Galapagos here we come
This is the link to the San Blas Islands video that Oscar made because I don’t think I posted it online for anyone they hasn’t seen it from him. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y0z0ZeId6g&t=93s san blas video!
Shelter Bay was the old disused US military base and we went off on a nature walk with some very keen and knowledgeable cruisers at 8am considered very late in nature walk territory! (They all had lesbian shoes on just like mine Charlie so I am keeping good company). Within just a few miles from the marina there are Howling Monkeys, Capuchin Monkeys, a sloth fairly close too and moving which was about a metre across – (subsequently learnt at Gamboa Conservation that he was a Hoffman two toed sloth very different from a three toed sloth which incidentally I have also seen!) and an absolute riot of butterflies and birds.
At Gamboa Rainforest Hotel we saw crocodiles three times in the river less than a metre away from us – quite a sight although to be honest not more than two metres long and I doubt they could do much more than give you a nasty bite on the leg – to date I’ve seen fish much bigger! We met with the APPC which is an organisation for wildlife rescue for Gamboa and were introduced to Coquito a very friendly, but totally sleepy three toed sloth!). When they were building the new locks for the Canal 85 people worked 24 hours a day rescuing and re-siting animals – the Government of Panama totally funded this but the workers were all volunteers. To be so close to so much wonderful wildlife really in the wild is totally mind boggling. The attack on senses is just beyond description – every day brings new things to see and experience. My comfort zone is now a distant memory – I seem constantly to be outside it!!!
Freezer broke again in Panama. Now fixed properly by a man carrying a lot of very sophisticated equipment and looking like he knew what he was doing – again not a foregone conclusion. Freezer filled again.
Mothers’ Day a really lovely day. Breakfast was a sumptuous feast and the table had been set beautifully – supper out in the old town was wonderful and I acted as a stand in mother for the day to the crew who all spoiled me rotten!
The saga of the vang continued. We’d been hanging around in Panama City waiting for new seals to be sent out because the seals that were fitted in Antigua were the wrong ones and thus hydraulic fluid everywhere – again. For those of you now bored with my vang tale you can skip this bit but it obsessed us for some time – and the injustice of having been so organised in Antigua and them buggering it up is beyond forgiveness. Eventually the new seals turned up and – finally – customs decided we could have them – not a foregone conclusion. Then, with happy faces, we delivered the seals to the vang fixing people – hooray (in itself a three hour round trip in Panama City traffic jams which I have not gone on about!) Vang being fixed – coming back and off we go. No. Phone call 4pm from vang fixing man the seals are the wrong ones. Moreover, they are now going home for the weekend and we cannot have our vang re-assembled for us to leave until Monday. Vang will be stowed (it is at least 8ft long and wedged into the forecabin in the middle of the bed) and a rope kicker fashioned. And then we are off. We remain jolly. We go the Mall – a lot. We go to the old town – a lot. We have our gel pedicure sorted – hair not to be trusted with Mall Salon and definitely looking extremely special now – toes are good though. Managed to purchase a new pair of Ferragamo flip-flops (culture sorted for me) and a new chain for my Tiffany heart because I snapped the old one. Anyone thinking me shallow you are not my friend and should not be reading this in any case!
I am sent to negotiate with Cesar the marina manager over fees which are very expensive. I duly trot off to the marina office and manage one free night and a 50% discount – yes, and all this without any sexual favours – what is it about me and old, sun frazzled men? Or do I just have very finely honed negotiating skills having spent so long in China!
We are off. The relief is palpable. As we sail toward Las Perlas I perch on my favourite seat at the front of the boat and feel free with the wind in my (very attractive straw texture, grey and dark roots) hair. We sail through massive tankers again all anchored outside the Canal entrance and marvel at the size of them for one last time. Whales are spotted alongside within a couple of miles offshore and then the rays. Just bobbing along – the minute they spot the boat they dart away but we see literally 100 within an hour some in family groups. It is totally magical. Then as we motor into Las Perlas a huge – at least 4ft long – Mahi Mahi just bobs across the bow where Charlotte and I are sitting. Such a carnival of colours it is wonderful to see.
Then we anchor in Las Perlas and the guys get to cleaning our bottom. Oscar dons his diving gear (a lot of faffing goes on when this is occurring) and down he goes. After an hour his air runs out and he is exhausted back on board – I tell him he has been breathing way too hard and wasting precious air (costs a lot). Is our bottom clean enough to enter the Galapagos – that is the question we are all asking ourselves. To enter we have to be inspected (dived on) and be seen to have a bottom clear of all algae etc to avoid any contamination of the islands. Once bottom clean (or once air ran out) we hope bottom clean enough we set off. This is now what kept us awake the next five days.
First night we all get into routine. It’s a shattering moment for me when I know that my trusty Blackberry which I will not let go of despite the office wanting me to be i-enabled finally lets go of its connection to the world. It is rather a strange feeling of loneliness like I have been playing at being independent. I wonder how I will cope with only once daily email updates. I remember back to when Karen went off for a year or so and the only way to keep in touch was airmail letters and I sent duplicate letters to different locations to make sure she got them. How times have changed. I am beginning to sound like an old person when of course I am not yet middle aged! I am not sure how well I would cope with all this without Oscar and Richard here I don’t think I would have been able to do it – I have just passed the milestone three months without seeing Sophie. Something I have never let happen – I bet you haven’t noticed Sophie?! I have stalked Sophie around the world via airplanes – never letting her get away from me for more than three months although she has pushed my resourcefulness at times.
4am night one and Charlotte is on watch and smells burning (why, oh why is it always dark when a crisis on board happens) So – up we get and my stress levels are high. Does my BB have signal Richard asks? No I respond. He will have to use the sat phone which he hates doing as it is at least 50p?£20 a minute (no one seems quite sure of the vast expenditure required). However, life and death situations seems to allow this to happen. Sat phone springs into action. Having evaluated the situation and shut down the engine instantly R and Oscar think it is the alternator. We wallow around in the sea thankfully now clear of the major shipping lanes which is a relief to us all. Our Volkswagen Marine engine expert (sadly based in UK not on board hence the profligate use of the sat phone) confirms that this is what he thinks too.
We get under sail and Richard and Oscar spend five very sweaty hours in the engine room – I was enormously sea-sick standing wedging the doors open! It was hot. Very. Eventually the guys get it all done and we all let out a breath. I must say that my husband is totally amazing in a crisis – I cannot think of anyone so capable that I know – and so bloody knowledgeable about our boat – he also takes time out to explain logically and carefully to me that all is well and I need not be afraid. Burned out alternator taken out, burned bits cleaned up and new alternator fitted. This really is challenging. In a very confined space. It works. Off we go.
Day 3 – it is very hot. A very exhausted swallow swoops down and lands on our decks (I sort of know how she feels). She/he stays. We christen her Sally. A totally wonderful sight. The little thing is so delicate you wonder how on earth it manages such long journeys and it is really quite inspiring. Sally roosted for the night up in the corner above the chart table and promptly went to sleep.
We see whales every day and dolphins feeding – these sights are becoming familiar to us although we don’t let one go by without us all being called up on deck and still getting excited. It is totally mad watching the dolphins feeding – literally hundreds of them together jumping up out of the water and splashing down. Presumably to shock the fish – they herd them along and it is a magnificent sight. Oscar sent up the drone during one of these displays to try to catch a different angle. We were all on edge waiting to see if the drone disappeared in the Pacific or would come back – it returned!
Sally was still there next morning and hopped down and outside. Took a few practice flights round the boat and decided it was all too much for her. Down below into the saloon she went and snuggled herself in the corner of my cabin. Very sadly having rallied and hopped up on to the washing sink after 24 hours on board she keeled over (literally). We buried her at sea – she died peacefully in luxury something I certainly aspire to!
Night five and we have five very large sea birds with bright red webbed feet and blue beaks land on the front of the boat. They jostle each other for position with four perched on the push-pit and one balanced on the anchor – they bicker a little but stay there all night and have to be chased off in the morning having liberally used us as a toilet!! They were tenacious and tried for hours to come back on board. Turns out they are red footed booby – fantastic! We loved it
We try to fish (sticky subject this with the crew) – the fish don’t like us. Our karma is not right clearly – although probably good for the fish. Good the freezer is working. We make bread each day and D’s wonderful focaccia and humous and the days drift by in a blur of whale watching, scrabble, banana scrabble, back-gammon championships…. Fishing……
Are we clean enough still obsessing Oscar. We now have to be environmentally friendly as well. Richard is like a pig in shit. He is leading the charge for us to be ready for inspection in the Galapagos. We have to have three bins with Waste, Organic Waste and Recycling clearly being used and labelled. Nothing with seeds is allowed in. No cheese. No lettuce. No garlic. No eggs. The list goes on and includes no pig semen – we are still wondering which boat carries that. The rules are rigorous and we are all very nervous as we approach. If our bottom is not deemed clean enough we will be sent out 40 miles to re-clean – a prospect none of us wants.
Oscar decides one day out of the Galapagos that our bottom might not be clean enough so we stop engine in becalmed seas and down the three of them go to clean the rudder and make absolutely sure. I am on shark watch and I take this very seriously. Two hours in the water and not a shark to be seen although Charlotte got stung by a jellyfish which I did not spot – nothing too serious and the crib sheet I had printed off at home to handle just this situation (Jellyfish stings in the Pacific) was hastily found. Great when practice is put into action makes the effort worthwhile – still not stitched anyone up……
At 9.30pm we all gathered on deck to give thanks to King Neptune for getting us this far safely and to wish for fair sailing ahead. We raised a toast on a tot of rum and gave it to the waves – this keeps him calm. We then raised our own toasts in bubbly – we had crossed the Equator. Really emotional moment I think for us all. Oscar did us proud as King Neptune and his acting skills were quite awesome!
So 6 nights and 7 days later we arrive into San Cristobel. As we approach along the islands a huge ray jumps out of the water doing a somersault and then carries along the side of the boat doing one after the other – 8 times was just superb. There are lots of them in the water but not the smaller ones we have seen these are bloody enormous. Then a couple of turtles pop up. Then a sea lion swims past bobbing its head out of the water. What a welcome. We anchored in the small bay Oscar managing to get us into a tiny spot just in front of Enso the big 82’ Oyster doing the rally – very sadly it seems that they are suffering badly from seasickness and heading home. The seas before the Pacific were horrific and I have also had a problem – everything seems much calmer this side – it is called the passive ocean for a reason.
Two hours after we get in at around 5pm officials descend on us. Firstly comes the diver who comes on board fills in a lot of paperwork and drops into the water. Out of the water and more paperwork then he leaves. Next four come onboard – one rather portly lady with them who had enormous fun trying to get from the launch onto the decks! They ask many questions and fill in a lot of paperwork. They then leave. We think it is over. It isn’t! Lastly, a further three men board. Two come down below and go through every cupboard taking photos. They look in the engine room and take photos. They go through the fridge and open the freezer. They check rice and spaghetti for infestation. One of them ran a finger along a cupboard shelf – he doesn’t know me well enough to know he will find nothing there! He found flour in Charlotte’s pants draw and UHT milk in the wardrobe – he found risotto rice and noodles in my bedside cupboard – he was slightly perplexed but we have had to get very imaginative about storing! He goes through my rubbish bins explaining exactly how to recycle! Richard loves this bit!!!
The good news is that we have passed muster. I thought Oscar was going to cry with the relief! He has worked so hard with the team to make sure everything was up to the required standard and the diving on the bottom paid off – we got a ‘good’ comment which I think is as good as it gets. Sheets changed and a good night’s sleep – until the sea-lion climbing onto the sugar scoop at 4am woke me up!
As I post this blog we have just returned from a week cruising the islands of the Galapagos and it was just the most utterly awesome experience we’ve ever had. I feel quite emotional at the enormity of the experience – will try to write up and add photos before leaving here for the three week trip to Marquesas – – but internet is very dodgy. From herein you will only get me on boat email so copy both my work email and boat sophistikate@mailasail.com PLEASE do not attach anything when sending to this address only plain email.
Sophistikate 