Greetings from yacht Ensemble!
We are now back on board Ensemble after 4 days touring the Galapagos on the Yate Fragata, a 12 room motor cruiser. We visited Santiago, Fernandina, and Isabela, before returning to Santa Cruz.
On the trip with us were Dave, Claire and Ben (Peats Smoke), Carlo and Andre (Beatoo), and Casey (Wind Dancer) - as well as a group of non World ARCs - Jos and Fabiene as from Belgium/Netherlands, a French couple, Peter from UK, and Alice and Linda (from Australia and UK)... and our guide Ivan.
The trip was a great complement to the places we had visited with Ensemble - the tour boat was able to go places we could not, and the guide was a wealth of knowledge - his favourite catch phrase being "... it is
incredible...!"
We managed to see: penguins, sea lions, fur seals, flamingos, booby's, frigates, marine and land iguanas, lava lizards, green turtles, tortoises, sharks, manta rays ... and the list goes on. With many of the animals you could get 'up close and personal' (no touching though).
After four days we started getting a bit blaze' about it all - and, while the wild life had it's wonderful appeal - we were missing the relative comforts of Ensemble - and glad to get back.
Mike and Carsen had done an excellent job of keeping an eye on Ensemble while she was at anchor - and it was a relief to see her in good shape.
Back into the logistics of preparing for the next leg of the rally. The trip to the Marquise Islands will take about 3 weeks - and the forecast suggests there won't be much wind for the first week - so fuel is a must. We are planning to refuel tomorrow - 640 litres (full tank plus 10 jerry cans). Grocery wise - things look a little limited - but there is a fresh market on Saturday - and we should have plenty of stuff in the bilge and
freezer if worse comes to worse.
While the Galapagos has been great - we are starting to get itchy feet and looking forward to the next leg.
Cheers
Dave & Magali
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