Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, Isla San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador -- 8. March 2007
It took an amazing amount of effort, time and money, but finally we got the new linear drive for our autopilot. Don't want to hand-steer for long distances again. Ever. We got the old one fixed as well as well as a new control unit in Trinidad, so we should be reasonably okay.
Galapagos was interesting, although we didn't do the usual tourist program. We didn't even go surfing or diving, as we were way to busy taking care of our boat. Still, over here, the wildlife comes to you and therefore we had numerous encounters with three species of boobies, marine iguanas and sea lions. The latter became a bit of a nuisance, actually, as they climb on board, even all the way into the cockpit. They make A LOT of noise, are very dirty and every time a big one comes aboard you might think that you are experiencing an earthquake. Not much sleep with those guys around and one of my big fenders got destroyed by their sharp teeth, too.
We are looking forward to the 3000 mile (5000 kilometer) trip to the Marquesas. It might take us more than a month to get there, as there are only light winds from the East or ESE indicated. That's okay, though, as we like to take it easy and aren't keen on record passages. We'll run the engine once every 18 hours for one hour to keep the deep-freeze cold. If there is no wind, we won't motor but take a little break instead. Actually, we like those breaks very much indeed!
Liping has slowly filled the freezer to the brim again, so that we don't have to give up on our customary DHARMA BUM III culinary standards. :-))) Diesel tanks are full to the brim and a few hours ago we bought another 113 liters of filtered water. I could easily find space for another 200 liters or so, but one shouldn't overdo things.
That's it for now. Next message should come from Hiva Oa in a month or so. (World Cruising Routes: The average length of this passage is about 30 days, although some boats have taken longer and even up to twice that time, mainly those who are not prepared to motor in calm or light weather conditions.)
Ciao!
Aurora Ulani, Liping & Holger
