Greetings from Ensemble!
We are now safely at anchor in the marina on San Cristobal Island (Chatham), Galapagos Islands.
Yesterday, aside from a couple of hours in the morning, there was virtually no wind - and what there was was on the nose - so motored most of the way. To make matters worse we had a fairly strong current also on our nose. I had planned to get in well before sunset - but to make it comfortably we had to use both engines for the last 3 hours. In the end it all went quite well, with us arriving at 17:30pm (16:30pm local time) - so we had plenty of sunlight for dropping anchor - and even had time to clear customs, immigration and quarantine.
This went really well, with the World ARC representative showing up in a water taxi with the harbour master, immigration, customs, and quarantine all at once. They were all very friendly and professional - and were finished with us in under 30 minutes. The instruction over the radio was to 'give them the large brown paper envelope' - which sounded a bit dodgy but was simply our exit visa, park fees and copy of passports and boat rego...still - we should be more careful about what we say over the radio in case people get the wrong idea!
Fishing wise - we have a fishing holiday for a few weeks now as there is no fishing in Galapagos. However, yesterday morning we landed another 3kg tuna - so we're well provisioned for the break.
Valentines Day night was a quiet - with us settling for a quiet bottle of bubbly - and watching the rain. Yes the drought was well and truly broken - in both senses of the word - with Ensemble getting a well needed fresh water wash down - and Magali and I joining Mike and Carsen from Wind Dancer (who arrived 30 minutes ahead of us) for a few well earned beers celebrating our safe arrival.
You are always a bit euphoric on siting land after a long sale. The scenery here is both spectacular and beautiful - with ragged volcanic peaks rising up from white sand beaches and lush jungle - and best of all that scense of 'unspoilt wilderness' - no buildings! We were greeted out to sea by the iconic sea turtles. We must have seen at least a dozen of them on the way from the north tip of the island to the harbour, not to mention the seals. We also had a visitor on our transom - a small seal was there to greet Mike and Carsen when they arrived. The locals are certainly friendly!
Today we will have a lazy day - and get someof the logistics in order before touring the island. We plan to stay here another 2-3 days before eading off to one of the other 4 islands we have cruising permits for.
Cheers
Dave and Magali
15Feb2012 006