Pacific Passage Making

Bristol Rose from Inspiration Lady

Photo taken by Jackie King aboard Inspiration Lady en route (18 days) Galapagos to the Marquesas. This is one of our favourite  photos of Bristol Rose, thanks Jackie

The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, March 2010

Reclining Sea Line

The Galapagos, where the birds walk on water. The tiny Elliot's Storm Petrel was our intro to the islands.

Arriving in the Galapagos was a relief. That’s probably an understatement; it was tremendously exciting. As we approached San Cristobal, we saw a small waterfall tumbling into the sea, lava coastlines, sea turtles, a shark, birds walking on water and sea lions.

Inspiration Lady, San Cristobal

The population of the Galapagos islands is over 30,000. In 2008, 180,000 tourists, including Ecuadorian residents, visited the islands. I can’t tell you the sea lion count except to say they appear everywhere. You might even find one on your stern or peering inside your hatch, as Jacqui and David did on Jackster.

Anthem and Jackster, San Cristobal

Sally Lightfoot crab.

Jack, Anthem, enjoys his ice cream. Thanks to Jackie and Gary, Inspiration Lady, (first across the line) we all enjoyed ice cream.

Owen, Elliot and Robert rented bicycles to explore the beaches.

We took a bus up to the El Junco national park. To get to the top of the crater you take a steep walkway. Then you can look down into the fresh water crater lake. Frigate birds come to the lake to wash salt off their wings. The mountain is shrouded in clouds so the vegetation is lush and the air is dripping wet.

Elliot and Owen inside a moss and fern lined “Hobbit Hole” at El Junco, San Cristobal. Exposed tree roots help to form the walls and roof. The earth was washed away when the lake overflowed and formed a river down the side of the mountain.

We visited the Cerro Colorado visitor center on San Cristobal where they have a captive tortise breeding program.

From tiny babies to giants

We also visited the Charles Darwin Research Center on Santa Cruz, home of Lonesome George, the last of his particular species of tortise.

Luxury Galapagos cruiser, M/S The Alta ran aground in Puerto Ayora,

Galapagos on March 17, 2010.

We didn’t expect to be able to do a lot of provisioning in the Galapagos but we found the small super mercados to be quite well stocked. The farmers’ market in San Cristobal was an unexpected bonus. We found watermelon, oranges, papaya, bananas, canteloupe, peppers, cucumber, potatoes, onions, mandarins, tomatoes, coriander, passionfruit, pumpkin, beans, and tamarillos and got change back out of $20.

Kicker Rock, from our lunch time anchorage on a snorkel trip.

Look out for Elliot's underwater postings from locations along the way.

For the story of the grounding of The Alta,

http://www.pura-aventura.com/news/galapagos-boat-accident-alta

Day 12, 29th April, 2010 The Ice Cream Run

The main cruising route across the South Pacific runs in a gigantic arc linking Panama with the Torres Strait. It has been affectionately nicknamed the "Milk Run".... The Germans call it... the "Barefoot Route", Jimmy Cornell, World Cruising Routes.
We lost sight of Inspiration Lady a couple of days ago, although we are still in radio contact. We suspect that Gary and Jackie are in fact totally focused on the Ice Cream Run. Among cruising buddies, they have a tradtion that involves the first boat in buying ice cream for the rest. I.L. is giving reports that indicate they are just about 10 miles behind us but there's some way to go yet and we think they will pull out all the stops to get in first. They just love to buy ice cream and Jack on Anthem loves to eat it. Make mine coconut!
Owen and Elliot have graduated to solo watches. They're doing a great job and we have a nice watch schedule that allows enough rest for each of us.
We hit a milestone at about 11:00am; sailed 2,000 miles and have less than one thousand miles to go. YIPPEE!
Posted by SSB radio.
Position 05 degrees 55 minutes south, 123 degress 14 minutes west

Day 9, April 26, 2010. Galapagos to Marquesas - Record Day

Inspiration Lady and Bristol Rose have been within sight of eachother for the last couple of days. This is quite incredible considering that most of the time when blue water sailing you'll very rarely see another boat. Most boats who buddy up find it's not that easy to stay within visual range of eachother.
Gary and Jackie built their boat in their barn up in Canada over a 26 year period. They really do have an amazing ability to stick to a goal to see it through. Both boats have posted their personal bests; 200 miles in a 24 hour period. This achievement is somewhat of a holy grail for cruising boats.
We have another reason to celebrate today. We've passed the halfway mark after 8 days of sailing. That's about 1500 miles to go.
Posted via SSB
04 47.258S
115 25.008W

Day 9, April 26, 2010. Galapagos to Marquesas - Record Day

Inspiration Lady and Bristol Rose have been within sight of eachother for the last couple of days. This is quite incredible considering that most of the time when blue water sailing you'll very rarely see another boat. Most boats who buddy up find it's not that easy to stay within visual range of eachother.
Gary and Jackie built their boat in their barn up in Canada over a 26 year period. They really do have an amazing ability to stick to a goal to see it through. Both boats have posted their personal bests; 200 miles in a 24 hour period. This achievement is somewhat of a holy grail for cruising boats.
We have another reason to celebrate today. We've passed the halfway mark after 8 days of sailing. That's about 1500 miles to go.
Posted via SSB
04 47.258S
115 25.008W