Sophistikate

Leaving The Marquesas and underway once again..
But not so painful this time! Only a three day sail to The Tuamotus which are our next destination. However, we have been screaming along for almost 24 hours at around 10 knots which does make for very uncomfortable sailing – albeit Oscar loving every second! Very sadly we have had the first two people drop out of the rally (D it is Nick and Yvonne which was very sad) – there is a lot of strain put on relationships when on a boat for such a long time and it is hard even if you are family and can have a good hissy fit occasionally – when friends do this it stretches the limits of those relationships. It is by far the very hardest part of long distance sailing in my mind.
We have been having an awesome time in The Marquesas – from Fatu Hiva we sailed overnight to Hiva Oa and as we came in to the bay and anchored guys on meteorite came over in their dinghy and told us they had been snorkelling with huge manta rays out in the bay alongside a huge rock – tired as we were we dropped the dinghy, grabbed the snorkels and headed off. We anchored the dinghy and were not disappointed – as I dropped over the side Oscar did hand signals (bit manic!) there in front of me was the biggest manta ray with the biggest mouth you have ever seen – at least three metres across and bigger than me. Was just the most incredible sight and it swam straight at me not in the least bit bothered – I was! If you don’t know what a huge manta ray looks like google it – was just unbelievable. There were three of them just cruising around feeding and we were just so close – even Richard was snorkelling with them albeit hanging onto the boat for security! With the help of our agent we go through immigration on a Bank Holiday and the Gendarme was dragged out of a makeshift gym to organise – very sweaty man straight out of Allo Allo who proceeded to put his official hat on even with a vest and towel round his neck! We all had to be seen in his office and very jolly he was too – delighted to see us and asked if our boat was big as the crew had very nice t-shirts and could he possibly have one! We set off on a tour of the island next day with some friends Cathy and Joe and our wonderful, huge guide Piefa who was adorned with a huge necklace of shark vertebrae, boar’s horn and a variety of exotic carved rosewood quite a sight. His surname was O’Connor and his forebears came here on the hunger ships during the potato famine in Ireland via New Foundland! Bizarre. Our end objective was to visit Puamau and the Iipona archaeological site which is on the outskirts of the village. There is one road across the Island and it was winding its way around the great towering rock faces with sheer drops and rough tracks it was hairy beyond belief. Piefa was very jolly and proceed to put on his stereo his brother in law who was a very big pop star in The Marquesas belting out Haka songs whilst he danced along in the front encouraging us all to join in (lots of grunting and ooh aah bit like a maori song but more melodic) – all I wanted was for him to keep both hands on the steering wheel! After two hours literally on the edge of our seats and having stopped numerous times to admire the spectacular views we arrived. The site is one of the best preserved archaeological sites in French Polynesia and what immediately strikes you is the eeriness of the place it actually feels very intense. There are five monumental tiki (great big heads) with enormous eyes and mouth because the priests could see everything and speech was the only form of passing on information. There is a reclining Tiki Maki Taua Pepe which represents a woman lying on her stomach with her head stretched out and her arms reaching to the sky – women would lay on her face down to increase fertility and when they gave birth would use her something like a birthing stool by sitting on her. The feet brace marks and a gulley where the baby was born into are quite clear. There is a huge Tiki Takaii which at 2.67m is the largest ancient Tiki anywhere in French Polynesia. Astounding thing to behold. This is an extremely spiritual place and regardless of which God you worship you cannot fail to feel the intensity of it. The Tiki once had a huge penis too but when the missionaries came they were appalled and chopped off all the genitalia. There are of course the requisite NoNos which are almost invisible little gnats but with a mega bite – we cover in insect repellent to protect ourselves and seem to be ok although a French woman walking around looked like she had measles she had been bitten so many times! This site was first discovered in the 1800s in records but was then massively restored in 1991 by French archaeologists.
On the way back we stop off at Piefa’s Grandfather’s house (he is 85) and what we are confronted with is an Irishman! He has reddish hair and very blue eyes and freckles and just looks like he walked out of a tavern in Dublin – so funny! Richard decides that he has to have a huge finger of bananas and Piefa climbs a tree to get them – half the size of me. We load them into the back of the truck and head back to the boat. We lug them out and onto the pontoon – Oscar comes to collect us and looks horrified. Richard explains that it will be ok as we can dunk them in the sea and tie them on the sugar scoop and creepies will just disappear. They don’t. BIG unidentifiable creepy with huge tail crawls out on the sugar scoop along with numerous other bugs and Oscar slings them into the sea with the bunch of bananas – Richard still hasn’t forgiven him!
We are anchored in a wonderful island called Tahuata with its very lush vegetation and white sand deserted beach. Here on this Island are master bone carvers and tattoo artists living on the smallest inhabited island in the archipelago. The bone work is exquisite. The works are very expensive but totally unique.
Nuka Hiva was yet another stunning visual attack – it is the second largest island after Tahiti but is sparsely populated with razor edged cliffs, crashing waves and wonderful bays with Robinson Crusoe like beaches, lush green valleys and dramatically tall waterfalls that feel like the end of the world. Taiohoe where we anchor sits at the base of soaring mountains in a perfectly crescent shaped bay. Two master carvers are also here and there is a small market selling fish and fruit (no vegetables to be seen!). The people are wonderfully friendly and warm and my French is being tested for the first time in a long while! Tattooed locals trot around on their horses – we decide that a trek on horses would be a wonderful way to see the gorgeous scenery. Off we trot to a small farm at the base of a valley and are duly met by a stunning looking lad in a cowboy hat, tight trousers, a small bolero and a BIG necklace with the requisite boar’s horns and sharks vertebrae all finished off with a pair of clear plastic jelly shoes – it takes someone quite special to rock this look but we all decide he definitely does! We are off – my pony has a wooden (yes totally wooden) ornately carved saddle as does Oscar’s pony whilst Charlotte and Richard get the padded leather saddles. Fortunately we had opted for only three hours not the full day – the trek was wonderful up through lush vegetation and into the hills where the steam rose slowly up to the peak. I broke my second camera by smashing it against the carved bone pommel of my wooden saddle! I could hardly walk when we got off and smelt like a sewer rat – a vision! Not sure how long my bum will take to recover.
We went on another organised tour to see some of the multitude of historic sites which are here and to experience some of the inner island. We see three interconnecting sites which make up the largest excavated archaeological area on Nuka Hiva and the sheer scale of these sites are amazing. The islands once had around 100,000 inhabitants which dropped down to around 2,000 when disease was brought by the West. The site has the largest banyan tree I have ever seen and when it was discovered was full of bones from the sacrifices and on one side is a huge pit for the same or to put prisoners or both – the area just exudes spiritual power. Other pits are scattered around (ua ma) which held breadfruit an important food. Further up are two huge rocks decorated with petroglyphs which represent turtles, fish and the eyes of a tiki along with human figures. There is a huge discovered in 1957 which dates back to around 1250 and was in continual use until the 1800s. The vast central tohua (big area) was used for dance festivals flanked by blocks of basaltic stone which were used as seats. There are nine Christian tombs here which it is thought were from the first missionaries’ arrival when the site was abandoned.
Whilst in Nuka Hiva we had an organised tour of the Aranui which is an iconic ship that has been taking supplies between the islands since 1984 and that is still its primary mission although it also carries around 200 passengers on a 14 day trip around some of the islands. A lecture from a leading expert archaeologist – Pierre Ottino – who was fundamental in restoring some of the ancient sites on the islands was wonderful to give a great feel for the history.
And so to another Oyster party – this one starting at 2pm and finishing if you were Oscar around 5am – or 10pm for the oldies! Outrigger canoes known locally as vaka line the shore and prepare to race – Oscar, Tom and Charlotte are at the front of the queue and clamber aboard. They head out only to be engulfed by a huge wave straight away! I think they still won. There were horses trotting through the waves on the beach for us and a troupe of tattooed dancers very energetically making their war cries in the blistering heat. Under some shade were coconuts cooled in ice and then the tops chopped off to make a wonderful drink women were making bead necklaces and woven baskets. There were demonstrations of local food – breadfruit and coconut loom large! Flower garlands, wood and bone carving, local music played on what looks like a ukulele, singers, masseuse and the list just goes on. As it gets dark the fire pit is opened up and the pigs that have been cooking all day are removed for the feast. We dine like kings and then the dancing begins with the conch blowing and maybe 50 dancers in amazing outfits twisting and turning – then they introduce fire and is truly an astounding sight.
The Islands are really spectacular to behold and really eerie – difficult to describe the beauty, the friendliness of the people, dramatic vistas and wonderful spirituality but it is all something I certainly will hold in my heart for a long time to come.

So – after three weeks sailing we finally arrived in Fatu Hiva. It was a great relief to finally arrive in French Polynesia and a little surreal – the island looking like something out of Jurassic Park. Just expect to see dinosaurs roving around. We came in around 8am and then once the boat was washed down and we’d done four loads of washing we went ashore – wow the Bay of Virgins here is just a stunning visual experience. Huge phallic like basaltic cones dot the shoreline at the mouth of a steep sided valley. We were off to hike up to the waterfall through the forest – easy we were told just follow the road….. Off we go along a road dotted with a few houses and women come out to ask us to trade perfume, lipstick or shoes for goods. Grapefruit as big as your head, and an abundance of fruit of all kinds grow along the roadside. We turn left down a track awash with scarlet hibiscus and keep walking uphill – wow is it hot but we know it is doing us all good after so long stuck on the boat.
Up and up we go following a route signed by a small petroglyph and we wade across a river – then it gets challenging! We are going through tropical forest wet and steamy and soon are ankle deep in mud but we’d gone so far we couldn’t go back without seeing the waterfall. Up and up we climb over rocks and along sharp drops – we pass a banyan tree and suddenly see a Me’ae – this is a religious site built with basalt rocks packed side by side and piled up. These were places of worship, burial and human sacrifice and there is still a bowl in the centre where Oscar tells us the blood runs down and into the roots of the banyan. It is an eerie feeling and an awesome sight and apparently they were also used for cannibalistic rituals. After scrambling around and upwards for another hour we finally come to the waterfall which is right in front of us and at least 100 metres tall bursting water down into a small crater. Exhausted and extremely wet and muddy we descend back down to the small village – there are only two extremely small settlements on the island one in the middle and one at the bottom and one road connecting the two. Some locals carve tiki and bowls from bone and rosewood and they are truly beautiful pieces – we went to a woman who was very keen to show us her work and welcomed us into her home. Two small rooms bear of furniture but a few chairs and a table and a cooker – very clean and tidy and in one corner her work – intricately carved tiki boxes (tiki are humanlike statues or carvings which are believed to be religious symbols) – we bought two wonderful pieces from her. Back to the boat for a shower before drinks and sushi (they’d landed a tuna that afternoon) on El Mundo and then back on board for a bbq – our first day on land for three weeks was a great one but I think all were grateful for bed!

OMG – Day 18 at sea and who thought this bit was a good idea – I am having massive sense of humour failure and may well have murdered someone before we get in! We’ve had no wind since last Sunday and have been motoring and so fuel is an issue for us – due to arrive in Fatu HIva all being well on Saturday after nearly three weeks – I am not doing this long at sea again! We are very hopeful that we might have just enough wind to fly the big kite today to save some diesel. I am now a rather fetching Cuprinol orange colour with co-ordinating bright yellow hair despite having a huge tilley hat glued to my head at all times and being plastered in factor 50 suntan lotion – as always really rocking the chic chick at sea look. Doing pilates on a boat tilting backwards and forwards is a challenge not to mention a sight to behold…..

We have been fishing most days but have still only managed to land two tuna – enormous tuna which are just so totally beautiful – I have seared, sushimied, stir-fried etc. We had an absolutely huge tuna on Monday which took ages to pull in and once on board was given the allotted gin and tonic to still it. I had been given the camera to video for Oscar and stood taking some excellent footage of the fight – Oscar rushed to get the scales to weigh the fish at which point it recovered from its g+t and flipped back over the side taking the lure with it! Low morale moment – after we’d recovered Oscar wanted to watch the footage of the huge one that got away….sadly three seconds of my foot and then blank – don’t think I have cracked the technical issues. The next day I sat on the front and watched yellow fin tuna playing in the bow waves just like the dolphins do – they stayed with us for at least a couple of hours and the most amazingly beautiful fish in the water with bright blue and yellow stripes and yet when they jump out of the water they are just silver. On the stern the fishing was still underway with a vengeance – we somehow managed to lose three lures with something clearly absolutely enormous just biting them off! There is nothing out here but tons and tons of sea. Having spotted a couple of whales early on there has been nothing but flying (projectile) fish crashing onto the boat and into the boat! And the tuna jumping around the boat trying to catch the flying fish whilst studiously ignoring our lures – we feel it must have been shark that took the lures.

Life at sea…..
We left Santa Cruz on Easter Day after phoning Mum and Sophie and Lou and Rachel for a quick catch up. I just have to recap on a funny story though – when we were in Santa Cruz we found a small art gallery which had some really stunning copper and silver sculptures of blue footed booby. They were quite expensive but such a wonderful reminder of our time in the islands. We faffed around and didn’t make the decision to buy. So I went back with Charlotte and did a haggle and bought one for Richard for his birthday. They packed it all up for me and I said I’d be back around 4pm to collect it. In the meantime Richard went back and had the same idea and haggled – says he did a better deal than me but I am doubtful! Got right to the point of paying by making a transfer and the chap happened to say to his wife that she also had to pack up the one for Angela Berry!! We almost ended up with a surfeit of blue footed friends…..
Life at sea can be rather tedious at times – the boat has to be maintained and three meals a day produced for the crew. Charlotte has been sick again and was out of action for six days which means the cooking all falls to me which is quite hard. Fortunately she is firing on all cylinders again now so shared catering – so much easier. The dolphins arrived on day two and are always such a welcome sight jumping around in the bow waves – here they are bottle nosed dolphins will be interesting to see what we get as we go forward.
I find a routine on board these long passages really important to structure the day – I have been doing pilates on deck every morning which I am sure is quite an entertaining sight – today in 30 knots and rolling around I have decided it’s a bit dangerous! I’ve been watching Gavin and Stacey Karen and it is totally hilarious – we are now all watching it again so a great present. Scrabble and reading and cooking and washing up!
And then the fishing! My favourite. First fish caught – a blue fin tuna. I really do hate the poor things being butchered on the back of the boat although a good slug of gin seems to help them on their way – for the fish not me! The first one was about 20 lbs and I thought Oscar was going to go over the side trying to reel it in. The meat on these fish is abundant and they are just pure muscle machines – 15 steaks off the first one. The second fish two days later was a skipjack tuna and bigger by far – they are really beautiful fish with striped sides. Richard is insisting on having sushi makes me feel sick! The meat from the fish is – I am told – really spectacular though and I am cooking it so have overcome my squeamishness. Last night at around 9ish the sky around the boat was just full of flying fish zig zagging around in the rigging – amazingly only two ended up on deck and one thwacked Richard in the chest before landing downstairs! A truly unusual sight…
Having wondered in Antigua about whether to replace our dodger we had it repaired and decided it would be ok to New Zealand. It isn’t. The zip is coming away and whilst I have done some running repairs with the sail repair kit I don’t think it is going to hold up. New one ordered and will be shipped to Tahiti with the new dinghy cover – hoping upon hope it hangs on till there. The hammering that the boat has taken in just the sixteen weeks we have been gone has surprised me – so many things have broken and needed replacement. I suppose in the past we have only ever sailed for four weeks at a time.
As I write this we have now been at sea nearly 8 days. A number of the other boats got off for this run and I did think about it but it seems cheating somehow not to do the big Ocean crossings.

How to describe what we have seen. I thought we were well travelled and had seen much – I was certainly wrong. The Galapagos lie on the equator and are the most amazing place I have ever seen in my life looking at first glance seemingly barren – it was the most sensational trip and has made me see things very differently. The animals, of which many are not seen anywhere else on earth, are unafraid of humans because we don’t present a threat – birds, sea lions, iguana and fish just ignore you as you interact really up close. It was totally unbelievable and whilst you can see much from the main islands of San Cristobel and Santa Cruz taking the week long cruise around the islands was just mind blowing. Seeing different landscapes – albeit similar volcanic landscapes though older islands greener and the newer just full of lava of varying types. They resemble the surface of the moon truly otherworldly -and are certainly not a tropical paradise but the scale and variety of wildlife – wow. They do have almost mythical status in bio-diversity circles but as a layman you can appreciate them too. The very red island of Rabida from iron oxide and the black of Santiago, the different lava fields with formations of craters and tunnels. There is no rubbish and all are acutely aware of the environment picking up even a toothpick if on the ground and diving down to retrieve a hairband left on the ocean floor – a true lesson to the world on how to protect the environment.

Richard and I left the boat anchored in San Cristobal with the guys and the water taxi picked us up at 6.30am to take us to the dock to catch the ferry – ticket already purchased for 8am crossing. We are on the dock promptly with three heavy bags and have to lug up to customs for checking. Tons of locals travelling to Isla Santa Cruz and we queue with the sea lions (pungent). Lots of disorganised shouting and me thrusting my ticket at various officials – long story short we are not called and the ferry goes without us. Official realises and bundles us onto a water taxi whilst shouting into a radio – ferry (I am being very flattering to call it such) waits outside and we get shoved onto it. Only seat left by fat man and a baby outside in scorching sun for two hours. Hot. Get off in Santa Cruz and lug our bags up to the pre-agreed meeting point in a café. There at 10am and pick-up arranged for 12 noon. 12 noon comes and goes – we ring the emergency numbers but no answer. We find a guide in official uniform and ask for help – they have forgotten us. The captain of our boat comes to get us at 2.30 – he takes our luggage and explains the flight bringing the others is delayed.

Bundled into taxi and sent up to the highlands. Hot. We are treated to a lovely lunch and then told we may explore where giant tortoises live in the wild – off we go. They are huge. Virtually catatonic and look like dinosaurs when they extend their accordion-like necks – or ET who apparently Steven Spielberg modelled him on. We meet our first fellow guest an American with binoculars, cameras and an earnest expression – starts chatting about birds – I think have met first barking mad American I am going to be surrounded by for a week! Wrong (sorry Peter). Fascinating man who is something like third most experienced ornithologist in the world and knew so much about everything he enriched our trip – we were so very fortunate to have him with us. He had already been off and spotted the barn owl in the lava tunnels (formed when the outside skin of a molten lava flow solidifies) and took us down there to see – there were two of them and was a very special moment. Then we were taken with him – we had Julie a trainee guide with us – to Charles Darwin Research Station where they have 200 scientists and volunteers involved in conservation and research. They have a captive breeding programme for giant tortoises and we learned about the various different Darwin finches from Peter (American).
Walk back down through the town to the port passing the fish market with pelicans, sea-lions and marine iguana all milling around waiting for leftovers! Dinghy picks us up and off we go to our cruise boat which I feel was fitted out to closely resemble a 1970s caravan! Our room is the best they have – I remind myself we are here for the experience and keep calm it is immaculately clean throughout. We meet the crew who are wonderful (10 crew and a guide to 15 guests) and have supper whilst the captain sets sail for Isla Fernandina. Wonderful collection of people on board and we made some lovely friends.

Breakfast at 7 and onto dinghies to Mangle Point where we see sea lions, flightless cormorant, blue footed booby, Galapagos penguins, lava gulls, marine iguana, pelicans. Back on board to change into swim gear. Back on dinghies – snorkelled around the point and saw sea turtles and sea lions – big news is that Richard went in. Off a dinghy into deep water – amazing – all that time in the swimming pool finally paid off. A school of mustard rays swim past me and sea lions play treating me as invisible. Not on my list was white tipped shark just a couple of metres from me and I have to make myself watch it.

Our days on board go on like this – two hikes and two snorkels per day – very energetic. We visited Isla Isabella, Isla Santiago, Isla Bartolome, Sombrero Chino, Isla Rabida. The Galapagos sea lions are so playful and numerous and lounge around on the shoreline and play in the water – swimming alongside us and turning somersaults. We also saw fur seals which are not as extrovert – they are endemic with a luxuriant layer of fur – the whalers hunted them to the point of extinction but they have made a great comeback. Three penguins swam past me as I snorkelled and was just surreal – Richard had two white tipped shark just behind him and I gesticulated to show him but he still missed them! The birds are everywhere and thanks to our wonderful guide Cesar and Peter we managed to be able to identify many by the end of the trip – Galapagos Hawk, thirteen different species of Darwin’s Finches, we saw striking pink flamingo feeding in a brackish lagoon on Fernandina, Frigate birds everywhere the males puffing out their red chests, Mockingbirds, storm petrel, a very handsome yellow crowned night heron with its baby and a lava heron, striated heron, Nazca booby and chicks, blue footed booby, flightless cormorant, oyster catchers, and the list just goes on and on.

In the water which was crystal clear and full to overflowing of fish we swam with sea turtles, marine iguana, penguins, five eagle rays swam past me just a metre away, manta rays and so many different fish species it was mind blowing – huge blue eyed damselfish, white banded angel fish, yellow tailed surgeon fish, huge really huge parrot fish, myriad of puffers, white tipped shark, black tipped shark, Galapagos shark, wonderful corals and sponges in rainbow colours, I saw a leopard snake eel, jewel moray eel, octopus and a lobster. Bright red and blue Sally Lightfoot crabs were everywhere adorning the rocks on every island and have a truly spectacular colouration. The marine iguanas are huge and black with salt crusted on their heads where they spit out the salt water – really! They ae everywhere and are the world’s only seagoing lizard. Some are really enormous about 1m in length. There are also rather fetching land iguana which are yellow in colour and again huge and rather fearsome looking.

Suffice to say we have had the most magnificent time of our lives and were enormously sad to leave. It was just amazing. Back on board and whilst very grateful for the luxury of our bathroom – the one on board was very basic and the toilet blocked almost daily! We were sorry to go – the people on board were super fun and the crew wonderful and our guide brilliantly entertaining.

As we are now on the boat sailing to Marquesas for three weeks approx. the photos I can send are limited so I will have to send some more when we hit land and hopefully get a slightly better connection. My email from now is sophistikate@mailasail.com – please don’t send any attachments to this.

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.

This is Oscar’s first edited film of our Panama transit – in the Lake we are the boat at the front and if you look very carefully you can see me sitting on the front.  We have asked Oscar to do a family version for the future as Richard and I never seem beautiful enough to feature in his action!