june 1 2004 : isla santa cruz, galápagos islands, ecuador
Not much to report yet from the Galápagos. We have spent the last couple of days working on boat projects. We’ve spent hours at the hardware store trying in vain to communicate with the nice people there. It’s funny how well stocked the place is with plumbing hardware, but then they don’t have a simple thing like razor blades. But they have been super helpful and we’ve been teaching each other English and Spanish. We’re also doing what we can to contribute to the local economy by drinking plenty of those giant beers, and eating plenty of pizza. There are also a few little roadside stands. We stopped at one today, and I ordered us a couple of tostadas. We didn’t know what they were but figured we’d give it a try. Well, she brings over our food, and it’s a couple of toasted ham and cheese sandwiches. I think something was lost in translation there.
We brought our laundry in and had it done today. You would have thought Ali won the lottery. If I would have known how happy having someone else do our laundry would make her I would have sent it out to be done a long time ago. Then we stopped at a little outdoor restaurant for dinner and ordered the special, since that was all they had. We had soup and a big plate of fish, rice, and salad. Delicious, and all for $3. If you can’t tell, I’ve been very happy with the food here and the number of different restaurants.
Last night we got back to the dinghy a little after dark and found that our fuel line and kill switch were gone. That really bummed us out. Here we were really enjoying this town and then somebody goes and steals from us. Funny thing about it was that for some reason I have an extra fuel line in the storage compartment on the dinghy, and you can just hold the kill button up, or stick a coin under it, and be on your way. So as we drove off, I figured there were a couple of smart-ass kids watching us and wondering how the hell we got the engine started. I should mention that the dinghy dock is right next to the port captain’s office which is crawling with army and police types.
So tonight as we got back to the dinghy a couple of guys, including the port captain, came out to talk to us. Seems they had taken our fuel line and kill switch. Keep in mind that not one person so far in the Galápagos has spoken a word of English, so trying to communicate beyond ordering food and drinks has been a bit tough. From what I could gather, they took our stuff assuming that we would come into the office asking about it. Apparently they wanted to see us and this was their way of going about it.
I was talking to the port captain, and about the only thing I could figure out was that he wanted us to pay him $5. Now I have no idea what this would be for, so I just continued on with my stupid American act (yes, it’s just an act). Eventually he gave up, but he asked me to come see him tomorrow. We’ll see what that’s all about. Everybody seemed happy and were joking around so I don’t think it’s anything too serious. They seemed genuinely amazed that we had a spare fuel line and didn’t have to row the boat home last night. When I came back from talking to these guys I found Ali being hit on by one of the army guys. He didn’t speak any English either but he did know enough to tell Ali she looked like she was 20 years old. I had to assure him that she was mi esposa (my wife) before he would give it up.
june 3 2004 : isla santa cruz
After two more days of working, and four more trips to the hardware store, we still have no water on the port side of the boat. I won’t go into detail, but let’s just say that whoever built this boat is a complete moron. The water lines that burst are actually fiberglassed into the boat. So it is impossible to pull them out and replace them. But I digress. Other than boat work we haven’t really done much here.
Yesterday we went in to see the port captain like he requested. No wonder they tried to strand us on land the other day. They wanted their money, and a lot of it. We had to pay fees for the lights and buoys, channel access, anchorage, use of a radio frequency, etc. etc.. The total for this came out to $223! While we were in there and they were filling out all the paperwork, I ran back to the boat to get some cash. After I left they decided to give Ali a stern lecture on the proper use of the dinghy dock. See below picture of how we found our dinghy after a couple of hours in town.
Apparently they weren’t happy with my above anchoring techniques. They told her through an interpreter that we were to use a stern anchor, lift the engine up, and take our kill switch out. But since they are all in love with Ali they don’t get too mad. And in fact today they even asked us to go pick up some of their guys off of a boat and bring them back to the dock since they don’t have a dinghy of their own. So now they better not yell at us again.
Other observations on the Galápagos. It’s cold! We are right on the equator and we actually had to dig the blankets out again. I guess it has something to do with the Humboldt current coming up from Antarctica or something. I don’t know. But the water is only about 79 degrees compared to 93 in Panama. And from what I hear there are areas around the islands that the water temp actually drops to around 60. That’s where the penguins will be found. Temperature wise it has only been in the 70’s as well. It’s actually perfect, just not what we had expected.
Also, we now know what happened to those ill fated dollar coins that the U.S. printed up a couple of years ago. I don’t think I ever saw one in use in the States but here they are everywhere. I think the U.S. shipped the entire inventory down here after they realized that nobody wanted to use them. Now the coins can’t get off the island. Every time somebody gives them to us we turn around and use them as quickly as we can. It’s probably been a boon to the tourist shops since any time somebody has two dollar coins they just buy a keychain or something to get rid of them.
Going back to the dinghy. They have a rule here that you are supposed to wear a life jacket. All the water taxi drivers wear them and give them to their passengers. However, if you go out on the street here you will find every possible type of dangerous transportation available. I don’t think there are any rules for on the road. Just about every other vehicle that comes down the street is a moped with a minimum of three people on it. Usually at least one infant squeezed between a couple of adults. Or if the child is over three years old they get promoted to the front seat and are given the responsibility of steering. They also cruise around on ATVs. Again with the minimum number of three passengers.
One thing that I found pretty ingenious is the use of an additional seat on all their bicycles. Just about every bike has a homemade seat added to the bar between the seat and the handlebars. This is in lieu of a baby seat, but really anybody can sit there.
Anyway, we are having a great time here. The people are terrific, the food is good, the selection at the hardware store is excellent, and the weather is nice. Now if we can just get out and see a little bit of the islands we will really be in business. Oh and one last thing. If you notice on the budget page that the money we have spent at restaurants/bars has dropped from about $500 a month to about $250. The sole reason for that is that the price of beer went from $4 a bottle in the Bahamas to $1 since then.
june 6 2004 : isla santa cruz
Yesterday we did a bit more boat work in the morning and then in the afternoon we decided to relive our Saturday afternoon ritual from back in Chicago. Every Saturday around three in the afternoon we would go to Lou Malnatti’s for pizza and numerous pitchers of beer, then we would be home asleep by eight o’clock. Well we went to Hunan Café here in the Galápagos, not quite the same, but the pizza was good, and the beer had the same effect as in Chicago.
Today we had still more boat work to do. We removed and resealed three more hatches that had been leaking. That brings the total up to seven hatches that we have had to do this to. In addition to replacing every thru-hull. Sometimes I can’t imagine that they had ever built a boat before ours. How could they not seal things properly? You’d think that they would have that part figured out by now.
We did get signed up for our tour boat cruise. It leaves on Thursday for four nights. We chose to go on the biggest boat (90 passengers) they have cruising here in the islands. We get enough cruising on small boats. So we’re looking forward to some good food, a nice private hot shower, and oh yeah, a lot of cool wildlife.
june 7 2004 : isla santa cruz
Happy Birthday to my Mom and her twin sister Beth! Today was one of those days where you have big plans but no matter what you do, nothing seems to get done. To start I should mention that to pay for our tour boat we have to pay cash. Actually, we could charge it but there is a 22% surcharge. We emptied all of our hidden stashes of cash onboard the boat and still came up short. We had tried the one ATM on the island a couple of times but it was unable to process our transaction. Then we found out that the bank could give us a cash advance on our credit card, with a maximum of $500 every four days. Since the cruise is in three days that meant that we could get only one withdrawal of $500. So we waited in line for nearly a half hour and got what we could. After exhausting every other possibility we could think of we suddenly remembered seeing a Western Union sign down one of the side streets. We walked over there and were told she would be back in a few minutes.
Next stop was up to the hardware store just around the corner. After another half hour or so in there I asked Ali to run back over to the Western Union to try and get information on how the heck to get some money sent to us. Ten minutes later while I was still getting the supplies we needed to fix the water hose again, Ali walks in with tears in her eyes and mud all over her shirt. It seems the Western Union lady has a puppy. A chocolate lab puppy that weighs about 75 pounds and likes to jump up on people and nip at them. So she had been attacked by a cute dog who was just a little rougher than he meant to be, and whose owner it took about 30 seconds to finally realize that she needed to chase the dog off with a broomstick. I of course felt terrible for sending Ali out on her own only to be attacked by a dog. So we marched back over there and I was promptly jumped on by the dog. I ended up walking him all the way down the sidewalk with my hand in his mouth. He didn’t bite, he just liked to chew. After all this we get in the office and the lady asks us to come back at two. It’s lunch time. So we take the hint and head off to lunch ourselves.
We stopped at a new place and ordered up the special. For four bucks you get a glass of juice, a bowl of soup, a plate of rice, beef, and fried plantains, and a dessert of bananas and chocolate sauce. That’s a good lunch. Next stop was the internet café to check out the Western Union website. The connection was really slow today and after an hour we were still on the W.U. website. We tried to send ourselves money, but it wouldn’t let us. Apparently it could tell that we weren’t actually in the U.S. Then we ordered some books to be sent to our parents so that they can drag them along next time they come visit. All this somehow took three hours. Now we realized that we were really desperate for some cash. So we went to the phone company to call my mom. After wishing her a happy birthday I sprung the real reason for the call on her. Of course she was so surprised to hear from us that she didn’t even mind that we had ulterior motives.
By now it was five o’clock and we were starting to think about dinner. So after stopping at the grocery store again, where we bought ten more cans of tuna, don’t ask about that please, we went back to our favorite pizza joint. We finally got back to the boat at 6:30 after leaving in the morning at 9:30. So the boat is still a mess, and we have that much more to do tomorrow now. That’s about the pace of things out here on the islands.
june 8 2004 : isla santa cruz
Another sad day today. Ali woke up this morning to check email and found out that her uncle Reynold had died in an ATV accident over the weekend. When describing uncle Reynold I think the first thing that most people would say is, what a character. So again we find ourselves far from home during a tough time for our family. We send our best wishes to all of them.
Much more productive day today in town. First thing this morning we went in to see if our Western Union cash had shown up. It did! Of course the lady had to go to the bank to get the money, so could we come back again in an hour? So we went to the bank again ourselves. This time to see if we could get money out in Ali’s name. Even though it was the same account they let us have it. So after going back to collect our cash from W.U. we finally had enough money to pay for this boat tour. I can’t remember the last time I had to pay cash for something that expensive. We definitely have to get some travelers checks onboard.
We went to the travel agency to see Christian, who was quite happy to see us. He had news for us regarding our FedEx package. He was so happy with himself it was kind of sad to see the look of disappointment on his face when he realized we weren’t happy that the Ecuadorian customs wanted $270 in duty to release our package. It seems that despite the invoices on the package they have decided that the contents are worth $5000. Now believe me, we aren’t importing $5000 worth of goods into Ecuador. We have a camera, a French/English dictionary, and a Leatherman. Total value of the goods probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $600. In fact we insured the package for $500.
So Christian got on the horn with his friend who works for FedEx. After talking to him he promised to have the package delivered tomorrow and he would see what he could do about lowering the customs tax. But he’s not making any promises. So it looks like we might end up paying somewhere in the neighborhood of a 50% import duty. What a joke.
We then spent an hour trying to call home with no luck. We did manage to hear the phone get picked up a couple of times but were then promptly disconnected. We went back to the same place as yesterday for lunch. The special today was lasagna with garlic bread, a big glass of juice, and dessert, which was some sort of frozen custard. Delicious again. It always puts a big smile on their faces when they come to clear our plates and they look like they have already been washed.
I also wanted to mention again what a nice time we are having here in Puerto Ayora. We love it. Now that we have been here almost two weeks we walk down the street (there are really only two streets with everything on them you could need) and have all sorts of people waving to us and saying hello. Especially those army guys, they are like school kids when they see Ali.
At the bank we ran into the owner of the pizza place and he came over and shook our hands. It’s fun staying in one place for a while and getting to know the people a little bit. One funny thing about those army guys is that they spend at least half of every day playing soccer. Actually it’s not soccer but it’s similar, it’s played on a concrete court about the size of a basketball court and the ball is smaller and softer. They have these orange uniforms with skimpy little black shorts. And they spend way more time wearing this and playing games than they do anything else. Today we even saw all of them load up into a couple of taxi’s (taxi’s here are pickup trucks). We think they were going out for an away game.
Man this is getting long again, but I just remembered the best part about the day today. A couple of cruisers had told us about a place where you could go cliff diving called Las Grieta. They said that kids were diving off a cliff 100 feet high. I was sure this had to be an exaggeration so we went to check it out. Turns out it was only about 40 feet, but the place was beautiful. It’s basically a big crack in the earth and it is filled with a mix of saltwater and freshwater. It was so clear you could see the bottom which was deep enough that I couldn’t swim down to it. There were a couple of other people there and one guy was jumping off the cliff. I climbed up after him. The first level must have only been about 15 feet and was too easy so I climbed up to about 25 feet. That was much more fun. The next stop was the top of the cliff but it seemed like you would have to jump a long way out to clear the rocks so I passed on that one. So that was pretty fun. Gotta go now, time to pick up our laundry.
june 10 2004 : galápagos tour
We left early this morning to catch the 7:15 bus to the airport where we would be meeting the representatives for our cruise. When we got to the dock Johnny, the guy who has been working on getting our FedEx package to us was waiting. He told us that the package was coming in on the first flight of the day. He gave us instructions to give to his friend Juan Carlos who works on our cruise boat. So we got on the bus for the 45 minute ride to the airport. Right before the airport we had to stop and board a ferry to take us across the bay where we boarded another bus for a quick five minute ride to the airport. We found Juan Carlos right away and he promised us that if the package was on the flight that he would have it delivered to us on the boat. So with that taken care of we boarded yet another bus to take us to the boat.
The boat was exactly what we had hoped. Very big, very clean, and with an extremely nice crew. After dropping off our bag in our room we went to lunch. They had a great big buffet laid out. Everything was great. After that the boat got underway. We ran into Juan Carlos on our way up to our room and he had our package. So once again we have a camera. Now we can get back to taking a lot of pictures again.
An hour later we were at our first stop, Bartolome. We got into our groups of 15 per inflatable including our naturalist guide. They took us over to the island for a hike to the top of the hill. Our guide gave us lessons about volcanoes and the plant life on the way up. The view from the top was incredible and you could see nine islands from up there. After hiking back down they took us over to the beach to do some snorkeling. We knew the water was going to be cold when we saw the penguins sitting on the rocks nearby.
Ali and I went for a quick swim but didn’t see too much. We did get to swim right up close to a sea lion lounging on the rocks. Back at the boat we showered. That might have been worth the price of the cruise all by itself. It’s been a while since we had an unlimited hot water shower. The way we were both oohing and aahing I’m sure the neighbors got the wrong idea about what was happening in our room. After a delicious dinner we called it a night. They’ve got another full day planned for us tomorrow.
june 11 2004 : galápagos tour
This morning we left early for a hike on Espinoza Point on the island of Fernandina. They had told us we were going to be taking a hike that would last two and a half hours. It did but we actually only hiked about 400 yards during that time. But that was all it took for us to see 100’s of marine iguanas warming on the rocks, dozens of sea lions lounging and playing on the beach, and a bunch of flightless cormorants. Ali and I don’t like reptiles, and we find birds a bit boring, but the sea lions make up for all of that.
After that was snorkeling. The water was ridiculously cold. Well under 70 degrees. But again, that was made up for by the animals. Right after getting in there was a sea lion who came over to play. It was incredible. He would swim right at you and then veer away at the last second, do a spin and come right back, then blow bubbles in your face. He even hit me on top of the head with his flipper on one pass. I shot a bunch of underwater pictures of him and ran out of film before we even saw the penguins swimming around next to us, followed by a few sea turtles just floating on by inches away from us. It was amazing to be that close to these animals.
After going back to the boat and having lunch the boat moved to another anchorage about a half hour away. In the afternoon we hiked up a hill in Tagus Cove on Isla Isabela. That was alright, but it was mainly plants and things like that. Next we all loaded into the dinghy for a ride along the rocks rimming the cove. There were sea lions, penguins, blue footed boobies, sea turtles, and even a quick dolphin sighting. That was it for today. I should say that Ali and I have never been all that into the whole animal tour/ecotourism type thing before. But these islands are intoxicating. The ability to see these animals in such a unique environment is amazing.
Now we have to go to dinner, where we are sure to be bored to tears by a lawyer on the boat who isn’t the least bit interested in talking about anything except himself and his family. It’s actually quite comical to listen to. Last night cracked us up though. We were sitting at the bar and he came up and ordered, “Dos piña coladas por favor.” Now this is about the simplest saying there is in the Spanish language. He then looks over at us and says, “I speak Spanish really well.” Well we thought he was being sarcastic so sarcastically I replied, “Oh yeah, that was really impressive.” And he says, obviously without sensing my sarcasm, “Thanks, I had three years of Spanish in High School. I’m the only one in my family who speaks it.” As if we were supposed to be super impressed. After he walked away Ali and I burst out laughing. We can’t wait to hear what he says next. Hopefully it will be in Spanish.
june 12 2004 : galápagos tour
Woke up early again this morning for another hike. This time we were going to see the Galápagos fur sea lions at Egas Port on San Salvador Island. These guys are a little different from the regular sea lions in that they have furrier bodies and faces. We only saw a couple of them. After the hike though we went snorkeling off a beautiful black sand beach.
Right away Ali and I went off on our own and found a sea lion who wanted to play. We swam with him for quite a while. The cool thing about swimming with these guys is how curious they are. I dive to the bottom and do some flips underwater and they just sit close by watching and then they come over right next to you and copy you, doing flips and spins of their own and then they’ll pull away and just watch you again to see what you’ll do next.
After that it was back to the boat for lunch, while we moved over to Rabida Island. In the afternoon we went over to the beach. There were dozens of sea lions lounging on the dark red sand. We also got to walk right up to pelicans nesting. I went snorkeling again and found three sea lions this time who wanted to play. These guys were more playful than any so far. They were nibbling on my fins.
We’re excited about tomorrow because we are visiting the Charles Darwin Station in Puerto Ayora. Which means we get to see our boat and set our minds at ease again. It’s hard to leave Bum knowing how many things can go wrong. But we’ve done a pretty good job of not stressing out about it and I’m sure when we get there tomorrow everything will be fine.
june 13 2004 : galápagos tour
Today was Galápagos giant tortoise day. We woke up this morning anchored in Puerto Ayora. We quickly went outside on deck to see if Bumfuzzle was still floating. Thankfully she was. We went into town to the Charles Darwin Research Station where they have a whole bunch of giant tortoises that they are breeding to repatriate to their respective islands. They’ve done a lot of great work there and it was interesting to see.
In the afternoon we took a bus up into the Highlands to see some more tortoises in their natural environment. We saw a few more, but I have to admit that tortoises aren’t all that exciting. Not quite as playful as sea lions.
june 14 2004 : galápagos tour
This morning we took a quick trip to the beach on the north side of Santa Cruz. We found a flamingo feeding in one of the salt ponds behind the beach. Then I went for a quick snorkel. I told Ali this morning that the number one way I could tell that she enjoyed the food on this cruise was that the candy bar that she had brought from home was still sitting on the nightstand this morning. Normally I wouldn’t have given odds on that thing lasting twenty-four hours.
june 15 2004 : isla santa cruz, galápagos islands, ecuador
Just wanted to tell you how we finally fixed the water hose. Since I couldn’t pull out the old hose, and couldn’t run a new one through anywhere else I finally came to the conclusion that the only way to get water to the back of the boat would be to run a 3/8 inch hose through the old 1/2 inch hose. So after doing that and buying and installing all new fittings and connections to convert from 3/8 to 1/2 we are finally back in business. Definitely not a permanent fix, but with any luck it will get us to New Zealand where I can hire a proper professional to tear the boat apart and redo all that crappy plumbing.
The other day we got an email from Mrs. Corbett’s 3rd grade class in Fredericton New Brunswick, Canada. It seems her class gets to follow our journey along in the classroom (hopefully Mrs. Cobett does a little editing before class). Here are some of the questions and comments the kids had about our trip. We thought they were great.
Is going around the world fun?
I can tell why everyone wants to date your wife!
Do you get paid for this?
Which guy loves Ali the most, besides you?
Was it windy in the equator?
By the time your hair grows back, you’ll probably be 50! And then you’ll likely be going bald all over again!
Your short hair scares me…just joking.
I thought it would have been hotter at the equator. That’s neat!
Hi. Your bald head is another thumbs down from me!
So those brought a big smile to our faces. As you can see the kids liked my haircut about as much as everybody else that we heard from did. Don’t worry, it seems to be growing back just fine. And it will probably even be back before I am 50!
june 16 2004 : isla santa cruz
Okay, we’re off for the Marquesas tomorrow. Today we went and bought all of our fresh fruits and vegetables. I’m sure they’ll last us less than a week. Then it will be back to our chili and grilled cheese sandwiches. We also filled up the tanks with diesel. Diesel only cost $1.02 per gallon here, by far the cheapest we have gotten anywhere which I thought was a bit strange seeing as how we are farther from the mainland than we have ever been.
june 17 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
We’re underway. This morning I jumped in the water to pull up the back anchor and a sea lion came over and swam with me for a minute. A very cool way to say goodbye to the Galápagos. A few miles out there was a huge flock of birds flying around over the water. As we got closer we could see that the water looked like it was boiling. The big fish must have been feeding on the little ones. The water actually sounded like it was washing up on rocks. It would have scared the heck out of us in the dark.
Sailing really slow right now in about 6 knots of wind. Figure now wouldn’t be the most prudent time to start using up our diesel. The forecast looks good for the next couple of days so we’ll just wait for the wind to fill in.
june 18 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
Once again the forecasted winds have let us down. Day one we made a whopping 60 miles. A 2.5 knot average. About the speed you would do on a leisurely walk around the park. Three separate times the winds picked up to 10 knots and we were moving about 6-7 knots with the favorable current. All three times it lasted less than 15 minutes before dying back down to 3 knots. Right now we are motoring again, hoping to get south into the trade winds that are supposed to be there.
june 19 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
Winds finally filled in a little bit last night and we are sailing along at about 5 knots. Feels good to finally be making a little ground. We’re both feeling pretty lazy and tired today. Don’t know what our problem is but we are glad that the boat hasn’t required a change in sails for a couple of days.
I managed to get a little boat work done this morning. Fixed leak number 157. This time it wasn’t the boats fault but instead was a leaky seal on the raw water pump for the port engine. This would be about a five minute job if it wasn’t for the fact that one out of the four bolts holding it in place is completely inaccessible. The other three you crank off with a socket, but this one you can just barely get at with a wrench, and then you can only turn the wrench about 1/8 of a turn at a time. After a few hours of messing around with that we have a dry bilge again.
Long way to go, but making some progress now. And the seas are staying nice and flat making for a nice quiet boat. Ali is busy chopping onions right now for our refried beans and pita feast. Hope we catch some fish soon. Also, the air temp is only 76 degrees today and the water is 79. Where is the hot sun and warm waters of the tropics? We feel like we’re sailing around Maine or something.
june 20 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
Now we’re cooking. Last night we averaged over 6.5 knots and today we are doing even better. We should have our best 24 hour period ever if this keeps up a while longer. It’s hard to keep yourself from calculating how long it will take to get there at this speed or that speed, since the good times never seem to last. The wind and waves have shifted to about 120 degrees off the bow, meaning that they are finally following us instead of us beating into them. The boat is incredibly quiet and smooth considering we are sailing over eight knots.
This morning as the sun came up we could see the extent of the nights catch. We had two flying fish and a squid on the back of the boat and then up front tangled up in the furling line we found a pile. Maybe I should just throw out a tangle of line to try and catch some fish since nothing else seems to be working.
june 21 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
In the last 24 hours we logged 164 miles which is more than the first two days combined. The wind finally showed up and it’s been howling at close to 20 knots now for over a day. Luckily the waves are from behind and only help speed us along while the ride on board is still very comfortable. Last night we had another killing spree on Bumfuzzle. She captured and killed at least 20 flying fish and squid. So this morning I spent a half hour cleaning up the scales and the black goop. The scales are tough to get off and I think if you left them they would permanently bake themselves onto the boat.
Also I forgot to tell you, the night before last while Ali was on watch she had a ship come into view. So she kept an eye on him and he seemed to be coming straight at us from a little behind us on the starboard side. When he was about ten miles out she gave him a call on the VHF just to confirm that he saw us, which he did. So we assumed he would take a safe route around us. Well when he was two miles out she woke me up because he was still bearing down on us. He eventually ended up passing right in front of us, close enough that I could shine the spotlight on the back of the ship and make out things on board. They just shined a spotlight back at us. Then he made a sharp turn to port and sailed back away from us on the port side. So basically he could have easily turned a couple of degrees when he was a few miles out from us and passed safely way behind us, since that was where he was headed anyway. I’m not sure what the deal was with that one but it was a bit strange.
june 22 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
Great day yesterday. First the fact that we covered 184 miles. That’s huge speed for us. We even hit as high as 11.7 surfing down a wave. Then in the afternoon I decided to try out some small lures. I threw two different colored small three inch squid out and within an hour we had fish on both lines. The first one came in a small wahoo which I at first thought was another barracuda. That would have ticked me off. The other line had a small mahi mahi. We got both of them on the boat and good and drunk on vodka. These guys were small enough that we didn’t need to enlist the services of Ugly Billy.
So last night I threw a few mahi mahi filets in tin foil, put it in the oven for 15 minutes, laid them on some good homemade (somebody else’s home) bread with mayo and tartar, and had fish sandwiches. Unfortunately, Ali wasn’t feeling that great yesterday so she took a pass on the fish. But there’s plenty left over for today. Still making great time today, although we’ve had to alter course south a bit farther than we’d like, but with two weeks to go I think we can worry about tacking later.
june 23 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
Yet another fine day of trade wind sailing. I think I’m finally feeling in the groove of things, in that I don’t feel quite so tired anymore, and since the sailing and the motion have been so good we’ve been eating pretty well too. A lot better than when the boat is pounding in big seas. Ali is getting anxious to get there and not liking the thought of two more weeks ahead of us. But she hasn’t been feeling all that great either, losing a little lunch over the side yesterday. Hopefully the sailing stays good and I’m sure she’ll start feeling better.
Yesterday we hit a new high speed aboard Bumfuzzle of 13.4 knots. We were sailing along in beautiful weather when a little rainstorm rolled over us kicking the wind up to about 27 knots. We didn’t reef, just enjoyed the ride and it was all over in about 10 minutes. Then of course another one came through a half hour later, and this time I thought, Boy, I should probably put a reef in and slow things down a little bit. But ten minutes later it passed again. When it looked like another one was on the way we decided to reef the main and take a couple turns in on the jib. Of course, the next storm never came, and a half hour later we were shaking out the reefs. I knew reefing was for wimps, the boat was handling the big winds just fine sailing downwind with the waves.
This morning we caught another wahoo, this one just a couple inches bigger than the one the other day. So it looks like fresh fish dinner for the third night in a row. That’s what I’m talking about!
june 24 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
A little slower yesterday, but still a good run. Listen to me, now we are complaining when we only do 156 miles in a day. After six full days we are just over a third of the way there. The winds died down for a few hours yesterday to about 10 knots so we decided to see if we could get better speed by hoisting the screecher instead of the main and jib. After all the work of changing out the sails, we were going a little slower. So back out we went to return things to the way they were.
By late afternoon the winds picked back up and last night we were flying. I woke up at one point and it felt like the boat was going 100 miles an hour, so I poked my head up to check on Ali and found her sitting at the computer. I asked if everything was alright and she said fine, no problems. I said it seemed like we were going a little fast and she just shrugged. Then this morning she tells me that we were actually doing 10-11 knots when I asked her that. Whatever, once again the boat seemed to be handling everything just fine so I guess we’ll take those kinds of speeds.
Yesterday when we were hoisting the main back up our winch completely died. It’s not been working correctly for a while now but the one time I tried to fix it I couldn’t figure out how to get it apart. So when it finally stopped working altogether yesterday I figured I’d better try again. This time I did what most women would have done in the first place, I got out the manual. Jackpot. I had that thing torn apart in just a couple of minutes, figured out why it wasn’t working and put it all back together without losing any pieces. Then since it was so easy I tore apart the other one and cleaned and greased it. It’s amazing having winches that will actually help when you want to hoist a sail. Probably should have done that little project a while ago. Oh well, it’s done now.
One other thing that’s making this passage so much better than our last is a little addition we made while in the Galápagos. We had a problem with the sink in the kitchen. When they installed it they ran the drain hose straight down about three feet to a thru-hull drain. Well the problem with that is that when a couple of big waves meet each other under the boat they smash together and all the pressure from that needs to escape somewhere. Well, it would inevitably escape by blasting up through the sinks drain hose, which would then shoot the seawater all over the kitchen (galley, whatever). Even worse was when Ali would be doing dishes and it would blow the drain plug right out and she would have a face full of dirty dishwater. Needless to say this didn’t put her in the best mood. So anyway, the solution we came up with was to add a valve to the hose. So now we can keep it shut all the time while underway, and then when we want to drain the sink we just turn the valve for a second. You wouldn’t believe the morale booster that little $3 part has been.
june 25 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
Not much to report. Another good day of sailing. We didn’t catch any fish all day and then right after having dinner we caught a nice sized tuna. Since we couldn’t eat him fresh we decided to throw him back. Hopefully there will be more tomorrow.
june 26 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
Yes, another day of perfect sailing weather. Today however, we finally had to change the sails around. We’ve been heading SW with the east wind for the last week but are finally starting to get a little too far south, unless we want to tack back north later on. So today we turned the boat straight west and put out the screecher to the port side and the main all the way out on the starboard side, wing-and-wing. A friend of ours told us how he sailed with this arrangement when he was sailing a Wildcat. It looks pretty cool and is working great. Hopefully this way we’ll be able to avoid any unnecessary mileage.
Ali made some of her famous pink Rice Krispy bars yesterday. Pink due to the fact that the only marshmallows they had were these funky colored ones. What happened to just plain white marshmallows?
june 27 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
Well we knew things couldn’t be perfect forever. Yesterday we only covered 140 miles. Our slowest run since day two. The wind has only been blowing around 10 knots since yesterday morning and straight out of the east. Running directly downwind for the first time we are realizing it is kind of a pain in the butt. The biggest problem with it is that to run wing-and-wing like this you need to keep the wind directly behind you. If it shifts too far one way then the screecher starts flapping wildly, and if it gets too far the other way behind the main, you will have an accidental gybe.
So during the day yesterday the wind stayed fairly steady and we didn’t have to adjust much. Then of course once it got dark out it became variable and started swinging 20 degrees each way. So we basically had to keep an eye on it at all times and be constantly adjusting our angle. Ali must be better at this than me because I had the main gybe on me twice during my watches. Luckily we had a preventer on the boom which kept it from swinging wildly across to the other side of the boat. Our preventer is just a line tied around the boom and off to a cleat on the boat at the other end. The big problem with an accidental gybe then was that the boat just continues to turn now that the wind has filled the sail on the other side. So I had to turn on the engines and use them to get us back on course and gybe the main back to the side it is supposed to be on.
Anyway, this morning I woke up and Ali said we needed to switch the sides that the sails were on. Hopefully if we did that we would be able to keep the screecher filled better. So as we went about doing this we needed to do a controlled gybe and get the main across to the other side. Ali had the line to the traveler, which the boom runs along to get it farther out to the sides of the boat, in her hands but had unwrapped it from the cleat. As soon as the main gybed the sheet went ripping through her hands leaving her with some nasty rope burns across a couple of fingers. She’s okay, just pissed off.
june 28 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
Yesterday morning Ali made a nice pancake breakfast for us with the understanding that it was then my job to catch a fish for dinner. Well ten minutes after we finished eating I hauled in a wahoo that was at least twice as big as the ones we caught earlier in the trip. As I was lifting him the two feet from the water on to the back transom he suddenly fell. I don’t even know what happened because he wasn’t flapping or anything. The only thing I can think is that the hook ripped through his lip. He seemed as shocked by it as I was and just sat there staring at us pulling away from him for a few seconds before darting off back into the depths. Bummer. We didn’t get another bite all day.
Last night we decided to switch the sails and head a little farther south hoping for a more relaxing night watch, since sailing wing-and-wing we have to keep a pretty close eye out for wind shifts. Once again though, the screecher wasn’t going to allow us to roll it up. We are still completely bumfuzzled (see, it can be used in a sentence, at least with my grammar) as to how to roll that sail in if the wind is over 10 knots. The top third of the sail will not roll with the rest of the sail and ends up flapping violently and getting all twisted up while the rest of the sail is nicely rolled at the bottom. We quickly gave up and set the sails back out the way they were. We’re about ready to unhook that whole sail setup and throw it into the ocean.
Things were better though this morning when Ali woke me up with, “Fish on!” We brought in another tiny mahi mahi which should be just big enough for dinner tonight.
One other amusing note. Today I was reading a cruising magazine, Latitudes and Attitudes April edition, that I have had since Panama. In it there is a page titled Piracy Report. In the short list of places to stay clear of was our favorite, Buenaventura, Colombia, which we stopped at in May. Glad we didn’t read the magazine before we got there, not that it would have mattered I guess.
later…Forget the small fish dinner, we are having a feast tonight. I laid down for a nap this afternoon only to have Ali wake me up again with, “Fish on!” This time we had two big mahi mahi on the lines. We must have sailed right through a school of them. We pulled in the first one and after introducing him to Ugly Billy and pouring him a drink he was happy to join us. Then because he was so big and we had the small one from this morning we decided to let the other one go. That one was just a touch smaller than this one.
june 30 2004 : pacific ocean crossing
Just finished reading Typee by Herman Melville. It takes place in the Marquesas so it seemed the appropriate time to read it. Here’s a little quote from the book describing his vision of the islands.
“The Marquesas! What strange visions of outlandish things does the very name spirit up! Cannibal banquets – groves of cocoa-nut – coral reefs – tattooed chiefs – and bamboo temples; sunny valleys planted with bread-fruit trees – carved canoes dancing on the flashing blue waters – savage woodlands guarded by horrible idols – heathenish rites and human sacrifices.”
Hopefully they have given up on the human sacrifices, though according to the guidebooks these islands were one of the last to give up the practice of cannibalism. I think in restaurants we’ll just stick to the fish dinners anyway.
The wind has finally died down on us, only blowing about 10 knots right now. We have 1000 miles to go out of 3000, so we’re hoping this is just a temporary let up. I was looking at the charts the other day and realized that a straight line from New York to L.A. is only 2600 miles. So we are sailing farther than that, and doing it at about six mph. Just to give you an idea, go out and drive around your neighborhood at 6 mph and then think about doing that all the way across the country.