Three days in the La Playita anchorage gave us the chance to complete our provisioning, do some additional siteseeing, for Tony a must, and to stock up on odds and ends, like lures and hooks for the big fish of the Pacific. Roger the Taxi did us proud, ferrying to and fro. Pricesmart proved to be a good cash and carry with Riba Smith filling in around the edges. Pacific Puddle Jump conference on Monday proved fascinating, adding colour and anticipation to our preconceptions of the Pacific, particularly Marquesas and Tahiti. Diesel and water replenished and tanks full, we declared ourselves ready to set off for the Las Perlas islands. For Philip, this would be his first real sail. Oh dear, little wind and much motoring on our first day out, Wednesday 9th March. Hook over the side and a little prayer. Somebody was definitely listening for, as we came into the red algae waters of Las Perlas, 3 fish jumped onto our hooks. We managed to land two out of three. Not bad. Both tuna and enough to feed 4 hungry mouths. You can't beat fresh fish!
We were passing through Las Perlas islands, so chose an inhabited island, with the best chance of picking up wifi for our last evening. Most important, though, cleaning the hull before derating tomorrow. So, under we went, with scourers in hand. The Copper Coat antifoul was quite easy to rub clean, though the waterline and the keel, 2 metres down, proved a bit more difficult . Nevertheless, all sorted by 11am next morning, and ready for our departure to Galapagos 7 days away.
As we motored SW towards Malpelo Rock, more south than direct, but good for wind and current, we all quietly called up the wind. And up it came as darkness fell. For the remainder of the first half of the passage, we were blested with good wind. 159 miles in the first 24 hours was excellent, despite motoring. As we celebrated half way at 445 miles out, on Day 4, the wind died. We were so grateful for the 2 knot current going our way. Motoring almost the next 24 hours continuously would have been horrendous otherwise. Our cruising chute did us proud as the wind built. Coloured sails are so inspiring when fully inflated. And at 6-7 knots, we had no complaints. Galapagos was fast approaching. Slow down everyone, or we will arrive at night and miss the scenery. And besides, crossing the Equator is an event to be celebrated, so at 00°000'000 N (where does Navionics get that N from?), 89°13'537W we poured ourselves a rum as we crossed Neptune's girth belt. Water truly does go straight down the plughole. We swam in azul blue water as Laros glorified in her first Southern Hemisphere waters. Deb was at last in home waters - still a bit to go, Deb! But incredible to believe we have travelled 52° south and 89° west from UK home waters. That's something like 8500 nautical miles by simple latitude then longitude calculation. Awe-inspiring to observe that we are about to add 300 miles to that in the next leg!
On, on, so on Day 8 (continuously Day 7 of sailing) we arrived for lunch in Puerto Ayero, Santa Cruz, on Thursday 17th March, St. Patrick's Day. So few sailing boats in the harbour. I guess, just timing, and maybe weather forecasts putting sailors off leaving Panama. If I could have captured Philip and Tony's incredulity at not encountering storms or high winds on our 7 day passage, I would have bottled it. So, our thoughts turned to how best to see these incredible islands.
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