Approaching Brisbane

Monday 5th August 2013

Well, what a time we have had of it!! Had to heave to twice more with really bad squalls, the mainsail has been reefed and unreefed, the front sails in and out, and the wind has stayed firmly on our nose and we have had 24 hours of adverse current that held us back 2 miles every hour. (Now it has decided to go with us!). So the trusty engine has been doing its business. This morning early we had our first real time of ship dodging, and then there was the spectacular Aussie sunrise.

We are now on target to get in to the marina at Rivergate for the officials some time tomorrow. Trying now to tidy up and make sure we do not have any banned food items.

26deg21S and 153deg50E

Motoring along

Coral Sea, 3 August 2013

Well, after all the misery of the previous week, we have now gone to the other extreme - no wind. We had to spend 36 hours hove to as the wind was strong and right from where we wanted to go. That and the heavy seas made progress impossible, even if we had used the engine. So we stopped for the first time in over 16,000 miles. Not much could be done except read and twiddle thumbs as the motion of the boat, while much better than when we were bashing into the seas, was still rocky. But not too bad. So we kept looking at the forecast and lo and behold we were able to sail a further 24 hours quite briskly, albeit to windward (that is the leaning over with water coming over the side decks kind for the land lubbers - where we walk like haggis around the mountain with one leg shorter than the other). Then as predicted it all stopped. 

So here we are in the sunshine at last, cool breeze, motoring along. It has been a productive morning sorting out the things that has been bounced out of place, a bit of dusting and wiping down, some washing hung out to blow dry in the sun, bread made for the first time this trip (Ryvita biscuits are OK - but not every day!). Then there was the planning for the entry into Brisbane. This is not the easiest to work out. The passage will take us about 10 hours after getting to the fairway buoy at Caloundra Head, which is longer than a tide, so we need to time it to minimise the adverse ebb tide as we come in. So we look as though we will have to start the passage down the fairway at about 2 AM (ugh). So we have now written all the marks and direction changes so we can tick them off as we pass them and by this means get to the marina without going aground on the shallow bits. Should be in by lunchtime. We have done the notification procedure, got rid of most of the forbidden food - the last of the rice will go tomorrow or the next day. 

Dead excited.

Dave is continually doing sums to make sure we have enough diesel. At the present rate of consumption, a bit less than that of the Queen Mary, we should be OK.

Best of all for me is the cooler weather. Dave is wearing his woolly fleece and the blankies have come out for night time! This took a bit of exploration of the deep stowage as they were thought redundant to requirements!

24deg34minS and 156deg13min E

STILL in the Coral Sea!

1 Aug 2013

We are having a bit of a trying time. We have had to heave to for a day (yesterday) which means we basically stop, except we are drifting backwards!

The problem is that the wind is against us and is relatively strong, and the waves are big and against us. We can get to Cairns or New Zealand OK, but not to Brisbane. We may have to wait a bit more, but the arrival looks to be Wednesday - perhaps earlier if the wind changes as the gribs say it should. This is the first time in over 16,000 miles we have had to heave to!
Will keep you informed.

22deg54minS and 158deg42minE

IN THE CORAL SEA

30 July 2013

Well, today we were able to come out of the depths of the boat into the sunshine for the first time in 2 and 1/2 days. It has been a bit trying to say the least. We have had it all again - the lumpy sea, rain wind and water over the deck. Even with fully reefed main and no fore sails we were doing over 6-7 kts. Unable to even knit - and that is tragic!

Poor Dave has done a sterling job of getting some food cooked, as long as I was able to hold on to things during the preparation and serving. Meals could only be things that did not take lots of hot water (in case it spilled) or complicated cooking (fewer saucepans the better). Pasta is wonderful stuff! 

But today we have gone to the other extreme and have no wind and have been motoring. The sea is still a bit lumpy but not nearly as bad and we were able to sit outside at last. The fresh air is so good. And scrabble is a lot better outside too! And we have been able to make cups of tea and coffee as well. We have crossed over the top of New Caledonia and are making our way very slowly towards Brisbane. We were expecting to arrive Monday next week, but the forecast has little wind so we may be a little slower. All is well and humming along much better now.

View Larger Map 

Best news of all is that it is getting cooler - I am so very happy that we stay under 30degrees, but Dave is mumbling something about needing a fleece soon. I think he jests!!

21deg29minS and 160deg08minE

The Last Leg

26th July 2013

Well, here we are, back on the watery sea, bowling along on the way to Brisbane. The day before we left we had a real scurry around the far reaches of the town getting all the clearances done and the final stamps in the passports. We had to have a taxi ride this time as we would not have been able to dinghy it across the bay without looking like drowned rabbits, but the good side of the taxi ride was the big supermarket we went past. We had Dominic the driver leave us there on the way back and collect us after we had found our first real meat and cheese for lunch and meat for dinner, and veges in ages. Somehow tinned corned beef, tinned veges, tinned everything loses its appeal after a couple of years.

In its inimitable way the sea has had a laugh with us - we actually left the bay after re-fuelling at the smallest fuelling station we have been tied up to, and collecting the last of the washing (beautifully done and hung out to dry then carefully folded so no ironing needed) and put up the main sail which has been out of action for months as not needed (no cobwebs or bird's nests seen). The sun was out, the sea just right and we moseyed along. Till night time when we wanted to sleep! Then the mother of all rackets from block banging on the deck, the wind getting up and the sea going back to its old lumpiness. But we are cheerful having just put another reef in the main and coffee made. Dave is not so cheerful as he had the full frontal sea water dowsing when he was in the cockpit. So now it is getting the weather in, sending this to our Kate to post for us and getting ready for breakfast.

17deg59minS and 166deg 24E

1021 miles to go!

PEACE AT LAST

Jul 14^th 2013 Port Vila, Vanuata

‘Hey, Jen!’

‘Yes, Dave?’

‘Jen, you can’t say that was a terrible passage!’

‘But it was!!!’

‘It was very uncomfortable, but nothing went wrong or broke!’

‘It was more than uncomfortable Dave, it was horrrrrrrriiiiiiidddddd!!!!!’

‘I know, it was horrid for me too. Never read so many books in one go’.

‘Do you know we could not get into the cockpit for five whole days except to dice with death to put the engine on for battery charging?’

‘Never again. It was all New Zealand’s fault starting that weather system that squeezed our bit of the wind up. Nasty Kiwis. Except for Ninja Steve of course!’

‘Isn’t it nice to be sort of still again. And getting stiffer by the minute!’.

So the undaunted duo are now safely sitting on the sturdy anchor in the harbour at Port Vila waiting for the quarantine man to let them go ashore. We have managed to find most of the escaped rice from under the cooker, which looked like maggots gone wrong, swept up the worst of the stray odds and ends, ready for inspection. I can vouch that we have no pets (sob, sob) apart from Dave, no meat except in tins and fruit and veg or live plants. We then go ashore for the customs and immigration bit – that will get rid of the rest of the day at this rate.

The last week was not the nicest at all – the seas were high and confused, more like the southern ocean than the pacific, grey with spindrift off the tops. The boat however is immensely strong – which is why we got steel instead of plastic. The slamming we got and the water over the decks would have daunted a lot of lighter ones. The best we could do was keep an eye on the course, and sit tight in our bunks as best we could. The other thing hard to describe is the noise of crashing waves and crashing things. Every so often there would be an extra lurch and a few extra things would fly around the floor. But we only had one breakage and that was in the cupboard! We were safe enough, just rocking and rolling more than we wanted to – no knitting possible at all, and sewing far out of the question!!

Coming in was interesting as the wind got up even more and we pounded in under trysail and engine alone . The harbour here has a large bay to cross before you get to the inner anchorage and thankfully things died down a bit and we were able to find our way to the quarantine area and anchor just before the light failed. The day had been as grey as grey and heavy with cloud, seas grey and high as well. Today it is grey and raining – so much for the tropical paradise the old man promised!

Upside Down and Back to Front!

13 July 2013

I am trying to write virtually going upside down and back to front - there is a not-spoken-about aspect of long passage making, and we are in it.

We work very hard at trying to sort out sailing to occur at the best time weather wise and watch it every day. We are aware of the nasty possibility of the southern convergence zone giving us nasty winds where we are, but still there is no such thing as perfection.

Every long passage we do has days of almost impossible to live in conditions, and this is one time. The last 36 hours has seen the seas get up and the wind get up so moving about is incredibly difficult and cooking even more so. There is worse, in that as the sea has got up there has been more water over the decks and after being drowned by water coming through the hatches they are all now closed except the companionway one. So it is hot below and too wet up top to sit. A lot of lying in bunks and book reading. Far too bumpy for knitting even!

The wind has also changed direction so at crack of dawn we were falling about up top changing sails. Dave gets harnessed up when he leaves the cockpit, which he had to do when the trysail had to go up. So now we are running with our storm set of staysail and trysail as we are expecting more wind over the next 24 hours.

From Sailing Breezes

We are now 313 miles from Port Vila On Efate in Vanuatu and start our malaria prophylaxis tonight. Thankfully the recommended is Vibramycin which is reasonably tolerable.

16deg39minS and 174deg47E

As to what the day of the week is and the time - we have endless arguments. We do now UTC (GMT) but the date line change and time zone changes lead to lots of philosophical discussions abut leaving before you arrive etc.

A LITTLE BIT MORE FROM SAMOA

The pilot book says there is little here for repairing yachts, so it was not with much hope we started looking for somewhere to repair a part that had broken. We had found the much appreciated taxi driver Junior, who has been a superb source of information, including where to get the bit for the boat tooled up. He took us off to see the chaps he said could do it and we ended up out in the countryside, cows on the road, chickens running everywhere, until we pulled into a parking lot beside a shed. Inside was just the thing, a lathe for turning stainless steel things. Dave was ecstatic. The original bolt had sheared on the way here, and the self-steering stopped. We managed to get Terry, the no. 2 system, to work, but it is not as robust as Albert, the No.1. Dave crafted a make-do out of some bits on board for Albert and it worked for another couple of days, before the last makeshift one was brought into service and cosseted along. So now we have just the right thing ready to go back in.

We have been also taken to the laundry, the bank, the internet place and the phone place, as well as a couple of supermarkets. This is the most expensive internet on the planet I think, the same as at Tahiti which was astronomical too. So poor old Dave is limited to the amount of cricket and rugby and news watching, and I am not given to much time on my bits either. Sorry to all, but Skype is not a possibility both for the internet cost but mainly because it does not work on the connection.

Now some folk want to know where we are headed next.

The plan is, such as our plans are, to call at Wallis, of Wallis and Futuna fame, on our way to Port Vila in Vanuatu.  We have waited till the windy weather has gone through, and are getting set to leave here on Saturday morning. It should take 2 days to Wallis and Wallis to Port Vila bout 7 or 8. The stay at Wallis will depend how my broken down knee copes with sea time.

For those who are not so up with things, a little history about Jen’s knees. Basically, they have been crumbling to bits for years, a fact that was sort of ignored and hope would not cause significant problems till we had completed the trip. They have not lasted as hoped, and a few days ago one of them has become seriously deranged. I cannot walk much at all, and the day is spent experimenting with various bandages and supports. Nothing can be done here, I just have to get to Australia and see there. No one would insure my knees before we left, even for a king’s ransom. Stopping at Wallis is only really possible if we can afford a few extra days on the trip. Sorry about that, but we will do our best! I I have been a good girl and stayed sitting like a mole in the cabin with it propped up, swallowed the pills and done lots of knitting.

AT LAST

July 2 2013

Well, I do have a bit of explaining to do, that is for sure. I am in deep trouble with some folk for not having updated the blog for so long – many apologies and I will now try to remedy things.

It has been a bit of an up and down time for us both, but we are still moving along and we are now at Apia in Western Samoa, at the marina in the harbour. I am confined to the boat with a problematic knee – even more of a problem than usual, and Dave has gone off for a few errands, so there is a bit of a lull in the day and I will get things started. The last weeks will be fitted in as we go.

One of our great sadnesses has been the death of a very good friend of ours. Peter was dear to both of us, and had been coping with his illness so very bravely. He was with us every step of the way, and each day we would get a note or a message from him wherever we were. He also managed to get things for the boat for us, watch the weather and loads of other little things. He and his wife Suzie have been such a part of our lives for nearly 20 years, ever since we met when I first joined the Institute of Aviation Medicine at Farnborough during my time with the Royal Air Force, and the pair of them has been wonderful to us. And continue to be so, keeping an eye on our Rachel, Andy and young Alexander. I have missed Peter’s cheery notes every day and logging on has been not quite the same since. But Peter is the last one to want a prolonged period of mourning, and I can hear him say ‘Get on with it girl!’ as I write. So back to writing it is.

Well, we have been to Tahiti and Bora Bora since we last wrote, and we will have to have a bit of a catch up. But now we are at Samoa, the Western one, not American Samoa. I have not met a more friendly or happy bunch anywhere.

In our usual style we managed to get here after an uncomfortable few days at the end of the 10 day passage - thunderstorms, heavy rain and the worst night of lumpy bumpy seas. The day dawned foggy and overcast which made the approach that much more concentrated to make sure we got through the right part of the reef that surrounds the entrance. We could not find the 2 towers on the church which were down as the leading marks, at all. But at last we were in. We had called the Port Authority as requested and before we knew it there was a little launch approaching to shepherd us into our berth. Wonderful, as this takes all the anxiety of wondering where they want to park us. We are right up near the shore, close to the security hut, as snug as can be.

 Looking around we realize we were lucky to get a place as there is terrible damage to more than half the marina from the cyclone last December. That is also the reason for the absence of the towers on the cathedral as the whole cathedral had to be pulled down after the cyclone (it is being rebuilt as it was – a marvelous traditional building and is going to be wonderful).

Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia

18 April 2013

Many apologies for the gap in the blog, but I have not been the best, suffering greatly from the prolonged heat that my body does not appear to like. And it has frazzled my brain as well I think.

Clipart from DJ Art.

We had just over a week at Hiva Oa, but were only able to go ashore for about 8 hours in all that time as the sea was too rough for our dinghy to land. I will fill you in as we go. We had the usual boat jobs to do, and with help from our next door neighbour Dave was able to get the fuel and water we needed. As appears usual, we have developed another problem, this time with the stern gland seal which will need fixing. So as I need fixing too, we are off to Tahiti where the boat will go to the boatyard and I will go to some air conditioning and the hospital.

We left Hiva Oa on Sunday, so today is our fourth day at sea and this morning we are where we planned to be which is passing the atoll of Manihi.

We expect to be at Papeete around late afternoon Saturday as we have no wind and are motoring.

Present position 14 deg 28min S and 145 deg 4min W

View Larger Map 

HIVA OA: We are HERE!

4 April 2013

After 22 days at sea and 3000 miles from Galapagos we have arrived yesterday afternoon. We saw 2 ships in this time, and a yacht once we were 4 hours from Hiva Oa.

This is a lovely place at first glance, very tiny anchorage with almost no room for us, with steep sides all round and lush vegetation and what look to be really big and pleasing houses amongst the trees. The landing area at the side of the anchorage is well built and well maintained. More when we go exploring later today.

'Dave?'
'Yes Jen.'
'What about our scrabble game?'
'What do you mean?'
'Well, we are going to be there soon.'
'Jen, have to have the scrabble!!'
So the doddery duo sit out in the cockpit while the autopilot steers them ever toward their destination.
The tension mounts - who is going to get the big letters today and the triple word score? Much deliberation goes on and thankfully the wind dies a bit so that the game can continue.
'Hey Dave?'
'Yes Jen?'

'We are getting a bit close.'
'Got to finish.'
So the game goes on until 4 miles to go. Very satisfactory.

[Ed.: Who won??!] 

View Larger Map

NEARLY THERE

2 April 2013

The doddery duo are feet up in the cockpit (you need feet up to stop fall off your seat) pondering the great nothingness of the unceasing rise and fall of the waves of the Pacific Ocean and life in general.

'Hey Jen?'
'Yes, Dave?'
'We had better get some things done soon you know.'
''Cos we are getting to Hiva Oa soon?'
'Yup.'
' Well, we could do some gardening.'
'You mean get rid of the things growing on the back of the boat at the water line?'
'Well, I know they are pretty, all that lovely green frondy stuff and those cockle things poking out of their shells. I am sure I have seen those cockle things for sale to eat, you know. And then there is the rockery around them.'
'It does look a bit naff, I guess. Maybe we could lean over and scrape them off and then we would look a bit more professional.'
'We could, Dave. Let's think about it, it is a bit hot at present.'

So maybe the garden will be sorted - maybe not!

The duo need to find a shop that sells mugs of the drinking variety as Dave has had a smashing time of it lately. Problem is he reckons his tea only tastes good in a fine china mug - and these all fall over and run around the galley as they are too top heavy to stay on the non-slip mats. So he has had to resort to Jen's coffee mugs of a more substantial and balanced design. So the hunt will be on for the perfect tea drinking device.

'Hey Dave?'
'Yes, Jen?'
'Concern has been expressed we might miss these teeny tiny bits of land in the middle of the largest ocean in the world.'
'Oh dear, they must not know we have a map.'
'I know Dave, and if they could see the beautiful colouring in I did they would not be worried.'
'But they will be perplexed as to what you have coloured in.'
'The charts, silly. The ones that we have are all greyscale and it was hard to tell the land from the sea among all the squiggles. So now they are all marked up in the traditional way. Mind you these islands are a bit on the weeny side, but the trusty GPS seems to be getting us there.'
'Well, Jen, we should know by tomorrow afternoon.' 

170 miles to go....

Hiva Oa, a speck in the Pacific Ocean....

HAPPY EASTER

1 April 2013 

To us Catholics Easter is the biggest celebration of the year. And so it was with some disappointment that we realized that we would be at sea for this time, despite our best planning. We have all the appropriate books to follow the services and some music to set the scene, but the there was Easter Sunday - the Big Dinner. 

Not to be daunted we bought the only pieces of chicken we could find in Galapagos, and some potatoes. The chicken was lovingly boxed and with some careful stowage put next to the evaporator in the top of the fridge in hope that it would stay frozen. This meant daily cosseting, as, with the bumpy passage we are having and the need to get things out of the fridge, it kept trying to escape from its perch. The potatoes were eked out, keeping the right number to have at Easter. 

So Easter Sunday came, the great celebration of the Resurrection, and we took out our treasures and Dave cooked a wonderful roast chicken (2 legs ) and perfect crispy roast potatoes (despite finding one of his treasures was no good - we still had plenty)and baby carrots and peas courtesy of Morrison's supermarket. Peaches to follow. Burp!!

We are getting closer and will soon have to pull out the approach charts - about 300 miles as I write this, or 2 days, sort of depending if we can keep our average up. I am looking forward to not falling over at every move - the last couple of days have been especially rolly.

The Resurrection

PROGRESS

28 March 2013

Well, here we are, another week gone by and we managed to spot our Ship of the Week yesterday. Not sure what he was as he did not come up on the identification system. Dave reckons best bet could be one of those big Japanese fishing boats.

No more flying fish inside, but a daily couple on the deck all stiff and crispy in the morning. Not appetizing at all. Other than the occasional sea bird there is not a lot to see at all.

Less than 1000 miles to go!! 867 as I write!!!

8 deg 46 min S and 124 deg 27 west.

There is a prize for the person who can give me key strokes for the degree sign and quarters and halves etc!!

TRUE STORY

26 March 2013

Last night, about 3 AM on a bumpy rolly night, Dave and Jen were doing the OAP (old age pensioner) dance to the loo. The only light came from the chart table, so the smallest room in the house was very dimly lit indeed, but enough for the occasion. Jen returns from the loo and goes to check the instruments and Dave proceeds on his way.

'AAAAAARRRRRGGHHHHHHH!!!!!' comes from the bathroom.
'DAVE! You OK, what has happened???!!!' 
'FISH!!'
'What fish? You having a hallucination?' Jen is now getting just a little bit concerned. Not too much, but a little as this is a bit out of the ordinary.
'The fish in the sink!'
'What fish in the sink? There was nothing there when I was there.'
'There is now. The fish flew in the hatch and bounced off me into the sink!!!!'
'That is amazing. What is it doing?'
'Flipping and flopping about.'
'Best we throw it out again?'
'That's what I am trying to do. Not so easy to catch.'
Soon fish is thrown back to the deep, and Dave gets rid of fishy scales and peace is returned to the little craft.

How it happened it really one of those flukes as the hatch, on the left side of the boat was not open very much at all as we were expecting rain, so to make it over the side of the boat high enough to meet the open hatch and then time your fall to meet Dave coming in - well, what can you say????

Flying Fish?!

One week down.

19 March 2013

One week down, 984 miles done, about 2100 to go. The worst day ever yet on this leg yesterday. Heavy rain, sudden squalls of over 40 kts of wind with sail changes in the pouring rain. However, no need for a shower!! And bumpy, bumpy. Today however, I can see blue sky this morning, so hope is up for a better day.

Sailing again......

18 March 2013

We have now sailed constantly for over 24 hours - and the wind is still holding. Maybe, fingers crossed!! But the rain has returned again, which is a bit of a downer. Averaging about 6 kts.

7 deg 55 S and 101 deg 04 W

BUMPY!

17 March 2013

Well, after a pretty awkward start it would appear that after much examination of weather gribs and doing what we could, we are finally getting to the trade wind belt. We have just had the longest, and I regret to say, bumpiest, sail of this leg. May it last! Somehow we ended up in the very place we did not want to be, but we had been constrained by having to make use of what wind there was at first, whatever the direction it came from, in order to conserve our diesel resources. The area we have had to put up with is renowned for flukey winds, as well as sudden, strong rain squalls. We can verify that this is all true, having been becalmed, then blown to bits, then drowned in copious rain showers. The resemblance to sailing round Scotland is remarkable - except the weather is warmer.

So now we look forward to what we hope will be sailing days at last. 
It was too bumpy to knit - how sad is that! But we did manage to have the bread baking. Joint effort to weigh the flour though, no way the box was going to stay on the scales without Dave's strong hold on it. As well as his careful transfer of the bowl of flour, yeast etc. from the weighing station to the work bench.

7 deg 34 S and 98 deg 24 W

Doldrums

14 March 2013

We are in the doldrums good and proper. The motor is going on and on as we make our way south west towards the trade winds. We manage a little sailing in the evenings for a couple of hours and then the wind drops away to nothing. And last night it rained - talk about hot and sticky! The days require much book reading and knitting. Have started on some lace as this is nice and light. I apologise to the recipients of my knitting as it will have a combination of smells, including the odd whiff of diesel (just hold this dripping pipe,Jen) and baby powder (keeps hands dry).

Now 03deg 25min S and 94deg 02mins W

YIPPEEEE!!!

8 Mar 2013  We watched our cargo boat being unloaded all day Wednesday and then all day yesterday until about 4 pm - still no word about batteries. Carla had been out twice to to the freighter with no joy. So Dave went off to find her again and see what could be done. Phone calls were no good, so it was the 2 of them into a water taxi and out again. It took some doing - a harangue from Carla, and another from the boatman and a disappearing $20 from Dave's pocket, but just as the sun was going down the taxi turned up with 6 lovely new batteries. They have been unpacked, fondly adored, and are now ready to be installed. 

Diesel has been promised for this morning.

Water should be arriving soon - more jerrycans needed despite the 9 buckets of rain water I have put in over the last 2 days. An indirect comment on the weather, hot steamy and rainy!

I might even get ashore for the internet as I have been confined to the boat in case the batteries arrived while Dave was off on a mission or two ashore.

[Editor's note: Jen and Dave did get ashore, and were able to Skype with the Editor, albeit briefly!] 

SEALS AND SEA LIONS

Both seals and sea lions, together with the walrus, are pinnipeds, which means "fin footed" in Latin. 

But seals' furry, generally stubby front feet - thinly webbed flippers, actually, with a claw on each small toe - seem petite in comparison to the mostly skin-covered, elongated fore flippers that sea lions possess.

Secondly, sea lions have small flaps for outer ears. The "earless" or "true" seals lack external ears altogether. You have to get very close to see the tiny holes on the sides of a seal's sleek head.

Third, sea lions are noisy. Seals are quieter, vocalizing via soft grunts.

Fourth, while both species spend time both in and out of the water, seals are better adapted to live in the water than on land. Though their bodies can appear chubby, seals are generally smaller and more aquadynamic than sea lions. At the same time, their hind flippers angle backward and don't rotate. This makes them fast in the water but basic belly crawlers on terra firma.

http://www.darwinadventure.com/pictures/sea-lion.htm

Sea lions, on the other hand, are able to "walk" on land by rotating their hind flippers forward and underneath their big bodies. This is why they are more likely to be employed in aquaria and marine shows.

http://www.theanimalfiles.com/mammals/seals_sea_lions/galapagos_fur_seal.html

Finally, seals are less social than their sea-lion cousins. They spend more time in the water than sea lions do and often lead solitary lives in the wild, coming ashore together only once a year to meet and mate.

Sea lions congregate in gregarious groups called herds or rafts that can reach upwards of 1,500 individuals. It's common for scores of them to haul out together and loll about in the sand, comprising an amorphous pile in the noonday sun.

PARCELS

Parcels are turning out to be the bane of our lives. Not only the receiving of, as you have been made aware of in the blog, but now in the sending. There is a small boy having a birthday at the end of the month, and I have been sitting in 30 plus degree heat knitting!!! Yes, and now the item is finished and needs to be posted. So we trotted along to the post office yesterday to find out 2 things. The parcel has to be open for inspection, so the fancy paper I had uncrumpled and recycled will have to go, and we need a black and white copy of our passport. Friday pm, and the agent has our passports to get the exit stamps. Office not open on Saturdays, so departure will now be after an 0800 trip to the post office, which in the nature of post offices is as far from the boat as you can get witout leaving town. Not a problem according to the nice post lady as parcels don't leave till Wednesdays anyway as they go on the weekly boat. ..
That might give Alex time to grow a bit...

http://www.galapagosislands.com/visitor-sites/floreana-pob.html

That is if the agent turns up with the diesel ( he took the jerrycans yesterday) and the documents we need to go.

Next stop about 43000 miles at Hiva Oa.

View Larger Map 

FINGERS CROSSED!!!

Today (06/06/13) may be a very good day or a very bad day, depending on what happens next. Intrigued?

Well, it's like this.

After a lot of bullying of our agent, and a lot of help from a lovely young lady who speaks wonderful English we met accidentally, we received our big yellow box from DHL that Rachel sent. It had been held up in customs and needed some more information sent to Ecuador, including an emailed set of documents from Rachel. That was step one, and I was delighted to track it leaving customs, but despondent to see it flag up that it had been refused by the agent! So it was another job for Carla and her English; she knows the agent and he would not want to lose face with her. So $186 more in customs taxes, and it arrived on Saturday evening. I was almost in tears of joy. A big surprise was in it too - more in a minute.

So with that accomplished, what else is there?

6 very heavy batteries for the boat. We have just looked out and the freighter is here as expected and somewhere in the hold there are our batteries. That has been a saga as well, as we spent 2 weeks trying on our own to source them (they are not common) and we were told eventually a chap would get them in for us but it would take 3 weeks to get them. We mentioned this to Carla and she picked up a phone. This was Thursday morning and the boat for here loads once a week on a Friday. After an hour she told us she had found the batteries in Quito, her brother would get them to the boat in Guaquil and we could have them when the boat got in on Tuesday, or Wednesday depending on where they were in the unloading. And the boat has just arrived!!

All we have fingers crossed now for is that they really are the right ones and will work. We are down to a very dodgy battery for overnight fans, and it is about to go to heaven with the other ones.

And then there is more! The lovely Carla has arranged 2 trusty air divers to clean our hull as it has become a marine forest in the couple of weeks we have been here.

EVEN MORE!!
In the big yellow box there was a card for Grandpa Dave - his birthday was the next day, how good was that! And Alex had written his own name and drawn som artwork as well. I cannot thank Rachel enough for the foresight to include it, it made Dave's day.

Then there will be the hunt the agent chase for our clearance papers and we can move on........

MAYBE TODAY!!!
07/03/13) Having stared at the lovely green freighter in the harbour entrance disgorging goodies for the town Carla came by and said that it was not our boat, which was turning up in the late afternoon and would be blue. So the battery saga continues. I really do hope today is battery day, as the ones we are using really are not well at all.

HOWEVER
Yesterday turned out to be a good day after all. We were looking our for the taxi driver who gets the water for us when Carla turned up again, this time in an open boat with 2 young men to introduce us to our dive team who were going to clean the bottom of the boat. And they were the business, compressor and bottle gas, what more could you ask for. And a bonus - English! So while they returned Carla to shore the water arrived, all 14 jerrycans of it to be emptied and cans returned. Just as well the divers came back as we managed to lose 2 overboard in the swell. Not daunted, one of the trusty duo dived in and retrieved them and put them in the dive boat to give back to us. So while Dave started the emptying of water bottles into the tank at 20 litres a go, I collected brushes and scrapers and other useful things and got the team underway.

Then it rained - and boy, did it rain! 2 buckets full collected so washing of undies and non-laundry items was accomplished with no depletion of the tanks. My halo is well polished!

So we now have a very clean hull and had better get going soon before it all comes back again. I was delighted to see a couple of sea lions swimming around near our divers and showing them how swimming was REALLY done - wonderful, but they had no way of holding a scraper so it was all show and no substance!

FINALLY
The great scrabble fest is underway in the afternoon with the usual ups and downs. Have to tell -"squeeze" down on a triple word score for 90! 

BOOBIES!!

Boobies!

BOOBIES

The intrepid pair are sitting on the back end of the boat in the shade when all of a sudden there is a loud SPLOOSHSPLAT. Looking behind them they see ripples spreading out from a central focus and what seems like ages later there is a plop as up pops a bird. These are the amazing boobies. They fly about high overhead and then make a kamikaze dive into the water – we never see if they get anything – and then up they come, shake themselves a bit, and the flap flap with the wings and flap flap with their big blue feet and they are airborne for another go. And they really do have bright blue beaks and bright blue feet. What we don’t understand is how they don’t knock themselves out when they hit the water at the speed they do.

NOT GOOD NEWS

And now the batteries. The electrics on the boat are very much Dave’s baby as he has put a lot of effort into making up a good system. I had heard him talk about the batteries as being super dooper ones and all seemed OK. He looks at them regularly and tops them up and they seem to provide power when we need it so they tend to be taken for granted. So the day came to give them a once over and shock horror, they are not very well at all. Something had seemed to be not quite right for some time though, as we had been charging the batteries with the engine for longer and longer times each day, but it creeps up on you. After getting them out of their cubby holes, which is not easy, the truth dawned – we need new ones. Here, in Galapagos, the back of nowhere!  Dave has salvaged a couple and we can make do overnight, but no way can we set off for over a month at sea with things as they are.

So we started at one end of the town, going from one shop to the next one suggested, until we came to a shop full of cleaning products, but with a sign outside that said ‘battery agent’. It did not look promising at all, but in we went, and found a lass who could speak a bit of English. Over the next few days we were in touch with her boss who was in Ecuador at the time on a re-supply mission, and with a great deal of effort on his part it appears he has been able to find what we need at last. It did look hopeless at first and Dave was getting most despondent, thinking we might have to risk using truck batteries with much less capacity than we need just to get us to Tahiti, with the risk that they would not last the distance given the demands that would be put on them. So now it is off to the cash machines to start the money drain to pay for them, and we wait for the next supply ship and their arrival in a week's time.

It would appear we should never stop anywhere – whenever we stop we seem to find a problem!

STOP PRESS

Dave has refused to consider doing anything other than the British thing of shout louder in another language. He has just come back proud of his purchase of a can of fly spray – except it is lavender air freshener.

‘I went, “shhh shhh“ and made aerosol can signs,’ he said. ‘What more can you want?’

'HOLA! HOLA! HOLA!'

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, San Cristobel, Galapagos 

'HOLA! HOLA! HOLA!'
Bangbangbangbang on the hull -bangbangbangbang

It is 6:30 in the morning and two sleepy heads poke out of the companionway.
'Hola, mira!'  meaning !look!

We look and see the back end of a very large fuel carrier bearing down on us at what appears to be a very great rate of knots. All is clear - we have to shift, and NOW!

Scurry for some clothes, fall out on to the deck and wrap up the cover, get the anchor ready for lifting, untie the wheel, turn on the engine, while this thing gets ever closer. It is indeed vast.

Then a very nice Navy man appears in a boat and asks in English if we are going to move! I say yes, just a few minutes and he very politely agrees that is a good idea. 

So off we go trundling around the bay for another spot to sit on as the fuel carrier edges backwards towards the jetty and drops its anchor from the bow before sending stern ropes ashore to be tied off. 

We were right in the middle of the path. 

We then watch as one of the water taxis drags a big string of yellow sausages around it and we suddenly twig what it was that we had seen on the jetty the night before - a barrier in case of fuel spills.

We are OK in our present spot with one exception - we have lost our wifi link. This was a bit sporadic but we managed to get hooked up to a slow service each day, but now there is nothing and we will have to run ashore again looking for a spot on the sea front. Not as easy as you would think, as we found when I was trying to post the blog that all is not well there either. And then I finally fluked being able to post it very early last Sunday morning from the boat. So it is back to our Kate and the radio email till I can get myself sorted. Even ashore last week it took 3 goes before I could even log onto my own blog - heaven knows what goes on in the ether!.

But all is not tooooooo bad - apart from the parcel that is still stuck in Ecuador and dead domestic batteries. More of that later.

EQUATOR           

Just to prove we have crossed the equator, here is the proof – GPS reading of 00deg00.00 or almost as

there was a shutter delay, and the man doing the honours with the bottle of wine. And it is hot!!

Soooooo…..Where are we now?

Brrrkkkkk!barrrrrkkkk!Grokkkk!ArrrrrkkkArrrkkkArkkkkk!

Barkarkarkark bark bark aaaaaarrrkkkkkk!

And very loud it is too – the sounds of sea lions

We are anchored off Puerto Baquerizo Moreno (Shipwreck Bay) San Cristobel, Galapagos. And lovely it is too, if a little on the warm side for me as temperatures wander between 30 and 38 degrees C  each day. I have sent Dave ashore for an adventure of his own to get a bit of peace and quiet to do a little writing. He is not affected by the heat at all – maybe he is a cousin to the iguanas sunbaking on the rocks. I am more like the sea lions, a dip in the water before drying off before a dip in the water etc.

We are delighted to be here. It is a small community, but exceptionally friendly and incredibly safe – we have no need to lock anything or fear for our possessions as we did in Panama, and it is an open and very clean town. In fact it must be the neatest and cleanest place we have ever been in. It is also the only place we have been where the sea lions share the park benches with you and accompany you down the street. In fact there are sea lions everywhere – the childrens play area, the beaches and rocks, steps leading to the water taxis, and any dinghy afloat or low slung boat of any kind. Our friends on Fifi, a catamaran, were a prize place for a sea lion as the steps up the back of the pods were an easy jump.

There are brown pelicans  everywhere, and various as yet unidentified sea birds around, manta rays in the water and big spotted fish and the occasional turtle. We are constantly visited by sea lions swimming around us, probably looking for a sleeping place, but we have too many bits of hardware for them to get a purchase. But they delight with their grace and agility, so different to the laborious struggle up the beach and onto the rocks.

THE OUTING

We have had a superb day out as a reward for a not so superb day of engine maintenance and diesel antics. The engine work is always a nightmare – it has to be done I know – as it always involves mess, spills, spurts and leaks, despite Dave’s best efforts. So after a sweaty day sorting it all out so it is ready for the next leg which is the longest of the lot, we had a treat. Our agent, Bolivar, arranged for his friend Wilmer to take us around the island. We assumed Wilmer would have had a bit of English – wrong, but I was chuffed to bits as he conversed with me in the broken Spanish I have supplemented by lots of arm waving. He took us everywhere and walked with us too. We went up the side of the volcano, (which nearly did me in!) and Dave took off around it as well. We cannot get the pikkies of the camera he used as the battery charges won’t work and the battery is dead – grrrrrr. We then went to the tortoise conservation place.

The last giant tortoise is now dead, and with his demise the species became extinct after being hunted and eaten out of survival. There is a strong breeding programme for the other tortoises , and the place was fascinating.

Tortoises take so long to reproduce. 14 eggs a year, 25 years to sexual maturity, then well over 100 years of life. There was one we met yesterday who was 167 years of documented age and there was a bit before that – he was a family pet handed down the generations. The pikkies from the hatchery are not very good, but they stay small for ages and it is 5 years before they can be put out into the wild.

After the tortoises we drove to the other end of the island, back near where we are and along a bit, to the place where the marine iguanas are. 

They are so primeval in their looks, but not fussed by our photo shoot. Dave reckons one of them returned his good bye wave with a paw shake.

Along from the iguanas is the loberia, or seal lion nursery (Spanish for sea lion is lobo) and we watched the babies cavort and play rough and tumble in the shallows. The mums were a bit further back in the deeper water keeping a watching brief – bit like mother and toddler groups for us I guess. The photos did not show them up I am afraid. People were swimming along in the same place, and a bit further out there was a good surf for the board riders.  And it was baking hot  with no shade and the sun reflected mercilessly from the sand and the rocks.

Then home again after picking up the laundry (what an excellent way to do the washing – give it in and receive it all back clean and neatly folded!) That was icing on the cake!

Shipwreck Bay

At 5pm yesterday we dropped the anchor in Shipwreck Bay, San Cristobel. We had had to motor the last couple of days, and in the early hours of the morning yesterday the rain came - and did it come!! Visibility dropped to just above a mile, but thanks to the GPS and radar and our trusty chart we made it in OK. 

View Larger Map 

We have parked ourselves next to Fifi, and Erica and Kevin came over for a very wet visit and a cup of tea. The first thing you notice is the number of sea lions, they are everywhere including any dinghy that is in the water and on the back steps of Fifi. Fifi is a catamaran and the back steps up the pods make a really nice sea lion perch and he was not to be deterred when Kevin lowered his dinghy. During the visit we heard a grunt, groan, kerplosh as another one made it into Fifi's dinghy. 

Shipwreck Bay

Our agent braved the rain to come out to us just after the anchor was down, and after a cup of coffee departed with all our papers to fix us up. We are programmed to have a visit at 10am this morning from the Port Captain, Immigration, Customs, the Bug Catcher and the National Park man as well as our agent. Where they are all going to go I have no idea, but we have had the heads up that they will do anything for a can of Coca Cola, so there is a raft in the fridge. It is not so long ago that you could not visit at all, so these formalities are a small price (the real price is not so small!). 

So now the sun is trying to get through the clouds and maybe the rain has stopped we will get tidied up and see what we can see.

Over the line!

Such excitement filled the little boat as the numbers on the GPS started to count down. Dave was ready, but could not find a Neptune outfit, having declined the the only thing big enough for a cloak, a Cape Verde sheet I had obtained by mistake. Beard was present anyway, but crowns are in short supply on Spirit. However he had his bottle o best Australian wine, courtesy of some Aussies we met in Gibraltar. I had the camera ready to snap the appropriate numbers, and we waited in high expectation.

'000000 - Go for it!!'

Snap, snap and the the great pouring out with more snap, snap, and we were over.
Can't send the pikkies till we have ordinary e-mail though.

Funny though, south feels exactly the same as north - and there is still no wind!!!

The line across the middle is the Equator!

 ....

Had to give in and motor as not only was there less than 4 kts of wind, it was definitely coming from the wrong place. Now we might have to slow down as we are due to arrive on Sunday, which may not be a good idea. We wait advice from the agent.

309 miles to go, doing about 130 miles a day.

A story

Rummage rummage furtle furtle rustle rustle groan groan 'where on earth has she put it???' more rummage rummage.......

'Wotcha doing Dave?'
'I can't find it and we need it soon!'
'What is it?'
'I need that bottle of wine'
'But you don't drink wine anymore'
'Not for me, silly, it's for him'
'Him who?'
'King Neptune. It is only a couple of hours till we cross the equator. I can't remember though all the things you are supposed to do.' Big sigh.
'Well, we could prance around and around the cockpit I suppose.'
'Really, Jen, you could take this a bit more seriously......

Just think, in a little while we can zig-zag and go summer winter summer winter summer winter or northsouthnorthsouthnorth....!!!!  

King Neptune

Well, the no wind has finally caught up with us and we gave in last night and did a bit of motoring instead of slopping about with the sails crashing and snapping. According to the gribs we ought to be making our way out of it soon, but then there is that word ought....
Looks like a big knitting day to me.

......
Yesterday was clean the fridge day. Now for all those boatless people, our fridge is not like a domestic big box with doors on. It is a big hole under the work surface next to the sink, with a small evaporator in the roof and a compressor chugging away under the sink. I am 6 ft tall and have super long arms and by standing on tip toe and leaning over I can just wipe out the bottom. Bad luck for the petite crowd. By cunning and careful packing I can get those bricks for the esky frozen and some meat if it is put under the evaporator, but this is not so easy as the rest of the stuff in the fridge becomes a disorderly mess and occasionally need a sort out - and yesterday was the day. Best bit was finding some still edible chicken for dinner!! Just don't tell health and safety as I think we break all the rules, but so far so good.....! (And a lovely dinner it was too, courtesy of Dave and his culinary skills.)