Hi, How you doin'?
/A young sea lion at Gardiner Bay.. Wakes up for a minute.. A nice walk on the sandy Beach here and then a snorkel around the rocks with Sea Lions and colorful fish..
Photo by Richard "reboot" Smith
Ig Uana
/Also at Punta Suarez was this guy a Galapagos Red Iguana..
Albert Ross
/A Waved Albtross sits on its Nest. After the young immature birds are kicked out..they fly for over 5 years before returning here to mate.. That is a long flight.
Photo by Markus " floats like a butterfly" Rowell
Cerro to Espanola
/Up way too early again. Time to change the travel mode.. We arrived in to Punta Suarez Where we had a great walk looking at all sorts of Birds, waved Albatross nesting, land iguanas and always sea lions
In the afternoon We moved a few miles to Gardiner where another beach walk and then a snorkel on some rocks completed the day..
We then set off around Sunset for the trip over to Post Office Bay on Santa Maria.. It was a wonderful evening sky. Truly Brilliant.
Photo by Markus rowell
Sunset at Bruno Cero. With Kicker Rock
/Great shot of sunset by Richie.
Cero Bruno
/Cero Bruno Beach Hike
Cero Bruno
/A little more Green.. on the West side of Cero Bruno
Punta Pitt - Cero Bruno on San Cristobal
/Off at an unpopular 0530 for a 40nm trip to the far NE corner of San Cristobal. This is the oldest part of the archipelago and there is nothing growing here...
This was a hot tough uphill hike to start the trip off. Lots to see. blue footed Boobies Mating, Nasca Boobies, Sea lions and marine Iguanas.
Afternoon we moved to Cero Bruno. Here there was great views a ramble along a perfect Sandy beach with the always welcoming Sea Lions. An amazing sunset and a great Dinner. all went to bed tired..
Metropolis Pto Ayora Santa Cruz
/Well.. Pto Ayora has changed in the last years. Many more people around and lots of Cafes and souvenir shops. Still wildlife around with Sealions Marine iguanas and lots of Pelicans. However the lasting memory from here was the shops that were not here just a few years ago. The 40km Tarmac road to the airport and the lack of Booby birds around. I guess that is progress even in and Ecological sense.
Photo by Catherine Carr
San Cristobal and Santa Cruz
/On arrival we had the inspectors for the Government of Ecuador, the inspectors for the Galapagos, the national parks, immigration, Navy, Coast Guard, Military, and health and hygiene
All told 14 inspectors not counting the divers who inspected the bottom of the boat for fouling..You can not be too careful.. Thankfully a clean bill of health and we were set to cross to Sea Cruz and Pto Ayora. It is a better anchorage here in San Cristobal but other than the government facility's and an airport there is not much here.
Photo by Catherine Carr
Neptune and his Court.
/Not unexpectedly for some of us Shellbacks but certainly for others on board.
King Neptunus Rex, Davy Jones,the Royal Scribe, Queen Salacia, Royal navigator and the Royal Baby came on board at 0630, hunting for Pollywogs which as is well known is the lowest creature in the sea.. 6 were found cowering in there bunks and were soon rousted out to face the Subpoena sent down by the court. The ceremony included being bound and brought in front of the King. Having admitted to disregarding the traditions of the high seas they were subjected to Beatings (lightly) and Humiliation, followed by being doused with raw eggs and flour, hot sauce Covered with Fish Slime being well scrubbed in..and Before being Fire hosed clean with Salt water they were shaved with a blunt instrument. after which the individual pledged allegiance to the court and thus became a Trusty Shell Back..Then joining in the job of converting the next Pollywog, with surprising vigor for the task..
As Neptune and his court left they warned to Beware all who Disregard the Traditions of the Sea...
Photo by Remote Richie..Who was driving?
Equator
/Bit Shaky but we have crossed in to the Southern Hemisphere.. Southern Cross sailing high and the North Star fading below the Horizon slowly. Venus setting in the West and in the East lined up under each other is Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. and after Moon set the Milky Way is electric..What a sky.
Happy Birthday Hugo 30!
/Happy Birthday Old Man! Have a wonderful Year ahead.. Cake was made by Catherine and Renee
What a good job and Sooo Tasty. Who knew we had a Baker on board.
Cruising Day 2
/Cruising along. weather is good and calm. well there is 8-10 knots af wind and a 1.5m Southerly swell but it is comfortable. As it is not Sailable We are powering along at 12-13 knots headed for San Cristobal. Chef and Captain deep in conversations.
Photo by Humble Thomas
Marlin on!
/The day went by quick and we settled in to a routine of watch on watch for the Deck and Engineering and continuing to looking after us, cleaning and preparation for the upcoming trip for the Interior, Always also, well fed.. We caught this guy at sun up..He took about 500m of line before We slowed enough and started to reel him in. We do not want to catch Marlin, clearly it is stressful for them and we don't eat them. So after we get them to the boat as quick as we can we de hook them and let them free with nothing but a sore jaw and a headache We hope.
A few Booby Birds around and plenty of sea life even though there seems more trash than ever this year, Maybe we see it more as the water is calmer than usual
This great shot was taken by Richie.
Departing Panama...Galapagos Bound
/We are off to the Galapagos. all provisioning and checking complete. it is 900nm to the South West and the winds while from ahead look light for the first day at least. We hope to Transit to San Cristobal in 3 days and will be happy to find less humidity than here in Panama. However the stop has been successful and Panama has been good to us. Here is a night time Drone Shot of Downtown with the canal lights in the background. We won't see a big place like this in the next year!
Photo by Emerson and his Drone