Landfall Hiva Oa, Marquesas

“At once the new starlight walked the water, leaving a footpath of silver to run between me and the east like a life line through the multitudinous creases in the palm of the sea’s black out-stretched hand.”

--Laurens van der Post.

Our first impressions were the smells of earth, plants and flowers and decay and the sights of so many brilliant colours – the greens of lush jungle and vived red hibiscus. Once the anchor was down friends from “Pipistrelle” came over to welcome us and then presented us with some fresh fruit and a bit of bubbly to celebrate! We went ashore toute suite for a hike in the hills along a stream to work some muscles and our lungs – not at lot of cardio in 33 feet of space!

So far we’ve enjoyed eating the daily bagettes and so much fresh fruit: bananas brought by the bunch, pamplemouse (sweeter than grapefruit and so huge!) Refreshing showers of rain and lot’s of water to wash with and beautiful friendly people. Our only frustration is that Spanish comes out whenever we open our mouths and now we need français. But Heidi’s highschool French is returning in leaps and bounds, whenever we hitch hike into town!

Trip stats from Galapagos to Hiva Oa:

Distance: 2941 nautical miles (nm)

Time: 25 days

Average distance in 24 hours: 120 nm

Best day: 155 nm

Worst day: 84 nm

Sail changes: 41

Flying fish on deck: 48

Water consumed: 210L

Engine running hours: 16.3 (about 32L of fuel)

Loaves of bread baked: 11 (all but one were made by Stevo!)

A very dirty boat after 25 days of sailing hard

Life at Sea

25 days at sea without sight of land might seem like an awfully long time, but it depends on your perspective. Our longest passage took 31 days in 2004 from New Zealand to Tahiti and honestly a couple days doesn’t make much difference – we are still really happy to see land! Our isolation on Narama is even more profound as we have very limited communication onboard. Our VHF Radio rarely gets turned on, unless we can actually see another ship or sailboat as its range is limited. We have an SSB receiver which lets us get weather forecasts via either a voice recording or we can plug the audio into the laptop and some lovely software turns a bunch of clicks and beeps into a weather fax image. Our SSB also lets us listen to Radio Australia from Suva and to the “Radio Nets” that other yachties often use to chat and relay weather and positions. Out little unit does not allow us to transmit, so we are really just lurking on the sidelines and not participating in these nets. While listening we learned that nearly everyone has a pet name for their autopilot. Our windvane is “Ernest” and he steers the boat 95% of the time on passage. Our electric autopilot is “Parson Brown” and gets put to work whenever we are motoring.


We found that having a routine helped to make the days go by faster. The first four days or so every moment off watch is spent napping, then it seems our body gets used to the schedule and doesn’t need as much sleep. So what do we do with our time? Well of course there’s the actual sailing of the boat. You have to keep an eye on Ernest since he steers by the direction of the wind, if the wind swings, so do we. But a casual glance at the compass and a quick scan of the horizon for traffic every few minutes is really the required watch activity. Add to that the occasional sail and vane adjustments and there’s still time to read a book or cook a meal. We also keep a rather detailed “logbook” which really reads more like a ship’s journal. We note the weather, our speed and direction in a table every four hours as well as our noon position and a few other important stats. Otherwise we often note all sorts of very “unofficial” details: wildlife: whales and birds and even flying fish (especially if they land on deck), the moon, stars, general mood of the crew and and what we eat, etc. It’s often quite interesting to start a watch and read what the other has written, especially if there’s been serious star-gazing and philosophizing.

Other shipboard routines include our daily happy hour drink. Conditions have to be pretty rough for us to go without it, sometimes it’s just a glass of juice, usually it involves brandy. We also have a daily “bucket bridage” on the foredeck. There’s not enough fresh water storage on Narama for us to have showers, so every morning (usually at the 10 AM watch change) we head to the foredeck with a bottle of shampoo and a bucket. In this hot tropical climate it is very pleasing to tip buckets of sea water on each other’s head. We then get a couple of cups of fresh water to rinse off a bit of the salt and this keeps us from going “feral”.

Aside from all this, reading is probably the most common activity (next to sleeping). Our most common conversation topic is definitely the weather, followed by the boat itself. Life at sea isn’t too bad really, it’s just tedious when the seas are rough and you can’t use two hands to do anything (one is holding on!).

A few quotes from our logbook:

April 14: “We’re now bouncing along under 3 reefs and a little bit of jib. I’m guessing that the large convection cells and wind against tide are keeping the seas rough.”

April 17: “Happy hour and full moon rise as sun set. Seas slowly easing and we’re making just over 4 knots.”

April 26: “Dreary drizzle, dolphins diving with dashing dexterity in the dark depths, drawing dazzling designs with diamonds.”

April 27: “One of those nights when staying awake seems impossible. Walk from the cockpit to the galley and back again, over and over. Eat a piece of chocolate and still my head wants to lie on any surface available. Meanwhile Stevo snores like a trooper and makes me insanely jealous!”


We caught a Tuna!

Santa Cruz, Galapagos

White Tipped Reef Shark

 From Isabela we back tracked to the east about 40 miles so we could visit our third island.  We also needed to get to Puerto Ayora, the biggest town here in Galapago, for clearing out of the country and to stock up on fresh provisions before setting off for the Marquesas – a voyage of nearly 3000 miles which will likely take us a month.  Once again we had to motor the whole way here and we now find ourselves crossing our fingers and hoping for the SE trade winds to reach this far north.   Otherwise this next passage could be very slow indeed!

Since we’ve been here we had a day of diving on North Seymour, a small islet covered in seabirds.  We found ourselves equally amazed at some of the tiny creatures as well as the “charismatic megafauna:”  the little, bright blue nudibranchs (sea slugs) as well as the White-tipped Reef Sharks; the field of Galapagos Garden Eels as well as the Spotted Eagle Rays.

We’ve been getting up at the crack of dawn both to make the most of our last days here in Galapagos and to get to the early market for the fresh produce.  It’s a challenge for us to stow enough fruit and veg for a month at sea, every basket is filled and we have a huge bunch of green bananas living in the cockpit.

Isla Isabela, Galapagos

We had a very calm over night passage from San Cristobal and arrived in Puerto Villamil heralded by a stream of penguins. They swam around the boat as we sounded the anchorage and immediately had us giggling. I contend that penguins are the answer to world peace – simply put all the world leaders in the presence of cavorting penguins and no one could possibly think about war. Everyone needs time with penguins! We certainly never grew tired of them. Over the 10 days we stayed in Villamil everyday at some point a few would swim after fish under the boat and we could don mask and jump in to watch them! We tried hard to get a photo, but they are so fast under water that the results were limited.

We had lots to keep us busy and the time seemed to pass too quickly in this protected anchorage. We rented bikes and rode out to the “Wall of Tears” which is a huge monument built of lava rocks by convicts in the 40’s. We found that the wall itself wasn’t as interesting as the journey, with lots of viewpoints and wetlands to stop and explore and tortoises wandering slowly along the road. On another occasion we took a horseback excursion to the top of Sierra Negra Volcano, the second largest caldera in the world. We did lots of swimming and snorkeling to keep cool and enjoyed the wildlife on walks to the tortoise breeding centre and flamingo ponds.

On the rim of Volcan Sierra Negra Caldera

Although this is the most protected anchorage that our permit allows, there is a paucity of yachts. Perhaps it is the level of bureaucratic toil required that dissuades more visitors. We had many visits to port captains and spent time waiting for paperwork to materialize every time we wanted to leave, or when we arrived in a harbour, but felt that it was worth the time we had to see this amazing place at our own pace.
We enjoyed getting to know the crews of ‘Pipstrelle’ and ‘Pacific Bliss’ and Heidi even managed a natural history lesson for the kids!

San Cristobal, Galapagos

We have been here in the Galapagos for only ten days and yet when we contemplate the amount of wildlife we have seen, and the adventures we have had it is almost overwhelming! We are definitely very happy with our decision to get an “autografo” permit which allows us extra time here in the islands. I won’t describe each day that we’ve been here, but some of the highlights so far…

We shared a taxi/guide with some folks from “Pipistrelle” and spent a day touring the highlands of San Cristobal Island. We visited the “Galapaguera” or the Tortoise breeding centre, where hatchlings are raised and returned to the wild. We also hiked around the old volcanic crater of “El Junco” which is now lush and green after recent rain and had lots of Frigatebirds (both species: Magnificent and Great) splashing in the water to clean their feathers.

We’ve spent several mornings walking the trails near the visitor centre, trying to decipher the different Darwin Finches, not easy without calipers for some species! We’ve also spent a few days with a picnic lunch on a beach called “La Loberia” (sealion beach) where we snorkeled in a natural pool, sheltered from the swell by lava rocks. This pool was filled with fishes and we’ve patiently managed to identify most of them. But the real highlight here was four very relaxed Green Turtles. They rested on the bottom while several wrasse cleaned their shells or they grazed the algae on the rocks while we hovered near them taking photos.

Stephen and Green Turtle in La Loberia

Yesterday we splurged on a scuba diving tour and visited the infamous “Kicker Rock” which is an interesting vertical rock formation, with a small channel running through it. We did two dives here and lost count of the Galapagos Sharks and we saw a few Hammerheads!

Now we are heading off to Isabel, the largest island in the Galapagos, where we hope to see some penguins!!!

Passage to Galapagos

Fresh Food for nearly 2 weeks

 I am a hands-on kind of person and not a voracious reader like Heidi, so when it comes to filling the few spare hours a day Heidi is far more attuned than I. That said I have chewed my way through “Beak of the Finch” at an evolutionary rate. It was a fascinating read but the concepts a little sleep provoking. Depending on the day, the motion of the boat, the heat, decides how much we rest. On a rough day just lying down to relax the muscles is a welcome relief at the end of a four hour watch. Thanks to Deborah and Rolf on “Northern Light” we have changed our watch rotation which is working well. For example one day Stephen does 0200-0400, 1000-1400, 1800-2000 (dog watch to alter the rotation each day) and 2200- 0200. This day he is also responsible for cooking. So that gives us each a day rest from the galley, and we look after ourselves for breakfast.

Narama´s Airconditioning System

To occupy time otherwise there is sailing, this can be a full time occupation in light air when Ernest (he’s our steering vane) can’t cope or if sail changes are required. At other times we may not touch anything for four hours. A curiosity with wildlife, trying to pull apart the different shearwaters is a little more difficult than the obvious red footed boobies. One night we sported a booby as a figure head on the pulpit. At least that was until I lost concentration and gibed the blooper sending him into the water. He was not too pleased considering the squawk I received, but took to the air and resettled on the solar panels aft where they usually take up residence after several fly bys and where they leave a pile of feathers and shit for me to clean up in the morning. Fortunately for Heidi, she can’t reach the solar panels. But we don’t shoo them away as they keep us company on our night watches.

Learning about the heavens above and how to derive our position from them is also a hobby and keeps the grey matter ticking. After much deliberation over pilot charts and recent ocean current information from fellow cruisers, our plan was to cross the Gulf of Tehuantepec in a reasonable weather window cutting across from Salinas toward Puerta Madero and veering offshore once we got past around 94W, then head for 90W 5N to make our easting before dropping down to Galapagos at 89.5W 1S.

This went to plan fairly well, and as expected we had calms, and adverse currents. In hindsight we may have done better to gain more easting before crossing the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The ITCZ is an area where one can expect calms, increased convection causing thunderclouds, hence squalls and rain. It was quite wide and active as we passed so we had an exciting two days. The smaller clouds producing just a bit of wind and lots of rain were great, the first we have seen in over a year of cruising and we made the most of it, rinsing everything including our naked bodies. The more intense squalls came through at around 30-40kns with the wind waves calmed just a little by the associated downpour. It was quite the experience. We motored in calms as we dared to burn part of the 200L of diesel we carry and sat out others. Sitting out one of these calms only a couple of hundred miles off the coast of Guatemala we had two visits. One, by some shark fisherman who actually came over and asked if everything was OK, how nice! The other was a US Navy surveillance plane with one of those big domes on top. They actually did a low fly by on two consecutive days. Would be great to get the photos that I am sure they took!?

Our last day was the best sail with the wind filling from the east and we sailed right in close past Genovesa one of Galapagos outlying islands, how tempting the cove of its caldera looked to stop in, but rules are rules and we sailed on to San Cristobal for a friendly entry with agent Bolivar. We also crossed in to the southern hemisphere this day and paid our due respects to Neptune.

Few stats for the trip

Total Distance: 1187nm noon to noon as crow flies 1253nm by GPS

Number of Days: 15

Average Miles/Day: 79.4

Best Day: 107

Worst Day: 47

Number of sail changes: 55

Engine run time during calms: 72hrs

Water used: 140L
Hottest/coolest temp: 25/30.5 C

Galapagos Shearwater

Species List

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin

Spinner Dolphin
Pink-footed Shearwater
Black Storm-Petrel

Brown Booby

Bottlenose Dolphin

Red-necked Phalarope

Nazca Booby

Pomarine Jaeger

Galapagos Shearwater

Sooty Shearwater

Red-footed Booby

Laughing Gull

Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrel

Madeiran Storm-Petrel

Swallowtail Gull

Magnificent Frigatebird

Nanaimo Reunion - Huatulco Mexico

We are glad we made it down to Huatulco and sad we did not have more time. Definitely a nicer place to spend time than the rolly La Cruz anchorage in Banderas Bay.
Here the water is clear, the snorkeling great and lots of coves to explore. Best for us though was a reunion with “Misty Michael” and “ Paesano”, two boats that we shared a marina with many years ago in Nanaimo BC Canada. Gerry, Chris, Margarita and Goyo looked after us well. It was great to catch up over meals drinks and outings about the area. Even “Goof” the street dog that adopted Chris was adorable.
We had one night in the marina to facilitate the simple departure procedures. Though we tried the canal (moorage without services at a slightly cheaper rate), we found it was not 20ft deep as they said, but slightly less than 6ft! Mud I think but will dive on the keel soon.
So we had lots of hands to untie our lines and wave goodbyes. We left on a Thursday evening along with several other boats to cross the Gulf of Tehuantepec, a notorious high wind area blowing from the Gulf of Mexico across the break in mountain ranges. But also to avoid leaving on a Friday.