Galapagos to Marquesas (April 29 - May 6, 2006)

We could have stayed in the Galapagos forever. It is a beautiful place with a wonderful climate and friendly people. There were many interesting things to do and places to see but even though we had a permit for 30 days, we felt like after a week we needed to be on our way again. Some day maybe we can come back and explore and spend weeks there like real cruisers. But for now it is time to get back to our ministry.

The hardest part of leaving was having to say goodbye to Tom and Kathy Crafton and their kids. We met them over a year ago and have been cruising south with them for over three months. They are a wonderful family and have become good friends. Unlike us, though, they are not on a schedule and are wanting to use their 30 day Galapagos permit to its fullest. We have met so many wonderful people the past months and saying goodbye is always hard. This was harder than most.

We made one more trip into town for fresh veggies and bread, then had breakfast with Tom and Kathy, and then with tears and hugs we were off to the boat. Kathy stowed all the final provisions while Kyle worked on getting things ready to cast off. At 12:30 the anchor came up and we were on our way to the Marquesas, a mere 3042 miles to the southwest.

We had light winds so we ran the motor most of the first day. That got the batteries good and topped up. About 3 PM a pod of huge dolphins swam by and three or four got under the bow and swam along with Stap Isi for a half hour. Twice we saw sea lions swim by. We wondered what they were doing so far from shore. This first day we were always within sight of one of the Galapagos Islands. It was sort of comforting being able to see land yet.

As evening came, Kathy cooked up dinner and we began settling into our nightly routine. The hardest thing about long passages with only two people on board is feeling like we get enough sleep. Even though we will be out of the shipping lanes for most of this trip, for safety reasons someone is still on watch all night. Kyle sleeps from 7-10PM and from 2-4 AM. Kathy gets to sleep from 10-2 and again from 4-6 or so. Then during the day we try to catch another hour or two. After four or five days we both get used to running on less than normal sleep. But for the first couple days it is an adjustment.

By 2 AM the wind had died completely so for the next few hours we were forced to hand steer. Normally our wind vane handles the steering, leaving us to read, sleep, or do other chores. But when the wind dies completely we have to get back on the tiller. That disrupts the sleep schedule even more so by Sunday morning we both were feeling pretty groggy.

This morning the wind came up a bit and at 9:45 AM Kyle switched off the motor and we rigged the sails wing and wing. This is useful when running straight downwind and involves poling the jib out on one side and tying the main off on the other. That gets the maximum sail area out to catch the wind. We ran that way for about three hours and then the wind dropped again. We dropped the sails and the motor came back on for a couple of hours.

At 2:30 PM we were approaching the west side of Isla Isabella, the westernmost island in the Galapagos. The wind came up again and once again we got the sails up. We were looking forward to getting past Isabella, catching the west setting current and SE trades and making some good progress towards the Marquesas.

As we were passing the south west corner of the island, however, we were suddenly caught in an unexpected southeast setting current. None of the guidebooks or charts had ever mentioned a southeast current in this area so it came as a big surprise. What was also surprising as the strength of the current. Even though we were on a heading of 220 degrees, our GPS was indicating a course over ground of only 165. We were being swept back east by the most powerful current we had encountered to date.

Because this was so unexpected, we did not have a good idea of how to counter it. Do we try to motor west out of it or do we run south with it for awhile? Was it a local phenomenon or did it run for hundreds of miles? We did not have a clue. Finally we decide to keep our heading of 220 and let it take us south. The winds were supposed to be better to the south anyway so going that direction for awhile would not be a problem.

Through the night the wind stayed up enough that we could continue to sail along on our heading. But all night we were being swept almost due south. By morning it was obvious we needed to do something different.

Our guidebook for this area indicated that boats should avoid traveling through an area between 3 and 8 degrees south and 90 and 95 degrees west. It said that this was an area of calms, squalls, strange currents and confused seas. By 9 AM we were at 2 degrees 25 minutes south, only about 35 miles from the no-go area. Kyle decided to try motoring west to see if we could get beyond the current, or at least beyond the worst of it. So we took down the sails again and started the motor and set a heading of 300 degrees. That gave us an actual over ground heading of about 270. Slowly, throughout the day we could see that the current was loosing strength. Our actual and our compass headings were coming closer and closer. But still since we were heading into the current now our speed was below 3 knots most of the day. We had hoped for 150 mile days - these first days we were seeing only about half of that.

The high point of the day came this afternoon when a voice came over the radio hailing us. There was another sailboat out there! It was a French boat by the name of Zongra that we had seen in Panama. They left a day after us from one of the islands further west and had encountered the same current. We had a nice chat and exchanged some weather information and then they were off. Theirs was a bigger boat and was able to go a knot or two faster than us. By evening they were gone and we were alone again.

Wednesday the winds were still light and there was still a bit of current pushing us south. Most of the day we were able to make only about 3.5 knots on an actual heading of 230. This was still setting us too far south and too close to the "weird" zone. This was going to be the fourth 75 mile day. We were hoping to complete this passage in about 25 days. Things were going to have to pick up soon if we were to have any hope of that.

Today was laundry and bath day. Both are done initially with salt water followed by a light fresh water rinse. Using that method we are able to keep our fresh water usage to a minimum. Kathy can do a load of laundry and we can both take baths using a total of about two gallons of fresh water. Even though we have a reverse osmosis watermaker on board, it takes electricity to run it and we have to be nearly as frugal with electrical usage as we are with water.

Apparently we have left the Humboldt current behind. The weather is getting warmer and there is no longer any need for the sweaters and jeans. We are even having to run the fan at night when we are sleeping. Feels good to be back in the tropics again.

It was a good night and we both are feeling like we are getting into the routine. The sky was brilliantly clear and we were able to see billions of stars. It is fun to get out the binoculars and see what we can see.

Finally at 6 AM the wind began to pick up and by 9 we had seen the last of the south setting current. Our speed increased from three to four to five knots. We felt like finally we had turned the corner and were on our way. We poled out the jib and sheeted the main in the center of the boat. That allowed us to run straight downwind under the jib while the main stabilized the boat and cut down on the rolling that characterizes down-wind sailing. It was an absolutely wonderful day; all the more so because we were finally making good progress.

Each day at 10 AM and 6 PM we check in on a radio net with other cruisers heading for the Marquesas. It is mainly a way to monitor each others' progress and to make sure that everyone is doing OK. There are about 15 boats that check in on our net and about 40 more that check in on another net. There are still about that many boats behind us in Panama or the Galapagos. This is a popular route this time of year. Even though we probably won't see any of these boats before the Marquesas, it is nice to know they are out there and it is great to hear other peoples' voices a couple times a day. The Pacific is vast and sometimes it feels a bit lonely out here.

The first four nights of sailing we did have some company though. Just after dark sea gulls joined us to fly around the boat. The mast's tricolor light casts enough light on the water making it easier to see any fish near the surface (for the gulls anyway.) As they fly around they pass though the lighted area and go from being a shadow to a white bird. To us it seemed that they looked a little like our guardian angels sent to help us along our way during the night.

It was a beautiful night and Kyle was at the end of his 4-6 AM watch when he noticed the splashes of fish feeding around the boat. Maybe part of the reason that we were not having luck catching fish was that we were getting the line out too late. So he went below and got the rod and sent a lure out about 100 feet behind the boat. In only about 30 minutes the reel sang out and the rod bent as a fish struggled on the end of the line.

"Fish on!" Kyle shouted below to the sleeping Kathy. In seconds, while he was getting the rod untied, she was dressed and on deck to help land the fish. She got all the cushions and blankets out of the cockpit and went below for the gaff and the fish net. This fish was obviously larger than the last one we caught. It was putting up quite a fight and the only time Kyle could get it reeled in was between its struggles.

Slowly, however, it tired and we began getting it reeled in. Suddenly it jumped and we could tell by its golden color that we had hooked a dorado. There is no finer eating fish than a dorado and we were excited at the possibility of getting it on board. That was going to be the problem. He was too big for the net and every time Kyle got him close to the boat he tried to take off again. Finally Kyle told Kathy to stand back while he tried to heave him onto the deck. This is where the fish usually goes sailing off into the ocean again but this time the dorado stayed hooked and landed, exhausted, on the deck.

The fish measured 37 inches long and probably weighed in the area of 10 lbs. Kyle got it filleted and that evening Kathy cooked it all up in her cajun fish batter. Awesome. And there was enough left over for two more meals.

After that start the rest of the day went fairly uneventfully. The winds were still out of the east so we were sailing downwind at only about 4.5 knots. This was not going to do if we were to make the Marquesas in under four weeks.

Finally about 8 PM the wind died altogether. We have learned, though, that this lull often signals a wind shift and sure enough in a few minutes the wind began clocking around to the SE and filling in. Soon it was blowing at 15 knots and we watched as the GPS indicated 6 then almost 7 knots. We finally settled in at about 6.5 knots for the rest of the night.

It appears that these are the trade winds that we have been looking for ever since leaving the Galapagos. Since entering them they have remained steady from the SE at anywhere from 8 to 15 knots. That makes for absolutely wonderful sailing.

Today was the first full day to enjoy the SE trades. Stap Isi flew along at nearly six knots all day - a rate that would give us 135 miles or more a day. With the stronger winds the boat was healed more so we had to get used to a new motion. But the increased speed and faster passage was definitely worth a bit of discomfort.

With the trades filling in last night neither of us got very mush sleep last night so today was spent resting and napping. Dory went exploring first thing in the morning and started bringing in flying fish and a squid. We regularly find the flying fish on deck but this was the first for a squid. We wondered how it got there - given that it does not fly and we had never heard of one jumping. Certainly it didn't climb up the boat like something out of a Jules Verne book. Dory, however, didn't seem to care anything about its origin. She was more into the culinary aspects of a flying fish and squid breakfast.

Just at dusk another pod of dolphins came by. There were about a dozen and they swam along side the boat and slid from side to side under the bow. Occasionally one would jump. These were a bit smaller than the others we had seen. Regardless of size, they all appear to enjoy swimming with the boat and we always feel like it is a gift from God when they make their appearance.

Another beautiful evening. We left the Galapagos just a day or two after the new moon so each night we have enjoyed seeing it get a bit bigger and brighter. It is now at the quarter so it is will be with us most of the night for the next couple of weeks. It certainly makes changing sails and other tasks easier at night to have a bright moon up there.

This morning Dory got up and as usual her first task was to go forward to explore around the boat. She immediately came back with a flying fish and dropped it in the cockpit. Then she went and got another and another. Soon she had a small pile of flying fish and another squid. Kyle got up to see where she was getting them and looking forward saw the entire bow covered in flying fish. We counted 20 of them altogether along with the single squid.

We had seen flocks of flying fish numbering as many as 50 take off together and sail over the waves. We figure that some predator had startled a large flock like that into flight and in the dark they collided with the boat. Dory, of course, was thrilled and we are hoping the fish bounty will continue as it stretches her cat food.

Besides cleaning up the flying fish mess, today is also laundry day, bath day, charge the batteries day, and probably a few more projects before the day is up. Today we have been gone a week and it amazes us how fast the time flies out here. There is always something to do and it seems like we no more than get things squared away in the morning than it is time to get ready for the night. Now that the trades are settled in, at least we don't have to do much with the sails. They are trimmed about as well as we can get them so we just leave them alone until the wind shifts again - maybe in a week or two.