Anchored off Jicaron, we woke to a perfect day. I could hear splashing, so I went up to have a look. Pelicans were dive-bombing fish in the shallows. It always amazed me to see such big birds dropping from the sky to dive into the water. We had heard in the Caribbean that the repeated shocks eventually blinded the older birds, and that most die from starvation after they go blind.
I turned on the radio and picked up the weather report from the local SSB cruising net. Ten to fifteen knot winds for the foreseeable future from the northeast. It was now March, and we wanted to be in Sydney by December. For the last couple of days we had made the final preparations for the long passage. It was time to leave. As the report finished I turned to Al and asked “Shall we go?” She said yes.
We raised the dinghy and strapped it down, and Al went forward to raise the anchor. The weather was beautiful, with a blue sky and a few white fluffy clouds. Soon we were sailing around the edge of Jicaron, then south into the Pacific. The next land was a thousand miles ahead, and we didn’t plan to stop. It felt good to be doing it on our own. We were on our own boat, had made it this far, and went about the business of sailing the boat competently and quietly. We stood in the cockpit and looked back on the Americas for the last time as they sank below the horizon. Soon we were alone on the ocean, and the anxiety and fear was replaced by the calm of passage making. There was nothing to worry about now except the boat and the weather, making food, reading, looking out for ships, the occasional sail change, and listening to the radio. I think we were still scared about the length of the passage ahead, but relieved to have it begin."
Each morning our friends came onto the SSB radio for their daily catch-up. They were leaving Panama too, and were headed for the Galapagos. Eventually the story came through – there was a special port-only permit you could get for $65 that allowed you to anchor in any of the six ports in the Galapagos for a maximum of two weeks. Before this you had to fake a breakdown to stay there, and they would only let you stay three days. We were worried that it was just a rumour, so we didn’t decide to do it for the first couple of days, but then as the gentle winds conspired to push us that way we decided to stop there, even if only to fill the water tanks. We were glad we did. The Galapagos was one of the highlights of our two year voyage.
As we sailed south the winds came more from the east and were very light. The sea was flat. By keeping the wind on the beam we made decent mileage, averaging about 4 to 4.5 knots. The temperature dropped as we sailed on, even though we were nearing the equator. The cold Humboldt current rides up the coast of South America from Peru, carrying with it an incredible wealth of nutrients and marine life. Ever-present frigate birds circled us and fed on the fish, sometimes resting on our mast or the stem of the boat. They were absolutely fearless. We didn’t catch any fish though, and suspected we were sailing too slowly for our lure to be effective. We only ever seem to catch fish when sailing fast.
On the fifth day the skies turned dark, with towering thunderheads developing ahead of us. Night fell and a spectacular lightning storm hit us. As the squalls came through we tried to dodge the worst of it by steering for the gaps, but I soon gave up and went below. We wrapped all our GPS and portable radios in foil and put them in our metal oven. There were hundreds of strikes all around us and we had a 44 foot metal mast sticking up in the sky and nothing else for miles. It finally passed and we were relieved to have missed being struck. We later heard that our friends on another boat were hit during the same storm, and lost every electronic device on their boat, worth many thousands of dollars.
As we neared the equator we worried a little about pirates. There had been occasional attacks on yachts in the area. We only saw one boat the whole trip, and we sailed away from them as directly as we could. At night we sailed without lights, keeping a sharp lookout to ensure we didn’t get run over. There was no one out there.
We crossed the equator at ten in the morning, and held a little ceremony. We still had some ten year old Mount Gay rum from the Carriacou regatta, and we toasted Poseidon with some, first pouring a little over the side as an offering. Not much, though. We knew we were nearing the islands and it was great to be in the South Pacific, which is a near mythical destination for sailors. There was a good breeze and a flat sea. Life was pretty good.
On the tenth day out we raised the Galapagos. Isla San Christobal floated ahead of us on the dark, oily swells. Unfortunately there was hardly any wind, so we started the motor. We were relieved that it decided to start right up. We motored along the coast and took in the famous moonscape. We were surrounded by life, with dolphins playing nearby and stingrays jumping in the air before falling back down with a splash.
We motored into Wreck Bay and were greeted by the raucous sounds of sea lions sunbathing on the fishing boats in the bay. They smelled of wet dog. We saw Déjà Vu, and anchored near them. Ian rowed over with a beer in his hand to welcome us. They had just arrived as well. We arranged to go and check in together.
We piled into the dinghy and went to the port captain’s office. They were closed for lunch so we headed for the nearest restaurant for a burger and a beer. The food was good and after not drinking or eating any fatty food for ten days it was a great lunch. We went back and completed immigration formalities. The officers insisted on searching our boats, so we took them out and Ian and I stood over them while they went through True Blue. As they went through the cans in our lockers they put some to the side. We had bought a six pack of beer for them each because we had been warned of them confiscating cartons of beer, and we wanted to control the transaction. I said that it was hot and I would like to gift them with the beer, but the Captain said he would prefer some cans of food for his young companion. I help up two fingers and he nodded. We then went to Déjà vu and went through the same process. Ian and I then drank the beers we had bought.
The next day an Aussie boat came through who had 12 slabs of beer on board. I went to help communicate with them and negotiated them down to 12 beers, but the owner was very tired from the passage and ended up giving them two cases. They were surprised but took the beer. Ecuador is a very poor country, and seems to work on low level ‘gifts’ like these, but I still resented the uncomfortable feeling the whole affair gave me. I was quite pleased to only have parted with two cans of beans, though.
The next two weeks passed quickly. We all got together and negotiated a group rate for a couple of dozen of us to rent taxis and visit the national parks. We saw the giant tortoises and the marine iguanas, and visited a volcanic lake in the centre of the island. The day ended with a lunch on the beach and we played soccer and body surfed until late afternoon. Each day Paul from Tyrene, Ian, Shawn from Golden Sovereign and I surfed. There was a right hand point break to our east, and a nice left hand reef break on the opposite side of the harbour. The waves averaged shoulder to head high, and we normally had them to ourselves. My surfing improved each day, and Paul who is a hardcode surf tragic got tube after tube when the surf was up. Most days the sea lions swam out to investigate us and to play in the surf. Ashore there were good cheap cafes and a pool hall with flat tables, cheap beer, and a nude Pamela Anderson on the wall.
Eventually our time was up, and it was time to start the long passage. We all decided to leave on the same day. Our next destination was Atuona in the Marquesas, 2995 nautical miles away. We hoped to make the trip in four weeks. The passage notes said that this passage, though just about the longest uninterrupted stretch of water on Earth, was normally quite pleasant. As we sailed out of Wreck Bay I said a silent prayer that this would be the case.