And then there were three. The departure of Shirley noted not only the end of our diary keeping days, but also our consistently cheeriest crew member, great chef and all round favourite. She will certainly be missed but is happy to be home with Tarryn again and the luxuries of a hot shower! With Mark’s reputation for notorious one-liner updates and Theo’s self admitted tendency to diarise in bullet-form, the task has been left to me to attempt to fill Shirley’s position. I apologise upfront for any poor grammar, spelling, short accounts or general ramblings.
For those who are not aware, we managed to lose a propeller on the trip from Panama to Galapagos, and are waiting for the new prop to arrive from Australia. For the yachties reading this update, it had something to do with a sheared locking bolt but to the rest like me, it kinda just fell off. We have been tracking the delivery with great anticipation and are very hopeful that it should make the last leg from Ecuador mainland to Santa Cruz by midday today. After almost two weeks of delays, misunderstandings with the suppliers and a lingering warranty issue, that all seems to pale in comparison to the task of fitting the ultra expensive fancy three bladed folding prop underwater in the bay of Puerto Ayora. Fun fun. If all goes to plan, we should be leaving for Hawaii and the four weeks of open water sailing it will take us to get there within the next day or so. We have stocked up on fresh supplies from the amazing local farmers market this past Saturday (photos from the previous market on the site – http://jess-travelling.blogspot.com) and other than being one prop short, are ready to hit the open ocean!
Our stay in Galapagos has been unbelievable and I can say with certainty that we have all loved every moment here. The islands are incredibly interesting and quite different from what we had expected. The first thing that struck us was how incredibly difficult it is to reach the islands! We beat for five days into ugly headwinds and confused seas under motor, though had some luck on the last two with a change of wind that allowed some sailing. (This was actually really lucky given our one prop fell off at the same time). All the winds seem to blow away from the islands, three major currents meet in the archipelago and they are covered in low lying clouds most of the time which gave rise to the name they have also been known as - The Enchanted Islands. We experienced this first hand when a slightly confused GPS put us about 300 metres of course and we came a little close for comfort to the heavily misted shores on our way in.
This all, of course, is part of the reason why the islands experience such incredible ecological diversity, combined with the fascinating geology that arises from them being active volcanic islands. The last major eruption was 22 October 2005 at Sierra Negra volcano on Isabella Island. We had the most amazing experience of horse riding up to the rim of the volcano and hiking along the lava fields last weekend on our trip to Isabella. The island has a much more laid back, non-touristy feel about it with sand roads, few cars and sea lions basking in the sun in the bay. We had an incredible time on our trip around the bay where we got to see the infamous Blue Footed Boobies, Galapagos Penguins, Marine Iguanas, White Tip Reef Sharks, Pelicans, Galapagos Fur Seals and even some Eagle Rays and Sea Snakes on our snorkelling adventures.
Mark and I have been enjoying the diving here as well, with two trips out to the well known Gordon Rocks dive site, as well as to North Seymour and Mosquiterra. The currents make for unique diving and we have been kitted up in 7mm suits (seriously thick!) with vests underneath to withstand the sharp thermoclines where the water can drop from 22 to 14 celsius in a few centimetres. The viz hasn’t been that great, but the marine life incredible. We have seen beautiful hammerhead sharks, quite a few turtles, schools of rays and some incredibly playful sea lions!
The town of Puerto Ayora is itself an interesting place. Beneath the laid back atmosphere there is an underlying tension between the port authorities, local fisherman and the tourism industry and the Galapagos seem to be struggling to balance growth and commercialism with conservation and protection of endemic species. Feral animals introduced with human settlement over the past few decades have decimated some species endemic to the islands and severely threatened others. To our surprise, farming is commonplace in Galapagos and almost all produce is grown locally. This has obviously created further problems with alien invasive species and the local conservationists view the guava tree as a pest!
All said and done, the people of Galapagos have been of the friendliest and most easy going I have had the pleasure of meeting. The kids are so well behaved, I think we heard a child crying once in the past three weeks and it was noticeably out of place. There is a strong sense of community, and perhaps our natural history guide Valario put it best - “You really cant afford to be cheeky in this town because everyone is knows exactly what you up to!”. He also knew everyone on the island and seems to be related to them in some way. He was our guide for the day when we had a whirlwind tour of the islands – the national park areas, massive sinkholes, lava tunnels and the giant tortoise reserve. Awesome guy!
Other than that, we have been enjoying the nearby bays with some great snorkelling and beautiful beaches when the sun makes it appearance for a few hours everyday. Worth a mention are the gastronomical experiences we have been enjoying as well! By now we have our favourite restaurants which serve up some of the best food I’ve ever eaten, but we are yet to have an unpleasant dining experience in Galapagos! A small street a couple of blocks off the main road gets blocked off by the police in the evenings and turns into a line of small restaurants with tables in the street serving up world class cuisine ridiculously affordably. Stunning fish and rice for $4 or lobster and prawns for $10 at William’s, to die for! I think we are savouring eating out, knowing that the next few weeks it will be us in the galley.
I think that both Mark and Theo have been relaxing for a change, with time for reading, chilling or, most of the time, talking about something to do with boats. We are all looking forward to sailing again and will be sure to keep you updated with our adventures as we head west. Please keep us updated with life on your side of the world with text only emails to Mark’s boat address (zs6aj@winlink.org) and check out the photos from our trip so far at http://jess-travelling.blogspot.com.
With much love from the Galapagos, Jess
For those who are not aware, we managed to lose a propeller on the trip from Panama to Galapagos, and are waiting for the new prop to arrive from Australia. For the yachties reading this update, it had something to do with a sheared locking bolt but to the rest like me, it kinda just fell off. We have been tracking the delivery with great anticipation and are very hopeful that it should make the last leg from Ecuador mainland to Santa Cruz by midday today. After almost two weeks of delays, misunderstandings with the suppliers and a lingering warranty issue, that all seems to pale in comparison to the task of fitting the ultra expensive fancy three bladed folding prop underwater in the bay of Puerto Ayora. Fun fun. If all goes to plan, we should be leaving for Hawaii and the four weeks of open water sailing it will take us to get there within the next day or so. We have stocked up on fresh supplies from the amazing local farmers market this past Saturday (photos from the previous market on the site – http://jess-travelling.blogspot.com) and other than being one prop short, are ready to hit the open ocean!
Our stay in Galapagos has been unbelievable and I can say with certainty that we have all loved every moment here. The islands are incredibly interesting and quite different from what we had expected. The first thing that struck us was how incredibly difficult it is to reach the islands! We beat for five days into ugly headwinds and confused seas under motor, though had some luck on the last two with a change of wind that allowed some sailing. (This was actually really lucky given our one prop fell off at the same time). All the winds seem to blow away from the islands, three major currents meet in the archipelago and they are covered in low lying clouds most of the time which gave rise to the name they have also been known as - The Enchanted Islands. We experienced this first hand when a slightly confused GPS put us about 300 metres of course and we came a little close for comfort to the heavily misted shores on our way in.
This all, of course, is part of the reason why the islands experience such incredible ecological diversity, combined with the fascinating geology that arises from them being active volcanic islands. The last major eruption was 22 October 2005 at Sierra Negra volcano on Isabella Island. We had the most amazing experience of horse riding up to the rim of the volcano and hiking along the lava fields last weekend on our trip to Isabella. The island has a much more laid back, non-touristy feel about it with sand roads, few cars and sea lions basking in the sun in the bay. We had an incredible time on our trip around the bay where we got to see the infamous Blue Footed Boobies, Galapagos Penguins, Marine Iguanas, White Tip Reef Sharks, Pelicans, Galapagos Fur Seals and even some Eagle Rays and Sea Snakes on our snorkelling adventures.
Mark and I have been enjoying the diving here as well, with two trips out to the well known Gordon Rocks dive site, as well as to North Seymour and Mosquiterra. The currents make for unique diving and we have been kitted up in 7mm suits (seriously thick!) with vests underneath to withstand the sharp thermoclines where the water can drop from 22 to 14 celsius in a few centimetres. The viz hasn’t been that great, but the marine life incredible. We have seen beautiful hammerhead sharks, quite a few turtles, schools of rays and some incredibly playful sea lions!
The town of Puerto Ayora is itself an interesting place. Beneath the laid back atmosphere there is an underlying tension between the port authorities, local fisherman and the tourism industry and the Galapagos seem to be struggling to balance growth and commercialism with conservation and protection of endemic species. Feral animals introduced with human settlement over the past few decades have decimated some species endemic to the islands and severely threatened others. To our surprise, farming is commonplace in Galapagos and almost all produce is grown locally. This has obviously created further problems with alien invasive species and the local conservationists view the guava tree as a pest!
All said and done, the people of Galapagos have been of the friendliest and most easy going I have had the pleasure of meeting. The kids are so well behaved, I think we heard a child crying once in the past three weeks and it was noticeably out of place. There is a strong sense of community, and perhaps our natural history guide Valario put it best - “You really cant afford to be cheeky in this town because everyone is knows exactly what you up to!”. He also knew everyone on the island and seems to be related to them in some way. He was our guide for the day when we had a whirlwind tour of the islands – the national park areas, massive sinkholes, lava tunnels and the giant tortoise reserve. Awesome guy!
Other than that, we have been enjoying the nearby bays with some great snorkelling and beautiful beaches when the sun makes it appearance for a few hours everyday. Worth a mention are the gastronomical experiences we have been enjoying as well! By now we have our favourite restaurants which serve up some of the best food I’ve ever eaten, but we are yet to have an unpleasant dining experience in Galapagos! A small street a couple of blocks off the main road gets blocked off by the police in the evenings and turns into a line of small restaurants with tables in the street serving up world class cuisine ridiculously affordably. Stunning fish and rice for $4 or lobster and prawns for $10 at William’s, to die for! I think we are savouring eating out, knowing that the next few weeks it will be us in the galley.
I think that both Mark and Theo have been relaxing for a change, with time for reading, chilling or, most of the time, talking about something to do with boats. We are all looking forward to sailing again and will be sure to keep you updated with our adventures as we head west. Please keep us updated with life on your side of the world with text only emails to Mark’s boat address (zs6aj@winlink.org) and check out the photos from our trip so far at http://jess-travelling.blogspot.com.
With much love from the Galapagos, Jess
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