a fee,then back to Quaratine and finally the Port Captain. They were all in different places. Fortunately Golfito is a small place !
By this time it was well past lunch so after finding a small local restaurant to recharge we spent the afternoon in an internet cafe, then food shopping and back to an evening on board.
Saturday 21 February - a day of practical things (looking for spare parts for the outboard and towed generator) we had lunch in a nice restuarant (Samoa del Sur) and returned to the yacht for the afternoon. David fixed the towed generator (by attaching the old outboard propellor where the correct propellor had fallen off. This is simply a steel rod about 2 feet long attached to a long rope. When towed the propellor spins the rod and the rope which, when twisted enough, turns a small generator tied to the guardrails in the stern. Simple. And it works when the yacht is going fast enough).
The day ended with a lovely sunset.
Sunday 22 Feb
Lieing at a bouy is not very exciting, so we left early this morning and went out into the Golfo Dulce to find a smallprivate botanical garden we had heard about - Casa Orquidae - two bays up from Golfito. This has been created since 1974 by a couple of north americans. Most beautiful plants and flowers - many types of ginger, and many orchids (including, again, the Crucifix orchid which grows wild in the Andes) See pictures here : http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/CasaOrchidae#
In the afternoon we had some wind to sail with and practised our Man Overboard Drills unti the wind died away to nothing and forced us to motor back.
Monday 23 Feb
The plan now was to stay in Golfito until Friday and I was getting cabin fever ! Time for some space so I jumped on the afternoon ferry to Puerto Jimenez, the port for the Osa Peninsula across the Golfo Dulce. After a very fast launch ride throuh windy and chopy water I arrived at Puerto Jimenez and walked a dusty road into the town. After some searching I found a reasonable and cheap backpackers and settled in. I had met a young 'Tico' (what Costa Ricans call themselves) who offered to be my guide to the Corcovado National Park. I was not sureabut this but decided to go ahead so we went to buy food for the morrow. We also went to a creek to see some caimans) ´friendly´crocodiles ' harmless apparently. http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/WildAnimalsOsaPeninsula02#
For info on the National Park go here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corcovado_National_Park
Tuesday 24 Feb
Overnight I was not well and still feeling sick at 5.00 in the morning I cancelled my trip with Manuel. After a quiet morning wandering around until I felt better, I met a young couple of north americans (Todd and Meredith) who were staying in his brother's house up in the jungle in a place called Dos Brasos de Rio Tigre (Two arms of the River Tiger). They were returning that afternoon so I decided to go with them and see somewhere off the beaten track.
We went in a 'Collectivo" (local bus - a minivan) which rattled its way slowly up the dusty dirt road which was full of rocks and pot-holes. I love local transport in other countries! It is truly an authentic experience. All that was missing were the chickens !
Dos Brasos is a small place at the end of the road across the bridge over the Rio Tigre - an old gold mining town now of about 200 people. Todd & Meredith found Val who owns a lodge up in the hills called Bolita - I paid for one night. We then went to Todd's brother's house (see pictures) which is lovely - all open as this is tropical jungle. As long as there is a mosquito net over the beds walls are not necessary - just a large roof to keep off the rain. I left them there and walked over the Rio Tigre and up into the hills, up a long winding path finally coming to the lodge pouring sweat in the evening gloom. A group of 5 french people were already there with dinner ready to which they invited me. Very friendly - so I joined them and enjoyed a wonderful evening of my broken french and their (rather less) broken english. The kitchen area and eating area was the open space under the platform which formed the sleeping space. Very simple, very rustic. http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/PuertaJiminezToBolita#
Wednesday 25 Feb
I woke before dawn and heard howler monkeys and heard more birds than I saw. After breakfast the french group went back to Dos Brasos and I set off for the hills. Up and up and eventually came to GotoGo lookout with view right over the Golfo Dulce. the paths are well keptbut in places very narrow. The hills here are steep sided -typical river valley hills covered in tall trees, undergrowth and some flowers. Right now everything is very dry - there has been no rain since before December. This is not the dry of the Australian bush - it is much greener here and the the vegetation clearly is not the burning type although if it was really dry I imagine it would go up.
From time to time the canopy was disturbed by monkeys although mostly to high or far away to see clearly. No ground animals crossed my path, but I did not mind. Walking amongst the trees up and down the trail was just wonderful. I came down a long hill and suddenly found myself on the edge of a landslip. I could see the trail on the other side of the 30 metre gap - so with very carefully I traversed it trying not to look too far down into the chasm that held the river - some 50 metres down there. Safely on the other side I came to a waterfall with a deep pool beneath it. The cool water was bliss after the morning's walk. Great place for lunch.
The only way out now was down the river - going back up the trail was pointless. But there wa no trail I could see, so after a few minutes of clambering over rocks I jumped in the shallow water. Somehow books wet with warm water are not nealy so bad ! Much the best ad fastest way of getting down stream.
This was a gold mining area and there is still gold to be found in the river - gold dust. I came across three men panning for gold -all on their ownpatch of river. They greeted me with friendly 'Holas!' - one showed me the tiniest speck of gold in his pan - I was not even sure myself but smiled encouragingly. Photos here : http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/DosBrasos#
At length I came back to Dos Brasos in the mid afternoon and checked into Los Maneros - this had once been the local bar, brothel and jail - the toilet being one cell and the shower the other cell...... I wandered around this very rural village in the late afternoon feeling totally at peace with the world. And i the evening joined three local ex-pat north americans for dinner. Everyone goes to bed early - sunset is at 7.00pm and we were gone to bed by 9.00
Thursday 26 Feb
Up at 5.00 and the the return collectivo to Puerto Jiminez - somehow not quite so unnerving this time. Another fast ride back to Golfito and return to the yacht to find David and Sarah had also gone to the other side. They returned late afternoon to say they had been on a guided tour in the other direction to me and had seen more wildlife - monkeys, birds and a Sloth - David said "it wasn't doing anything" - funny that !
Then in the evening we had a tremendous rain storm - vast volumes of water fell - the dinghy had 6 inches of water in it when we eventually got to it. The locals (ticos) will be happy - they have been complaining of no rain.
And so we prepare to depart for Panama. Farewell to Costa Rica - a very lovely place
Enjoy the pictures - you should be able to browse in all my public albums. I don't have time to label them all but I expect they give a good impression of things I have seen. Isn't the internet wonderful ....
In order to complete formalities (called Pratique for shipping) we had to go first to the Port Captain, then Quarantine, then Immigration, the Customs, then a bank to pay a fee,then back to Quaratine and finally the Port Captain. They were all in different places. Fortunately Golfito is a small place !
By this time it was well past lunch so after finding a small local restaurant to recharge we spent the afternoon in an internet cafe, then food shopping and back to an evening on board.
Saturday 21 February - a day of practical things (looking for spare parts for the outboard and towed generator) we had lunch in a nice restuarant (Samoa del Sur) and returned to the yacht for the afternoon. David fixed the towed generator (by attaching the old outboard propellor where the correct propellor had fallen off. This is simply a steel rod about 2 feet long attached to a long rope. When towed the propellor spins the rod and the rope which, when twisted enough, turns a small generator tied to the guardrails in the stern. Simple. And it works when the yacht is going fast enough).
The day ended with a lovely sunset.
Sunday 22 Feb
Lieing at a bouy is not very exciting, so we left early this morning and went out into the Golfo Dulce to find a smallprivate botanical garden we had heard about - Casa Orquidae - two bays up from Golfito. This has been created since 1974 by a couple of north americans. Most beautiful plants and flowers - many types of ginger, and many orchids (including, again, the Crucifix orchid which grows wild in the Andes) See pictures here : http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/CasaOrchidae#
In the afternoon we had some wind to sail with and practised our Man Overboard Drills unti the wind died away to nothing and forced us to motor back.
Monday 23 Feb
The plan now was to stay in Golfito until Friday and I was getting cabin fever ! Time for some space so I jumped on the afternoon ferry to Puerto Jimenez, the port for the Osa Peninsula across the Golfo Dulce. After a very fast launch ride throuh windy and chopy water I arrived at Puerto Jimenez and walked a dusty road into the town. After some searching I found a reasonable and cheap backpackers and settled in. I had met a young 'Tico' (what Costa Ricans call themselves) who offered to be my guide to the Corcovado National Park. I was not sureabut this but decided to go ahead so we went to buy food for the morrow. We also went to a creek to see some caimans) ´friendly´crocodiles ' harmless apparently. http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/WildAnimalsOsaPeninsula02#
For info on the National Park go here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corcovado_National_Park
Tuesday 24 Feb
Overnight I was not well and still feeling sick at 5.00 in the morning I cancelled my trip with Manuel. After a quiet morning wandering around until I felt better, I met a young couple of north americans (Todd and Meredith) who were staying in his brother's house up in the jungle in a place called Dos Brasos de Rio Tigre (Two arms of the River Tiger). They were returning that afternoon so I decided to go with them and see somewhere off the beaten track.
We went in a 'Collectivo" (local bus - a minivan) which rattled its way slowly up the dusty dirt road which was full of rocks and pot-holes. I love local transport in other countries! It is truly an authentic experience. All that was missing were the chickens !
Dos Brasos is a small place at the end of the road across the bridge over the Rio Tigre - an old gold mining town now of about 200 people. Todd & Meredith found Val who owns a lodge up in the hills called Bolita - I paid for one night. We then went to Todd's brother's house (see pictures) which is lovely - all open as this is tropical jungle. As long as there is a mosquito net over the beds walls are not necessary - just a large roof to keep off the rain. I left them there and walked over the Rio Tigre and up into the hills, up a long winding path finally coming to the lodge pouring sweat in the evening gloom. A group of 5 french people were already there with dinner ready to which they invited me. Very friendly - so I joined them and enjoyed a wonderful evening of my broken french and their (rather less) broken english. The kitchen area and eating area was the open space under the platform which formed the sleeping space. Very simple, very rustic. http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/PuertaJiminezToBolita#
Wednesday 25 Feb
I woke before dawn and heard howler monkeys and heard more birds than I saw. After breakfast the french group went back to Dos Brasos and I set off for the hills. Up and up and eventually came to GotoGo lookout with view right over the Golfo Dulce. the paths are well keptbut in places very narrow. The hills here are steep sided -typical river valley hills covered in tall trees, undergrowth and some flowers. Right now everything is very dry - there has been no rain since before December. This is not the dry of the Australian bush - it is much greener here and the the vegetation clearly is not the burning type although if it was really dry I imagine it would go up.
From time to time the canopy was disturbed by monkeys although mostly to high or far away to see clearly. No ground animals crossed my path, but I did not mind. Walking amongst the trees up and down the trail was just wonderful. I came down a long hill and suddenly found myself on the edge of a landslip. I could see the trail on the other side of the 30 metre gap - so with very carefully I traversed it trying not to look too far down into the chasm that held the river - some 50 metres down there. Safely on the other side I came to a waterfall with a deep pool beneath it. The cool water was bliss after the morning's walk. Great place for lunch.
The only way out now was down the river - going back up the trail was pointless. But there wa no trail I could see, so after a few minutes of clambering over rocks I jumped in the shallow water. Somehow books wet with warm water are not nealy so bad ! Much the best ad fastest way of getting down stream.
This was a gold mining area and there is still gold to be found in the river - gold dust. I came across three men panning for gold -all on their ownpatch of river. They greeted me with friendly 'Holas!' - one showed me the tiniest speck of gold in his pan - I was not even sure myself but smiled encouragingly. Photos here : http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/DosBrasos#
At length I came back to Dos Brasos in the mid afternoon and checked into Los Maneros - this had once been the local bar, brothel and jail - the toilet being one cell and the shower the other cell...... I wandered around this very rural village in the late afternoon feeling totally at peace with the world. And i the evening joined three local ex-pat north americans for dinner. Everyone goes to bed early - sunset is at 7.00pm and we were gone to bed by 9.00
Thursday 26 Feb
Up at 5.00 and the the return collectivo to Puerto Jiminez - somehow not quite so unnerving this time. Another fast ride back to Golfito and return to the yacht to find David and Sarah had also gone to the other side. They returned late afternoon to say they had been on a guided tour in the other direction to me and had seen more wildlife - monkeys, birds and a Sloth - David said "it wasn't doing anything" - funny that !
Then in the evening we had a tremendous rain storm - vast volumes of water fell - the dinghy had 6 inches of water in it when we eventually got to it. The locals (ticos) will be happy - they have been complaining of no rain.
And so we prepare to depart for Panama. Farewell to Costa Rica - a very lovely place
Enjoy the pictures - you should be able to browse in all my public albums. I don't have time to label them all but I expect they give a good impression of things I have seen. Isn't the internet wonderful ....
Monday, February 23, 2009
PANAMA TO COSTA RICA 14 - 19 FEBRUARY
Saturday 14 February - Valentines Day - and we are off to Costa Rica. Yesterday was frustrating. We hoped to be going but did not know that the Port Captain's office shut at 1600 so we missed our check out (clearing customs and immigration for departure from Panama). The Port Captain called David's mobile at 0700 calling us in for 0800.... David and Sarah went ashore and returned 4 hours later. After a quick lunch we weighed anchor and motored south. There was no wind - an almost flat sea under high cloud so the whole world looked grey. Out in the bay of Panama many merchant ships are at anchor - I counted 30. We were later told that they are here for a number of reasons : no cargo, waiting for cargo, impounded for some legal reasons, no crew, or in storage (Panama acts like a garage and provides caretaking duties). Economic conditions can affect the number of ships parked here.
We continued south on acourse of 185 for most of the day. We had an early dinner on the deck at sunset which inthese parts is just after 1830 at the moment - very lovely and as we ate a small pod of dolphins came to visit. They are steely blue and mottled like a leopard down their sides. Dinner was interrupted while we wtched them play up and down the sides of the boat and in and out of the bow wave.
Darkness fell. Venus shone brightly above us. Here in the tropics she is very bright. On previous nights when we have been at anchor she casts a bright path on the water. I have read that Venus is the only planet that can cast a shadow on the earth. Other stars came out and the Milky Way splashed across the sky. Bright stars, but not so clear as on land - it must be the moisture in the air at sea. still, it is all very impressive and the sky is very big.
This is our first night sail together. David decided he would sleep on deck and Sarah and I would take turns on watch - she from 2200 to 0200 and me from 0200 to 0600. As the evening wore on the wind picked up and we were able to hoist Main and Genoa. I went below to sleep - and awoke at 0130. It is many years since I slept at sea and the movement of the boat brought back many memories of my Naval life at sea.
Up on deck wind had picked up and was coming from the NE. An hour into my watch David ordered a Jibe ... steering at night is a whole different experience. We steer our course by GPS on a Raymarine chartplotter which is a marine version of a land GPS. we also have ships compass and a wind repeater at the steering consol .... but I am used to steering a yacht visually using the sails and the masthead wind vane neither of which are visible at night. My steering for this jibe was not a happy event - we went around twice ! David was calm and understanding - steering IS different at night.
Dawn came up silver, gold, pink and yellow over a ruffled sea. we were now steering west. To the north land showed blue and misty. We were sailing well with 15 knots of wind from the NE. And after a time came to the Bay of Benoa,a small bay on the south side of Peninsula Los Santos. This was a sheltered spot with a long beach on the north side, backed by trees and a line of low brown hills. As we cameto anchor aflock of pelicans was wheelinga diving into a feeding frenzy. To our right was a lump of an island connected to the shore by a narrow ithsmus.
The sun was bright and hot and a light breeze ruffled the surface of clear blue water. I swam ashore - a bit further than I thought. The beach was brown sand and slightly gravelly. Walking to the trees I found a small creek full of fish. Hundreds of hermit crabs rustled through the dry leaves under the trees. I heard a plaintive cry and thinking it was a bird looked up, and then down to see a small brown frog caught in the jaws of a long thin green snake. As I watched, the snked realising that eating a frog feet first was not sucha clever idea, let go of the frog, whipped round and tookits head in its mouth. I have never seen a snake each before, and it was slightly gruesome wonder to watch the snake's mouth and body expand to swallow whole a frog four times its width.
We had a pleasant day in this place and were entertained by Nick and Robin, a couple from North America working in Panama who had come to the small resort on the beach for the weekend. They came onboard for sunset drinks and we joined them for an excellent dinner a the resort after.
The next day, Monday 16 Feb, we lay at anchor for the morning and then departed in the afternoon in a nice strong NW breeze which did not last the rest of the day. By mid afternoon we were motoring along with a lovely coastline to our right rising to blue hills in the far distance. We motored all nightand it got a bit lumy at one point as the wind came up. we hoisted sails and had a fine sail up the side of Isla Coiba in the Golfo de Chiriqui. The coastline of Veraguas was on our right. We came at length to a small bay in the north-east corner of Isla Coiba to a tiny rock island called Granita de Oro. Anchoring a ittle to the north of it we went ashore to a beach on the main island as there was a crowd of people on the Granita. I tried snorkelling but the water was too cloudy. So we took the dinghy to the Granita de Oro - a large rock with a small sandy beach and submerged rocks. The snorkelling around the rocks was wonderful - brown corals, brightly coloured fish some irridescent blue, oranges, yellows and pinks. And on the beach more hermit crabs in the thousand. Isla Coiba and surrounding islands are National Park. After lunch back onbord we motored around the north end of the island and came into a large bay Ensenada Santa Cruz for the night. In the late afternoon I took the dinghy to nearby rocks for more snorkelling - again with great results. This island is pure jungle, green and lush. we think it is how this country must have been before humans started felling the forests.
The next morning, Wednesday 18 Feb, we left mid morning in a light breeze coming from 300, right on our head. So a long tack on 240 for the afternoon and thena tack round to the North A very slow passage that did not get us very far up the coast. we sailed through the night with the wind veering to the north which helped our passage. But at dawn David had had enough so we motored for the rest of the day (Thursday), up the coast of Costa Rica. At lenght the coast of the Osa Peninsula appeared over the left and by mid afternoon we were in the Golfo Dulce. We came through the entrance to Golfito into a large bay of water stretching a little to the north with the bulk of the bay to the south. A thin strip of shore with buildings upon it is backed by steep wooded hills. we were met by Tim from Tierra Mar (Land Sea services) who guided us to our buoy. It was to late for Pratique (entry procedures) so we stayed on board with Flag Q fluttering from the yardarm (Flag Q is a solid yellow flag which declares that the vessel needs to clear customs. Once done it is replaced by the flag of that country).
So now we are in Golfito for a few days - time to store up, look around, do some repairs .....
Photos here : http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/PanamaToCoastRica#
We continued south on acourse of 185 for most of the day. We had an early dinner on the deck at sunset which inthese parts is just after 1830 at the moment - very lovely and as we ate a small pod of dolphins came to visit. They are steely blue and mottled like a leopard down their sides. Dinner was interrupted while we wtched them play up and down the sides of the boat and in and out of the bow wave.
Darkness fell. Venus shone brightly above us. Here in the tropics she is very bright. On previous nights when we have been at anchor she casts a bright path on the water. I have read that Venus is the only planet that can cast a shadow on the earth. Other stars came out and the Milky Way splashed across the sky. Bright stars, but not so clear as on land - it must be the moisture in the air at sea. still, it is all very impressive and the sky is very big.
This is our first night sail together. David decided he would sleep on deck and Sarah and I would take turns on watch - she from 2200 to 0200 and me from 0200 to 0600. As the evening wore on the wind picked up and we were able to hoist Main and Genoa. I went below to sleep - and awoke at 0130. It is many years since I slept at sea and the movement of the boat brought back many memories of my Naval life at sea.
Up on deck wind had picked up and was coming from the NE. An hour into my watch David ordered a Jibe ... steering at night is a whole different experience. We steer our course by GPS on a Raymarine chartplotter which is a marine version of a land GPS. we also have ships compass and a wind repeater at the steering consol .... but I am used to steering a yacht visually using the sails and the masthead wind vane neither of which are visible at night. My steering for this jibe was not a happy event - we went around twice ! David was calm and understanding - steering IS different at night.
Dawn came up silver, gold, pink and yellow over a ruffled sea. we were now steering west. To the north land showed blue and misty. We were sailing well with 15 knots of wind from the NE. And after a time came to the Bay of Benoa,a small bay on the south side of Peninsula Los Santos. This was a sheltered spot with a long beach on the north side, backed by trees and a line of low brown hills. As we cameto anchor aflock of pelicans was wheelinga diving into a feeding frenzy. To our right was a lump of an island connected to the shore by a narrow ithsmus.
The sun was bright and hot and a light breeze ruffled the surface of clear blue water. I swam ashore - a bit further than I thought. The beach was brown sand and slightly gravelly. Walking to the trees I found a small creek full of fish. Hundreds of hermit crabs rustled through the dry leaves under the trees. I heard a plaintive cry and thinking it was a bird looked up, and then down to see a small brown frog caught in the jaws of a long thin green snake. As I watched, the snked realising that eating a frog feet first was not sucha clever idea, let go of the frog, whipped round and tookits head in its mouth. I have never seen a snake each before, and it was slightly gruesome wonder to watch the snake's mouth and body expand to swallow whole a frog four times its width.
We had a pleasant day in this place and were entertained by Nick and Robin, a couple from North America working in Panama who had come to the small resort on the beach for the weekend. They came onboard for sunset drinks and we joined them for an excellent dinner a the resort after.
The next day, Monday 16 Feb, we lay at anchor for the morning and then departed in the afternoon in a nice strong NW breeze which did not last the rest of the day. By mid afternoon we were motoring along with a lovely coastline to our right rising to blue hills in the far distance. We motored all nightand it got a bit lumy at one point as the wind came up. we hoisted sails and had a fine sail up the side of Isla Coiba in the Golfo de Chiriqui. The coastline of Veraguas was on our right. We came at length to a small bay in the north-east corner of Isla Coiba to a tiny rock island called Granita de Oro. Anchoring a ittle to the north of it we went ashore to a beach on the main island as there was a crowd of people on the Granita. I tried snorkelling but the water was too cloudy. So we took the dinghy to the Granita de Oro - a large rock with a small sandy beach and submerged rocks. The snorkelling around the rocks was wonderful - brown corals, brightly coloured fish some irridescent blue, oranges, yellows and pinks. And on the beach more hermit crabs in the thousand. Isla Coiba and surrounding islands are National Park. After lunch back onbord we motored around the north end of the island and came into a large bay Ensenada Santa Cruz for the night. In the late afternoon I took the dinghy to nearby rocks for more snorkelling - again with great results. This island is pure jungle, green and lush. we think it is how this country must have been before humans started felling the forests.
The next morning, Wednesday 18 Feb, we left mid morning in a light breeze coming from 300, right on our head. So a long tack on 240 for the afternoon and thena tack round to the North A very slow passage that did not get us very far up the coast. we sailed through the night with the wind veering to the north which helped our passage. But at dawn David had had enough so we motored for the rest of the day (Thursday), up the coast of Costa Rica. At lenght the coast of the Osa Peninsula appeared over the left and by mid afternoon we were in the Golfo Dulce. We came through the entrance to Golfito into a large bay of water stretching a little to the north with the bulk of the bay to the south. A thin strip of shore with buildings upon it is backed by steep wooded hills. we were met by Tim from Tierra Mar (Land Sea services) who guided us to our buoy. It was to late for Pratique (entry procedures) so we stayed on board with Flag Q fluttering from the yardarm (Flag Q is a solid yellow flag which declares that the vessel needs to clear customs. Once done it is replaced by the flag of that country).
So now we are in Golfito for a few days - time to store up, look around, do some repairs .....
Photos here : http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/PanamaToCoastRica#
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
SAILING IN THE ARCHIPIELAGO DE LAS PERLAS (2 - 9 FEBRUARY 2009)
We have just returned to Panama City after a week of sailing in a group of islands 35 miles to the south west of Panama City in the Bahia de Pamana (Bay of Panama). I have put a few pictures on my picasa site - just limited by speed of connection at the moment - gohere http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/IslasPerlas#
The Archipelago de las Perlas, named when the Spanish conquistadores Gaspar de Morales and Francisco Pizarro sole a large amount of pearls from the indigenous King Toe. A 31 carat pearl known as "Peregrina" belonged to Queen Mary Tudor came from these islands.
Reference : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Islands
We motored out of our mooring at the Flamenco Yacht club on Wednesday 4 Feb and set course 130. However as we started to haul up the mainsail we found it had a large split near the top of the sail which had not been there when the sail was last used. Sadly this meant that we were not able to sail further so we motored round into the bay west of Isla Flamenco and spent the rest of the day taking down the old sail and bending on the new one. This is a brand new sail David had bought in St Maartens. We remained at anchor overnight.
Next day, Thursday, we resumed our journey motoring out round the Isla Flamenco, raised main and genoa and set course 130 for the Islas de las Perlas. The wind was from the north-east at 10 knots which gave us some really excellent sailing. It increased during the morning to just over 20 knots giving us some top speeds of 8 knots (which David reckons is top hull speed). In just over 4 hours we arrived at the Islands and selected the straight between Isla Chapera and Isla Mogo Mogo to anchor. These are the islands on which the TV series 'Survivor' has been filmed. This was a very beautiful place - the shore is mostly covered in trees, with rocks at the water's edge and some small bays of pale fawn sand. They look idyllic. Many of the trees looked dead, then I remembered that here in the northern hemisphere (even 8 degrees up into it!) winter is still here, although with day temperatures in the high 20s-low 30s it does not feel like winter. David and I took the dinghy and landed at the nearest beach, then took a walk along the shore. The rocks looked like solid mud and in places seams of pumice showed through - signs of ancient volcanic activity. Some beautiful shells on the beach including pearl shells - just as you might imagine ought to be on tropical islands.
What ought not to be on tropical islands is a line of plastic bits and pieces as high water mark. The oceans of the world have become our rubbish bins - and the ocean currents are duumpiong this imperishable stuff on our shores. I don't suppose the birds and animals care much - but I do..... our own Paradise Lost.
The moon is now waxing towards full and casts a silver net across the sea. In the evening light grey pelicans glide in a line towards the shore, their wing tips an inch off the surface of the waves, as the leader flaps its wings they all follow suit, a few flaps and then a long glide. It is a wonder of synchronised flying.
So lovely is it here we decide to stay another day. David has to fix a septic tank so Sarah and I take the dinghy ashore again. The engine is feeble - something is wrong. After lunch David and Sarah go out again and I stay onboard for a quiet afternoon.
The next day we weigh anchor and motor out into open water and set sails, course north to Isla Contadora. This is a small island but inhabited and with an airstrip. It is, apparently, a favourite holiday island for people from Panama city, but we did not see much activity on the airstrip. It is not a big island, but has some shops for basic provisions. Dry and dusty, it looks like is is waiting for rain. The people were friendly and we went ashore for and excellent dinner in the evening, returning under a bright moon.
One night here was enough so the next morning we left and had a fine morning sailing south before and northerly breeze goose-winging all the way (the mainsail is over one side of the boat, the genoa on the other to catch all the wind). Isla Pedro Gonzales is another inhabited island - a small village of about 500 people. we anchored in a small bay off the village, and spent the afternoon out in the (sick) dinghy looking for places to snorkel. The wind seems to have stirred up the water which was cloudy. I did see some small colourfu tropical fish but nothing dramatic. We did go and look at a wreck on the shore - and again were saddened by the rubbish on the beach (see pictures).
The next day, being Monday, we needed to return to Panama. David wanted to take the torn sail to Colon, get more gas, find out where we can get the outboard motor fixed, and check emails. So in a brisk breeze of 17 knots from the north, we weighed anchor, set main and genoa and course 310 for Panama. After 45 minutes the genoa suddenly started coming down - something had broken at the mast head. Such a shame as we were sailing well. So we haukled down the main and motored into the wind. After investigation we were able to raise the genoa again on a spare halyard and so resumed our sailing - and a very fine sail we had all the way to Panama.
At anchor I volunteered to be hauled up the mast in the bosun's chair - a very scary process. Sitting in a piece of canvas on the end of a thin rope being hauled 60 feet ina gusting wind is not a lot of fun. But I got the end of the number 1 genoa halyard and returned to the deck, not something I wish to do again in a hurry.
So here we are back in Panama at anchor of Isla Flamenco again. I have had the day onboard swabbing the decks (ha ha) while David and Sarah are ashore on these essential errands. The sun is shining, I have the company of grey pelicans.... what could be nicer.
The Archipelago de las Perlas, named when the Spanish conquistadores Gaspar de Morales and Francisco Pizarro sole a large amount of pearls from the indigenous King Toe. A 31 carat pearl known as "Peregrina" belonged to Queen Mary Tudor came from these islands.
Reference : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Islands
We motored out of our mooring at the Flamenco Yacht club on Wednesday 4 Feb and set course 130. However as we started to haul up the mainsail we found it had a large split near the top of the sail which had not been there when the sail was last used. Sadly this meant that we were not able to sail further so we motored round into the bay west of Isla Flamenco and spent the rest of the day taking down the old sail and bending on the new one. This is a brand new sail David had bought in St Maartens. We remained at anchor overnight.
Next day, Thursday, we resumed our journey motoring out round the Isla Flamenco, raised main and genoa and set course 130 for the Islas de las Perlas. The wind was from the north-east at 10 knots which gave us some really excellent sailing. It increased during the morning to just over 20 knots giving us some top speeds of 8 knots (which David reckons is top hull speed). In just over 4 hours we arrived at the Islands and selected the straight between Isla Chapera and Isla Mogo Mogo to anchor. These are the islands on which the TV series 'Survivor' has been filmed. This was a very beautiful place - the shore is mostly covered in trees, with rocks at the water's edge and some small bays of pale fawn sand. They look idyllic. Many of the trees looked dead, then I remembered that here in the northern hemisphere (even 8 degrees up into it!) winter is still here, although with day temperatures in the high 20s-low 30s it does not feel like winter. David and I took the dinghy and landed at the nearest beach, then took a walk along the shore. The rocks looked like solid mud and in places seams of pumice showed through - signs of ancient volcanic activity. Some beautiful shells on the beach including pearl shells - just as you might imagine ought to be on tropical islands.
What ought not to be on tropical islands is a line of plastic bits and pieces as high water mark. The oceans of the world have become our rubbish bins - and the ocean currents are duumpiong this imperishable stuff on our shores. I don't suppose the birds and animals care much - but I do..... our own Paradise Lost.
The moon is now waxing towards full and casts a silver net across the sea. In the evening light grey pelicans glide in a line towards the shore, their wing tips an inch off the surface of the waves, as the leader flaps its wings they all follow suit, a few flaps and then a long glide. It is a wonder of synchronised flying.
So lovely is it here we decide to stay another day. David has to fix a septic tank so Sarah and I take the dinghy ashore again. The engine is feeble - something is wrong. After lunch David and Sarah go out again and I stay onboard for a quiet afternoon.
The next day we weigh anchor and motor out into open water and set sails, course north to Isla Contadora. This is a small island but inhabited and with an airstrip. It is, apparently, a favourite holiday island for people from Panama city, but we did not see much activity on the airstrip. It is not a big island, but has some shops for basic provisions. Dry and dusty, it looks like is is waiting for rain. The people were friendly and we went ashore for and excellent dinner in the evening, returning under a bright moon.
One night here was enough so the next morning we left and had a fine morning sailing south before and northerly breeze goose-winging all the way (the mainsail is over one side of the boat, the genoa on the other to catch all the wind). Isla Pedro Gonzales is another inhabited island - a small village of about 500 people. we anchored in a small bay off the village, and spent the afternoon out in the (sick) dinghy looking for places to snorkel. The wind seems to have stirred up the water which was cloudy. I did see some small colourfu tropical fish but nothing dramatic. We did go and look at a wreck on the shore - and again were saddened by the rubbish on the beach (see pictures).
The next day, being Monday, we needed to return to Panama. David wanted to take the torn sail to Colon, get more gas, find out where we can get the outboard motor fixed, and check emails. So in a brisk breeze of 17 knots from the north, we weighed anchor, set main and genoa and course 310 for Panama. After 45 minutes the genoa suddenly started coming down - something had broken at the mast head. Such a shame as we were sailing well. So we haukled down the main and motored into the wind. After investigation we were able to raise the genoa again on a spare halyard and so resumed our sailing - and a very fine sail we had all the way to Panama.
At anchor I volunteered to be hauled up the mast in the bosun's chair - a very scary process. Sitting in a piece of canvas on the end of a thin rope being hauled 60 feet ina gusting wind is not a lot of fun. But I got the end of the number 1 genoa halyard and returned to the deck, not something I wish to do again in a hurry.
So here we are back in Panama at anchor of Isla Flamenco again. I have had the day onboard swabbing the decks (ha ha) while David and Sarah are ashore on these essential errands. The sun is shining, I have the company of grey pelicans.... what could be nicer.
PANAMA CITY- Sunday 25 to Wednesday 28 January
I was not sorry to leave Lima in the end. There are only so many churches to see and museums to visit. The old part of Lima is interesting and historical; the newer part, which is Miraflores, has everything one would expect in a modern western city - Macdonalds, Starbucks, Burger King, KFC ....I did have fun finding my way around on the buses which are fast, chaotic and cheap. OH&S would have a field day. Mostly they seem to be Toyota minibuses, in some cases severly dilapidated, and they run up and down all the main routes. Each has a driver who is skilled at nipping in and out of small spaces, and a conductor - they all have a sing-song cry which gradually becomes intelligible the longer you listen to the same conductor - which on the hour journey from the Miraflores coast to the centre of the old town is long enough to hear that Wilson is pronounce like Weesow.
The flight up to Panama took us over the Andes again - some covered in snow. There is no road link between Panama and Columbia - I do not know if this is political, financial or geographical. The flight was uneventful and the views from the window were impressive.
I took a smart, airconditioned shared minibus into the city - Tocumen International Airport in Panama is 35km out of the city. The hostel I had booked from Lima - Hospedaje Casco Viejo - was not good despite the Lonely Planet guide recommendation. I found Luna's Castle nearby - a funky backpackers run by americans which was excellent. So after one night with the bed bugs at the Hospedaje I moved. For the next two days I wandered around the old town called variously Casco Viejo, Casco Antiguo and San Felipe.
This area is a mixture of crumbling ruins, skeletal houses, beautifully restored buildings, museums, the Cathedral, National Theatre and the Presidential Palace. On arrival I thought I had wandered into a ruin .... well a lot of it is, but later realised that this is a UNESCO World Heritage Area (so restoration only can be done) and restoration is happening slowly. You'll find some photos here http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/PanamaCity#
Luna's Castle was an excellent place to stay - lots of backpackers to talk to. On the Tuesday I went out with a couple to Cerro Ancon - the hill behind Panama City flying the national flag. From here are excellent views across the city and up to Miraflores Locks in the Panama Canal.
On Wednesday I had breakfast with David Hetherington and his daughter Sarah. David owns the yacht NEREID on which I will be crossing the Pacific. Sarah had just arrived from Europe. Together we caught a bus from Panama to Colon which was 2 hours on a crowded airconditioned bus. Not much to see as the curtains were mostly pulled against the hot sun. A fairly ordinary thriller was showing on the bus TV dubbed in Spanish. Surprising how much can be understood ! It was not a good movie.
And then we arrived in Colon. Lonely Planet : "The mere mention of Colon sends shivers down the spines of hardened travellers and Panamanians alike ...." - not wrong. It is a hole, seriously, a filthy, run down, miserable place and so nad that we were told NOT to walk about by the LOCALS ! NEREID was moored at the Panama Yacht club which is a safe area. I have never been anywhere before where I could not walk safely outside in the daylight. Still the yacht club had simple but pleasant facilities - a bar and nice restaurant.
To go down the Panama Canal all boats and ships have to register and wait for a time to proceed. Small craft normally go in tandem with a large ship. After some delay we were given a slot for Saturday night - not so bad for Sarah and I who had just arrived (we had 3 days in Colon) - the others had been there since Sunday so were itching to get away from Colon. Fellow crew members who had come over from St Maartens were : Dirk Sweiringa (David's brother-in-law), Michael Johnston (school friend of Dirk) and Andrew Smith (friend of Dirk). So now we were six.
We slipped our mooring at 4.30pm on Saturday 31 January and motored out into the bay to anchor and wait for the pilot who arrived about 6.30. We then motored into the Canal channel to join the other two yachts who would be rafted up with us to go through the locks. ASPHALT VICTORY was our tanker and she steamed by ahead of us.
On the Atlantic/Carribean side of the Canal are the Gatun Locks, a set of 3 chambers which raise ships 26 metres into Gatun Lake. For information about the Canal try this site : (wikipedia). It took about 3 hours to go through all three chambers. They are huge, but fill up very quickly. Big ships are attached to on either side of the docks which keep the ships in the centre of the lock chambers. The ships power themselves through the locks.
We were on the starboard side of a 60ft american yacht PELICAN EXPRESS and on her port side was a french yacht MADRAGORE. We motored in behind ASPHALT VICTORy, the lock gates swung shut, water came swirling in beneath us and up we all went. These locks are huge .... the whole experience was really powerful and made more so happening at night.
Once through the three chambers we were released and motored round to a bouy on the east side of the Gatun Locks for the night. The morning revealed the vast expanse of Gatun Lake - created by damming the Rio Chagres to form a lake to carry vessels across the dividing range.
Our passage took us through the Banana Channel shortcut for small boats joining up with the Canal channel at Bohio Point. From then on it was straight motoring down to the Gaillard Cut. This is a piece of true canal which takes us from Gatun Lake to the Pedro Miguel Lock, going under the Puente Del Centenario, a wonderful new suspension bridge.
Pedro Miguel Lock is a single chamber that lowers vessels into Miraflores Lake. We did not have an accompanying tanker this time so rafted up just the three yachts and went through on our own. We continued into Miraflores Lake and across to the Miraflores Locks - two chambers which dropped us down into the Pacific side of the canal. On the east side of these locks is a Visitors Centre. I was quite glad not to have gone to this place whilst I was in Panama - going through the locks is more exciting that watching it from above. Just as impressive as a night crossing too.
So our passage through this extraordinary engineering feat took us nearly 24 hours with an overnight stop. It was a most wonderful experience and I am so glad to have done it. Pictures here http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/PanamaCanal#
From then on we were on our own again. We could not get into Balboa Yacht Club so spent a night at anchor off Isla Flamenco and went into the Marina the next day to say farewell to Dirk, Michael and Andrew. After a couple of days there to restock and arrange some repairs we left to sail down to the Islas Las Perlas, an archipelago of beautiful islands 35 miles south-west of Panama City. We are riding at anchor as I write this. The moon is nearly full, the night calm with a slight swell from the east. All day flights of pelicans glide past, frigate birds drift on the breeze and three vultures spiral on the updraft. It is very peaceful. The sun shines brightly (so I am turning dark brown rapidly), the water is clear and blue, the sand on the beaches is white ......
.... and the high tide mark littered with plastic rubbish.
All is not well in Paradise, but this will be the subject of another entry one day.
Life on NERIED is good. We had a fantastic sail yesterday in a NE 25-30knot wind on a course of 120 - perfect sailing, at times hitting 8.5knots - about hull speed. She sails well. I am looking forward to many more days at sea.
The flight up to Panama took us over the Andes again - some covered in snow. There is no road link between Panama and Columbia - I do not know if this is political, financial or geographical. The flight was uneventful and the views from the window were impressive.
I took a smart, airconditioned shared minibus into the city - Tocumen International Airport in Panama is 35km out of the city. The hostel I had booked from Lima - Hospedaje Casco Viejo - was not good despite the Lonely Planet guide recommendation. I found Luna's Castle nearby - a funky backpackers run by americans which was excellent. So after one night with the bed bugs at the Hospedaje I moved. For the next two days I wandered around the old town called variously Casco Viejo, Casco Antiguo and San Felipe.
This area is a mixture of crumbling ruins, skeletal houses, beautifully restored buildings, museums, the Cathedral, National Theatre and the Presidential Palace. On arrival I thought I had wandered into a ruin .... well a lot of it is, but later realised that this is a UNESCO World Heritage Area (so restoration only can be done) and restoration is happening slowly. You'll find some photos here http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/PanamaCity#
Luna's Castle was an excellent place to stay - lots of backpackers to talk to. On the Tuesday I went out with a couple to Cerro Ancon - the hill behind Panama City flying the national flag. From here are excellent views across the city and up to Miraflores Locks in the Panama Canal.
On Wednesday I had breakfast with David Hetherington and his daughter Sarah. David owns the yacht NEREID on which I will be crossing the Pacific. Sarah had just arrived from Europe. Together we caught a bus from Panama to Colon which was 2 hours on a crowded airconditioned bus. Not much to see as the curtains were mostly pulled against the hot sun. A fairly ordinary thriller was showing on the bus TV dubbed in Spanish. Surprising how much can be understood ! It was not a good movie.
And then we arrived in Colon. Lonely Planet : "The mere mention of Colon sends shivers down the spines of hardened travellers and Panamanians alike ...." - not wrong. It is a hole, seriously, a filthy, run down, miserable place and so nad that we were told NOT to walk about by the LOCALS ! NEREID was moored at the Panama Yacht club which is a safe area. I have never been anywhere before where I could not walk safely outside in the daylight. Still the yacht club had simple but pleasant facilities - a bar and nice restaurant.
To go down the Panama Canal all boats and ships have to register and wait for a time to proceed. Small craft normally go in tandem with a large ship. After some delay we were given a slot for Saturday night - not so bad for Sarah and I who had just arrived (we had 3 days in Colon) - the others had been there since Sunday so were itching to get away from Colon. Fellow crew members who had come over from St Maartens were : Dirk Sweiringa (David's brother-in-law), Michael Johnston (school friend of Dirk) and Andrew Smith (friend of Dirk). So now we were six.
We slipped our mooring at 4.30pm on Saturday 31 January and motored out into the bay to anchor and wait for the pilot who arrived about 6.30. We then motored into the Canal channel to join the other two yachts who would be rafted up with us to go through the locks. ASPHALT VICTORY was our tanker and she steamed by ahead of us.
On the Atlantic/Carribean side of the Canal are the Gatun Locks, a set of 3 chambers which raise ships 26 metres into Gatun Lake. For information about the Canal try this site : (wikipedia). It took about 3 hours to go through all three chambers. They are huge, but fill up very quickly. Big ships are attached to on either side of the docks which keep the ships in the centre of the lock chambers. The ships power themselves through the locks.
We were on the starboard side of a 60ft american yacht PELICAN EXPRESS and on her port side was a french yacht MADRAGORE. We motored in behind ASPHALT VICTORy, the lock gates swung shut, water came swirling in beneath us and up we all went. These locks are huge .... the whole experience was really powerful and made more so happening at night.
Once through the three chambers we were released and motored round to a bouy on the east side of the Gatun Locks for the night. The morning revealed the vast expanse of Gatun Lake - created by damming the Rio Chagres to form a lake to carry vessels across the dividing range.
Our passage took us through the Banana Channel shortcut for small boats joining up with the Canal channel at Bohio Point. From then on it was straight motoring down to the Gaillard Cut. This is a piece of true canal which takes us from Gatun Lake to the Pedro Miguel Lock, going under the Puente Del Centenario, a wonderful new suspension bridge.
Pedro Miguel Lock is a single chamber that lowers vessels into Miraflores Lake. We did not have an accompanying tanker this time so rafted up just the three yachts and went through on our own. We continued into Miraflores Lake and across to the Miraflores Locks - two chambers which dropped us down into the Pacific side of the canal. On the east side of these locks is a Visitors Centre. I was quite glad not to have gone to this place whilst I was in Panama - going through the locks is more exciting that watching it from above. Just as impressive as a night crossing too.
So our passage through this extraordinary engineering feat took us nearly 24 hours with an overnight stop. It was a most wonderful experience and I am so glad to have done it. Pictures here http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/PanamaCanal#
From then on we were on our own again. We could not get into Balboa Yacht Club so spent a night at anchor off Isla Flamenco and went into the Marina the next day to say farewell to Dirk, Michael and Andrew. After a couple of days there to restock and arrange some repairs we left to sail down to the Islas Las Perlas, an archipelago of beautiful islands 35 miles south-west of Panama City. We are riding at anchor as I write this. The moon is nearly full, the night calm with a slight swell from the east. All day flights of pelicans glide past, frigate birds drift on the breeze and three vultures spiral on the updraft. It is very peaceful. The sun shines brightly (so I am turning dark brown rapidly), the water is clear and blue, the sand on the beaches is white ......
.... and the high tide mark littered with plastic rubbish.
All is not well in Paradise, but this will be the subject of another entry one day.
Life on NERIED is good. We had a fantastic sail yesterday in a NE 25-30knot wind on a course of 120 - perfect sailing, at times hitting 8.5knots - about hull speed. She sails well. I am looking forward to many more days at sea.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Through the Panama Canal
There is a good Wikipedia article on the Canal here - and of course other sites to look at - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal
I joined David Hetherington and his daughter Sarah in Panama last Wednesday and we went by bus up to Colon, the city at the Atlantic-Carribean end of the Panama Canal. The bsut station there was a short taxi ride to the Panama Yacht Club and we found NEREID moored there with the other three (Dirk, Andrew and Michael) onboard to welcome us. Dirk is David´s brother in law, Michael was at school with him - Michael is also on the Board of the SMSA which is how I got into this adventure. They all brought the yacht over from St Maarten in the Carribean.
The bus journey from Panama to Colon was uneventful - couldn´t see much as the curtains on the bus were mostly closed against the midday sun.
Colon is a really awful place. Lonely Planet guide says ¨hardened travels pale at the mentio¨n of the place¨. It is so dangerous we were not allowed out onto the streets by the locals fearful for our safety. So taxi everywhere we needed to go. Dirty, run down, hot and dusty. A most unhappy place.
We had to stay 3 nights there waiting for a space to enter the canal. Everyone is alloted a date and time, and small craft have to go into the Gatun locks behind a large ship, and in company with two other small craft.
So at 4.30 on Saturday we left the Yacht Club and motored out to a holding ground. Once the pilot came aboard we set off into the channel and waited for our tanker to come through.
We met up also with an American and a French yacht and followed our tanker to the first lock.
The Gatun locks have three chambers and raise ships 26 meters into Gatun lake. This large artificial lake allows ships to cross the divide (see the map in the Wikipedia article).
It took us 3 hours to get through the locks and into the lake.
We were put to a large buoy overnight. At 7.30 another pilot came aboard and we cast off to motor down to Pedro Miguel lock (one chamber) which dropped us into Miraflores Lake and thence into the two chambers of the Miraflores locks. We emerged an hour later and motored out of the canal under the Bridge of the Americas (Puente de las Americas) and to an anchorage for the night.
I shall have to write more on this later as my time is running out for the moment.
I joined David Hetherington and his daughter Sarah in Panama last Wednesday and we went by bus up to Colon, the city at the Atlantic-Carribean end of the Panama Canal. The bsut station there was a short taxi ride to the Panama Yacht Club and we found NEREID moored there with the other three (Dirk, Andrew and Michael) onboard to welcome us. Dirk is David´s brother in law, Michael was at school with him - Michael is also on the Board of the SMSA which is how I got into this adventure. They all brought the yacht over from St Maarten in the Carribean.
The bus journey from Panama to Colon was uneventful - couldn´t see much as the curtains on the bus were mostly closed against the midday sun.
Colon is a really awful place. Lonely Planet guide says ¨hardened travels pale at the mentio¨n of the place¨. It is so dangerous we were not allowed out onto the streets by the locals fearful for our safety. So taxi everywhere we needed to go. Dirty, run down, hot and dusty. A most unhappy place.
We had to stay 3 nights there waiting for a space to enter the canal. Everyone is alloted a date and time, and small craft have to go into the Gatun locks behind a large ship, and in company with two other small craft.
So at 4.30 on Saturday we left the Yacht Club and motored out to a holding ground. Once the pilot came aboard we set off into the channel and waited for our tanker to come through.
We met up also with an American and a French yacht and followed our tanker to the first lock.
The Gatun locks have three chambers and raise ships 26 meters into Gatun lake. This large artificial lake allows ships to cross the divide (see the map in the Wikipedia article).
It took us 3 hours to get through the locks and into the lake.
We were put to a large buoy overnight. At 7.30 another pilot came aboard and we cast off to motor down to Pedro Miguel lock (one chamber) which dropped us into Miraflores Lake and thence into the two chambers of the Miraflores locks. We emerged an hour later and motored out of the canal under the Bridge of the Americas (Puente de las Americas) and to an anchorage for the night.
I shall have to write more on this later as my time is running out for the moment.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Photos for recent posts
I managed to find a computer with Picasa so have put some photos in albums. Of course I took hundreds so the selection is jsut a sample. Hope you like them. Links are next to the text.
End of Tour .... Lima
Two weeks since I last wrote something for this blog. The time has swept by filled with interesting things and many miles.
I wrote from Puno where we had been out to the floating islands of the Uros people on Lake Titikaka, and visits to two islands, Amantani and Taquile.
Our journey then took us to Cusco by road, and 8 hour journey up over the high pass at Urcos. A short stop here for a shopping opportunity (nice things but expensive). The land to the souteast of this pass was drier than later and it seemed a much poorer farming area. Once over the pass the land was greener, more fields with crops and, suddenly it seemed, an abundance of eucalyptus trees Tasmanian Blue Gum or Eucalyptus Globulus. Apparently these were introduced in the 19th century. They grow fast and provide building material, cooking fire wood and seem to be used in an attempt to prevent gully erosion which is severe in some parts of the moutains around Cusco.
We stayed in a very nice hotel Tika Wasi (House of Flowers) up in the old part of Cusco. Cusco was the centre of the Inca Empire. It has a fascinating and wonderful old part and a distinctly less good new sprawl. Further information here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cusco
The next day we took off in a local taxi for the hour´s drive over the hills at the back of Cusco to the Sacred Valleyof the Incas. On the way we stopped in the small local village of Chinchero for a pottery demonstration and lunch with a local family. I tried my hand a throwing a pot on a foot driven potter´s wheel ... not a huge success but interesting just the same. Many of the buildings around here - and I noticed this on the way up to Cusco - are made of mud bricks and often to two stories. This wonderful building material, sourced locally, has a very high thermal insulation value and is easy to use. Very sustainable. The choice of roofing material is interesting too ... around and beyond Puno it was often a grass thatch or corrigated iron, and nearer Cusco there are clay tiles. There are many new buildings of mud brick (Adobe in Spanish) alongside the use of concrete post and frame with kiln fired brick infil. These latter are not well finished and look really shoddy. I know which I prefer. http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/MudBrickAdobeInPeru#
In the afternoon we continued by miniubs to Ollantaytambo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollantaytambo. This is an old Inca town with an itact inca street sytem complete with water channels. The Inca were very advanced water engineers. Sadly their once potable water is not so any more. The hotel was really nice, and I visited Temple Hill. The website gives some good pictures and here are my own http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/Ollantaytambo#
The next day (Tuesday 13 January) was the start of our four-day hike up the Inca Trail. We were taken by minibus to the start know as Km82 which is a stop on the train line from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, the town underneath Machu Picchu. Here at Km82 we first met our Porters and Cook. We had previously filled small bags with not more than 6Kg of gear. There are now strict regulations on how much weight Porters can carry. The Porters are local men, small and wiry who rush ahead of us, erect the dining tent and next to it the kitchen tent. I was amazed. Tables and stools and steel cutlery. And what food. We feasted for the next 4 days. And each evening two-person tents were already erected when we got to the camp site. We were sharing, but as one girl dropped out at the end of Day 1 I got a tent to myself for the next 3 nights. All a bit luxurious really, but in truth it would have been hard carrying all our own gear in that high altitude without training. And it gives employment and considerable cash into the local ecomony. Local law now states that you must employ porters, and with a 500 person a day limit on the numbers allowed on the Inca Trail, going througha Tour Company is the best way. General photos from the trek are here http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/InkaTrail#
The flowers on the way are stunning and it was interesting to see some that grown domestically at home like begonias. A few pictures of flowers here http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/FlowersOnTheIncaTrail#
What followed was four days of the most stunning scenery. Day 1 was fairly easy, Day 2 chellening, Day 3 stunning and not hard walking, Day 4 was the remarkable walk down to Machu Picchu). The trail is especially steep on Day 2 which includes the climb up many steps to Abra Warmiwañuska (Dead Woman's Pass - at 4201m or 13,782ft one can see why it has its name. At this height walking for sea level dwellers is hard work. The air is thin). There is a good, accurate illustrated description of the trail here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Trail#Inca_trail_to_Machu_Picchu - keep scrolling through the first section. And there is a good article on Machu Picchu here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu
The Inca Trail is studded with a number of other ruins of great interest, and much less visited http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/InkaRuins# . We had some wonderful times in other ruins, but the one that stands out for me was that of Wiña Wayna http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiñay Wayna. It was close to out last camp site and is exquisite. Not a large site it looks to me like a noblemans home complete with private temple. Anyway it was a good deal more peaceful than the camp site to which all 500 people on the trail had converged ready to set off the next morning for Machu Picchu.
All through the trail we were blessed with excellent weather. It is the wet season here, but we saw very little rain, althtough Machu Picchu itself was actually the worse weather we had with cloud rolling over it periodically during our too-brief visit. http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/MachuPicchu#
Down then into Aguas Calientes for lunch and the by train back to Ollantaytambo and from there by bus to Cusco.
Our final day in this area (Saturday 17 January) was for relaxing, shopping, sightseeing again.
The next day we flew from Cusco to Puerto Maldonaldo down at 200m above sea level.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Maldonado. The town does not have much to recommend it, but our resort, Corto Maltes, a few miles down river was beautiful. http://www.cortomaltes-amazonia.com/us/index_en.html The pictures are better than mine.
After lunch we went for a guided walk in the jungle with Lucy who knew her stuff. The leafe that paralyses the mouth (used by the locals to stop toothache) is disgusting and my tongue curls even at the memory of it. Brazil buts come in a cocnut-like pod which I hacked open with a machete, and then tried to shell the nut with same machete and nearly cut the end of my finger off. Not a good idea in mossie infested jungle. It has healed well.
That evening the boat trip sekking caymen (local crocs) was ruined by copious sickness over the side of the boat that was not sea-sickness. The next day was spent ahlf in the hammock and half asleep in bed with Montezuma's revenge (I know he was Aztec !) .... a more lovely place to be ill I cannot imagine. So I did not get to see too much of tropical Peru, but what I did see looks very like North Queensland.
The next day was spent mostly at Puerto Maldonaldo airport. Engines trouble then weather dealyed the inbound flight from Lima and Cusco. Our 11.30 left at 4.30pm - very late into Lima and thankfully Intrepid Tours Transport was there to bring us back to Inka Path Hotel.
Our final day together - me, Mick and Linda, Alicia and Janelle, and Michelle was that final sort of admin day ... shopping, posting stuff home, postcards, retrieving our stored gear and packing for the departures tomorrow.
Today is Saturday and they all left on Thursday. I have had a couple of days writing my journal, having fun on the local busses in Lima. This is an experience. Traffic is mad here and I wonder there are not more accidents. Haven't seen one yet.
And now this blog before I go to Panama tomorrow. Just added a few more pictures of Lima too http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/Lima#
Reflections ... Intrepid Tours are good. We had an introduction to the 3 areas of Peru - coast, mountains (Andes) and Tropical jungle. We have been with many local people and sampled quite a lot of local culture. The high point was the Inca Trail even more than Machu Picchu. After 3 days in Lima I am ready to move on. The rains apparently come in February and the city needs a good wash.
But its been a great adventure and one I am seriously pleased to have done. More info here http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/GSD
I wrote from Puno where we had been out to the floating islands of the Uros people on Lake Titikaka, and visits to two islands, Amantani and Taquile.
Our journey then took us to Cusco by road, and 8 hour journey up over the high pass at Urcos. A short stop here for a shopping opportunity (nice things but expensive). The land to the souteast of this pass was drier than later and it seemed a much poorer farming area. Once over the pass the land was greener, more fields with crops and, suddenly it seemed, an abundance of eucalyptus trees Tasmanian Blue Gum or Eucalyptus Globulus. Apparently these were introduced in the 19th century. They grow fast and provide building material, cooking fire wood and seem to be used in an attempt to prevent gully erosion which is severe in some parts of the moutains around Cusco.
We stayed in a very nice hotel Tika Wasi (House of Flowers) up in the old part of Cusco. Cusco was the centre of the Inca Empire. It has a fascinating and wonderful old part and a distinctly less good new sprawl. Further information here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cusco
The next day we took off in a local taxi for the hour´s drive over the hills at the back of Cusco to the Sacred Valleyof the Incas. On the way we stopped in the small local village of Chinchero for a pottery demonstration and lunch with a local family. I tried my hand a throwing a pot on a foot driven potter´s wheel ... not a huge success but interesting just the same. Many of the buildings around here - and I noticed this on the way up to Cusco - are made of mud bricks and often to two stories. This wonderful building material, sourced locally, has a very high thermal insulation value and is easy to use. Very sustainable. The choice of roofing material is interesting too ... around and beyond Puno it was often a grass thatch or corrigated iron, and nearer Cusco there are clay tiles. There are many new buildings of mud brick (Adobe in Spanish) alongside the use of concrete post and frame with kiln fired brick infil. These latter are not well finished and look really shoddy. I know which I prefer. http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/MudBrickAdobeInPeru#
In the afternoon we continued by miniubs to Ollantaytambo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ollantaytambo. This is an old Inca town with an itact inca street sytem complete with water channels. The Inca were very advanced water engineers. Sadly their once potable water is not so any more. The hotel was really nice, and I visited Temple Hill. The website gives some good pictures and here are my own http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/Ollantaytambo#
The next day (Tuesday 13 January) was the start of our four-day hike up the Inca Trail. We were taken by minibus to the start know as Km82 which is a stop on the train line from Cusco to Aguas Calientes, the town underneath Machu Picchu. Here at Km82 we first met our Porters and Cook. We had previously filled small bags with not more than 6Kg of gear. There are now strict regulations on how much weight Porters can carry. The Porters are local men, small and wiry who rush ahead of us, erect the dining tent and next to it the kitchen tent. I was amazed. Tables and stools and steel cutlery. And what food. We feasted for the next 4 days. And each evening two-person tents were already erected when we got to the camp site. We were sharing, but as one girl dropped out at the end of Day 1 I got a tent to myself for the next 3 nights. All a bit luxurious really, but in truth it would have been hard carrying all our own gear in that high altitude without training. And it gives employment and considerable cash into the local ecomony. Local law now states that you must employ porters, and with a 500 person a day limit on the numbers allowed on the Inca Trail, going througha Tour Company is the best way. General photos from the trek are here http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/InkaTrail#
The flowers on the way are stunning and it was interesting to see some that grown domestically at home like begonias. A few pictures of flowers here http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/FlowersOnTheIncaTrail#
What followed was four days of the most stunning scenery. Day 1 was fairly easy, Day 2 chellening, Day 3 stunning and not hard walking, Day 4 was the remarkable walk down to Machu Picchu). The trail is especially steep on Day 2 which includes the climb up many steps to Abra Warmiwañuska (Dead Woman's Pass - at 4201m or 13,782ft one can see why it has its name. At this height walking for sea level dwellers is hard work. The air is thin). There is a good, accurate illustrated description of the trail here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Trail#Inca_trail_to_Machu_Picchu - keep scrolling through the first section. And there is a good article on Machu Picchu here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu
The Inca Trail is studded with a number of other ruins of great interest, and much less visited http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/InkaRuins# . We had some wonderful times in other ruins, but the one that stands out for me was that of Wiña Wayna http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiñay Wayna. It was close to out last camp site and is exquisite. Not a large site it looks to me like a noblemans home complete with private temple. Anyway it was a good deal more peaceful than the camp site to which all 500 people on the trail had converged ready to set off the next morning for Machu Picchu.
All through the trail we were blessed with excellent weather. It is the wet season here, but we saw very little rain, althtough Machu Picchu itself was actually the worse weather we had with cloud rolling over it periodically during our too-brief visit. http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/MachuPicchu#
Down then into Aguas Calientes for lunch and the by train back to Ollantaytambo and from there by bus to Cusco.
Our final day in this area (Saturday 17 January) was for relaxing, shopping, sightseeing again.
The next day we flew from Cusco to Puerto Maldonaldo down at 200m above sea level.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Maldonado. The town does not have much to recommend it, but our resort, Corto Maltes, a few miles down river was beautiful. http://www.cortomaltes-amazonia.com/us/index_en.html The pictures are better than mine.
After lunch we went for a guided walk in the jungle with Lucy who knew her stuff. The leafe that paralyses the mouth (used by the locals to stop toothache) is disgusting and my tongue curls even at the memory of it. Brazil buts come in a cocnut-like pod which I hacked open with a machete, and then tried to shell the nut with same machete and nearly cut the end of my finger off. Not a good idea in mossie infested jungle. It has healed well.
That evening the boat trip sekking caymen (local crocs) was ruined by copious sickness over the side of the boat that was not sea-sickness. The next day was spent ahlf in the hammock and half asleep in bed with Montezuma's revenge (I know he was Aztec !) .... a more lovely place to be ill I cannot imagine. So I did not get to see too much of tropical Peru, but what I did see looks very like North Queensland.
The next day was spent mostly at Puerto Maldonaldo airport. Engines trouble then weather dealyed the inbound flight from Lima and Cusco. Our 11.30 left at 4.30pm - very late into Lima and thankfully Intrepid Tours Transport was there to bring us back to Inka Path Hotel.
Our final day together - me, Mick and Linda, Alicia and Janelle, and Michelle was that final sort of admin day ... shopping, posting stuff home, postcards, retrieving our stored gear and packing for the departures tomorrow.
Today is Saturday and they all left on Thursday. I have had a couple of days writing my journal, having fun on the local busses in Lima. This is an experience. Traffic is mad here and I wonder there are not more accidents. Haven't seen one yet.
And now this blog before I go to Panama tomorrow. Just added a few more pictures of Lima too http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.Couling/Lima#
Reflections ... Intrepid Tours are good. We had an introduction to the 3 areas of Peru - coast, mountains (Andes) and Tropical jungle. We have been with many local people and sampled quite a lot of local culture. The high point was the Inca Trail even more than Machu Picchu. After 3 days in Lima I am ready to move on. The rains apparently come in February and the city needs a good wash.
But its been a great adventure and one I am seriously pleased to have done. More info here http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/GSD
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