Day 4 Leg 6: Panama to San Cristobal, Galapagos
We have less than 100 miles to run until we make landfall in the Galapagos - and just under 2 hours until we cross the equator. I am BEYOND excited and finding it hard to believe we’re actually here. Ever since watching David Attenborough’s Life on Earth as a child, the Galapagos has been on my bucket list. And now we have sailed all the way from England to see it with our own eyes. I am so proud of us!
We are already seeing a lot of wildlife: large dolphins and huge turtles with other World ARC boats reporting whales, spinner dolphins - and even sharks. In our case we have an enormous number of birds with us - and yesterday a red-footed booby (yes I know, less sniggering please) - an actual native of the Galapagos.
However, it is less David Attenborough onboard Aqualuna, and much more Alfred Hitchcock. The birds are jostling to enjoy a ride on our bow rails. What Hitchcock did not share with us were the practicalities of the overwhelming quantity of poo that birds produce. The deck and dolphin seats at the bow are now white and we are regularly sprayed as they dive overhead. Thank god for the bimini (cockpit cover). Yesterday morning we devised a plan to put cable ties on the rails with the ends sticking up, which worked successfully for about 2 hours until they decided that a few spikes up the bum was worth it to hitch a ride in relative comfort …. and so they came back. We then installed additional fortifications with lines of rope between our genoa sheets (the ropes attached to our foresails) and the rails. We were just congratulating ourselves, when they worked out how to negotiate those as well. They literally have no fear and ignore all attempts to get rid of them by shouting and dancing about like a crazy woman with the disdain it probably deserves.
So we’ve decided to let them be and deal with the biblical levels of baked on guano when we get there. M was even heard to say that he thought they were quite sweet - not really a description I would personally apply to these smelly, hyperdefecating creatures with faces that only a mother could love, but at least we’ve reached a level of acceptance.
Other than the wildlife it’s been a very strange crossing from Panama. There’s been virtually no wind for the previous 700 miles or so - and when there has been any it’s been right on the nose. The current that was running with us turned 180 degrees after a couple of hundred miles, so the last 500 have been a real uphill slog, motoring into wind, current - and often short, steep waves created by the heavy squalls that we have been constantly dodging. Apparently it’s due to the ITCZ - the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (the Doldrums). The best thing has been the incredible sunsets - and when it’s not cloudy, the moonlight, that is so bright I could actually read by it.
So - I am about to get ready for our equatorial crossing: despite it being 5am we’ll have a tot of rum and offer a libation to appease Neptune and give us luck for the rest of our voyage round the world. In a very short while we will no longer be “slimy polywogs” (the ancient sailors name for those who’ve never crossed the equator) but instead be elevated to the dizzy heights of “shellbacks”.
Posted by Claire