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Firefly - Wind shuts down, crew goes overboard!



As expected the wind dropped late Saturday afternoon and we started motoring. On the radio net role call Sunday morning all boats reported light winds but with the leading boats on a more Southerly route enjoying some breeze building from the South and that they were starting to sail again. Currently we are motoring at relatively low revs on a glassy sea, there is 3 knots of breeze on the port beam so we have the mainsail up and along with a favorable currents its all helping us to achieve an SOG (speed over ground) of about 6.5 knots towards Galapagos.

Its very warm here and Susie insisted that we stop for a swim to cool down a bit. Having seen Youtube videos of yachts stopping mid ocean, the crew diving off and a great white turning up, Paul was a little reluctant to take part but was easily persuaded. Peter had just showered so had a good excuse in not wanting to get salty(and someone had to stay on board to explain to relatives !) So at 04 degrees North, 083 degrees West we stopped, turned off the engine and dived in, the depth on the chart was 3219 metres. It was superb, very warm and looking down in swimming goggles into the deep blue was remarkable No sharks or any other mishaps.....if the wind remains light, the next swim is now scheduled for latitude 0 degrees and we will swim South into the other hemisphere.

Leg 2 is 852 miles and at midday Sunday we had about 500 more to go. Our arrival port will be Puerto Baquerizo on San Cristobal. From there we will also visit Santa Cruz and Isabella. Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz is the real center of activities in the islands and will be our port of departure when we head off on the very long passage to the Marquesas on 2nd March. We anticipate arriving on Wednesday evening and will then have over 2 weeks to explore.

Galapagos is one the highlight destinations on the World ARC itinerary and somewhere Paul and Susie have always wanted to sail. However, while we are very excited at the forthcoming landfall, we already know that movements of private yachts within the Galapagos Islands is very restricted. We will be limited to a few anchorages and we then have to arrange tours to see the sights. We must have the appropriate paperwork, called a zarpe, in place for each trip we make from Island to Island. Being part of World ARC is massively helpful when dealing with this kind of 'red tape' (as it was for the Panama Canal transit) and we are really enjoying being part of the rally not only because of the excellent logistical support from World Cruising but also the friendships we are building with the crews of the other boats.

We have some guests arriving in Galapagos and a crew change in preparation for the forthcoming long leg. Barney and Juanita Greenhill have been touring South America for a month and will be joining us for some cruising in Galapagos. David Raeburn is joining the crew and will be on board Firefly as far as Tahiti.

Paul, Susie and Peter

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