The Wins:
---Aisling arrived on time with a ski bag full of spares and stuff.
---She got to see the fauna of the Galapagos (sea lions, pelicans and iguanas) on the ride from the airport to the boat.
---We had an excellent tour of North Seymour island;, the variety of animal and bird life was outstanding.
---The visit to Isabela island was great. We had a good tour on the afternoon we arrived, including giant tortoises in the wild, nesting iguanas, the "Wall of Tears", built futilely by mainland convicts in the 50s, penguins, a sealion pup occupying the cockpit (not the transom) who, when shooed off the boat, jumped into the tender!
---On the following day (is that only yesterday?) we went by horseback up to the rim of the Sierra Negra volcano at 1700 meters. Two hours up and two. back and as a result I'm now bow-legged. The view from the rim of the caldera made the trek worthwhile. It's 10 Km's long, is full of steaming lava and last erupted in 2002. It's a stunning sight.
---Finally, we actually sailed back today to Santa Cruz, which, given the total absence of breeze for the last 2 weeks, is nearly a miracle. So Aisling got to helm Sapphire in 12-15 kts of breeze for close to 3 hours.
Losses
---Getting drenched on our first tour, which washed off the sunblock from the new arrivals and so they got burned.
---A new transformer/inverter for the boat was shipped to Ecuador and has been held in Customs waiting on proof of payment to the supplier.
---The generator impeller died in Isabela. We had included 6 spares with the comprehensive inventory of spares we ordered through the builder, suitable for a 1 year cruise in remote areas. Unfortunately, when we went to fit the spare, we found that all 6 are the wrong size! Unbelievable, but true!
So now, the question is : when will the various bits arrive here? We can't leave without them, so may have to remain here in The Galapagos after the fleet leaves for The Marquesas on Sunday.
The next update will hopefully answer the question!