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| Our track - Panama to Marquesas |
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| Departing Panama |
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| Departing Panama - back to the normal dress code! |
We headed south as best
we could, playing the wind shifts to our advantage, until, three
days later, on June 2nd, we were 100 miles off the coast
of Colombia/Ecuador in water 1500m deep. Imagine his surprise when
Christoph, who was on watch, spotted a fishing float in our path! Was
it a drift net or was it a drugs haul/drop off? He was even more
surprised to hear voices over his left shoulder when the fishermen
whose net it was, hailed us from their open, 7-8m long boat! They
were friendly enough but this is one heck of a long way to be
offshore in such a small open boat! This was one of four such boats
plus their nets that we passed in the following four hours; the final
one was 125 miles from the nearest land!
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| Our first land on! |
One wonders how may of these
guys fail to return each year? After the first net we had tacked for
the final time and were now headed directly for the Galapagos
Islands, 500 miles away to the WSW.
From here on it was all
port tack at speeds between 4 and 8 knots. Soon after tacking we
picked up some hitch-hikers. A family of sea birds adopted us and
were hitching a ride on our pulpit. First one landed on, then two and
finally we had five onboard intermittently. It was a bit like being
in an aircraft carrier with the fixed wing aviators doing DLPs' (Deck
Landing Practice).
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| The family gathers |
They would take off every so often, fly round
Kurukulla whilst searching for food, and then come back and land on
again. Mostly their food seemed to consist of small flying fish put
to flight by our approach. This went on day and night with them
flying close under the starboard bow hunting by the green light of
the starboard navigation light. It has to be said, after a bit of
practice, their day time deck landings were getting quite accurate,
night-time remained “hit and miss”! Landing on a polished
stainless steel bar, moving at 7-8 knots and randomly up and down, as
Kurukulla pitched in the waves, was no mean feat, nor was staying in
place as the waves threw spray over the bow as we surged onwards.
Ultimately they stayed with us for four days, 500 miles, until we
reached Galapagos!
At 0600 on the 5th
of June, just before dawn broke, we were 80 miles short of the
Galapagos Islands; it was here that we crossed the Equator;
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| The Lat & Long when crossing the line. |
I was on
watch but shook Christoph in order that we could enjoy a bottle of
“bubbly” to celebrate the moment. Our plan was to arrive at the
Galapagos islands at daybreak the next day, sail northwards through
the islands, but not stop. Given the amount of time we had lost in
Panama doing repairs, plus the high cost and ridiculously severe
constraints placed on private boats that visit the islands (all
designed to maximise revenue for the local tourism companies!), we
had decided not to stop but do a “windscreen tour” whilst on
innocent passage through the islands.
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| Yes I do occasionally wear clothes.. |
Had we have stopped we would
have been constrained to stay in one of four harbours at a cost of
~£1000 in charges for agents, clearance etc. and then pay again to
visit the outer islands by tourist boat, not my scene!
A cautionary tale,
(those who are not boat owners/skippers may wish to skip this
paragraph)! As we approached the Galapagos Islands I had noted that
there were upwards of fifty AIS contacts scattered in and amongst the
islands. However, next time I looked there were none! Atmospheric
effects around sunset? It was only next morning when I was seated at
the chart table and switched off the navigation lights that I
realised that they had all suddenly re-appeared! Switch on the
navigation lights all disappeared again. The radio frequency (RF)
interference from the LED navigation lights was totally blanking out
AIS reception! The same may well apply to your VHF reception! Moral,
check for mutual interference if you use LED lamps and, if you do,
don't trust your safety to AIS at night. I am now searching for a
supplier of RF suppressed LED lamps!
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| Downwind through Galapagos Islands |
Initially we had to
slow down so as to make the bottom end of the Canal Isabela; which
separates Isla Santa Cruz and Isla Isabela, the two main islands of
the Galapagos archipelago; at daybreak on Thursday, 6th of
June; this was in order that we would have daylight enough see the
scenery.
The day dawned grey and so were the islands; nothing like
the scenes in the film “Master and Commander”! In fact that
morning the wind died away to nothing and despite setting the
spinnaker we were still only able to do 3-4 knots up the channel. In
one of the quieter moments we went for the first swim since leaving
Panama; very refreshing! It took us over 24 hours to do less than 90
miles! In the process we also recrossed the Equator again; this time,
going northwards; our celebrations were rather more restrained .. a
beer with lunch!
In terms of wildlife
we did sight the largest pod of dolphins that I have ever seen only
hours before we reached Galapagos and we saw a pair of sea lions playing
in our wake as we transited the canal but beyond this nothing
special; for the rest you have to pay and tour the islands by tourist
boat or on foot.
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| Galapagos Islands (in passing) |
We finally exited the
Canal Isabella at 0200 on the 7th of June and set sail for
the Marquesas Islands, in French Polynesia, which were some 2900
miles ahead of us. Escaping the Galapagos Islands was not going to be
that easy however, by 0500 we were becalmed and stayed that way for
the next three hours; managing only 1-2 kts. Eventually the wind
filled in and we were off; a close reach, on port tack, riding the
trade winds at 7 kts. Again, within hours of departing we were
surrounded by dolphins, hundreds of them leaping and playing in the
waves. These are smaller than their Atlantic counterparts and do not
seem to relish playing in the bow wave of the boat as their Atlantic
compatriots do. Fascinating none the less!
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| Christoph's pressure cooker bread |
Today was the day when
our supplies of commercially baked bread ran out. There are limits to
it's keeping qualities! As a consequence Christoph set to and
produced us a loaf of “Pressure cooker bread” and very good it
was too. Normal dough but cooked on the stove top in the pressure
cooker (not under pressure). One of his best loaves to date! At 1445
we crossed the equator for the third and final time in this stretch.
This time our celebrations were even more restrained; a glass of red
wine, left over from dinner yesterday, to accompany our lunch. We are
now going to be in the southern hemisphere until we reach Indonesia,
late next year.
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| Amazing sunrise in mid Paciific |
Life on a long passage
gets into a set routine and this passage was set to be 4050 miles in total.
Christoph and I had agreed that we would split the day into four
watches, he would take the eight till two slots and I would take the
two till eight. That way we would each be able to get some
uninterrupted sleep in our periods off watch. Breakfast and lunch
were snack type meals and we took it in turns to prepare dinner,
saving the more adventurous menus for the calmer days! Cooking “Coq
au vin” at 20 degrees of tilt, or on a rolling platform, is no
joke! Our best days mileage was 198 in 24 hours, averaging just over
8.3 knots; not bad for a 39 foot boat! The next day we broke another
record for the number of flying fish on deck at dawn; we had 18 on
deck (plus two squid) and that doesn't count the 9+ that Christoph
and I had rescued from the cockpit area and thrown back in the sea,
nor those that flipped back over the side of their own accord.
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| The morning deck clearance! |
I
remember from my days at sea in the Royal Navy that our Hong Kong
laundrymen, who we carried onboard as contractors, would do an early
morning sweep of the deck for flying fish and that was breakfast!
Somehow, despite the fact they were fresh, Christoph and I couldn't
bring ourselves to eat them. They are appallingly slimy and shed
scales everywhere. Preparing them would be a complete nightmare!
As the days passed the
winds came round to be more and more from astern until, 1000 miles
short of the Marquesas, we were able to pole out the genoa and run
downwind at 7-8 knots in 12 to 20 knots of wind. All very easy! The
days merged one into another, other than the odd amusing event. On
the night of the 17th June it was Christoph's turn to be
struck by a flying fish. Just as we finished dinner it came inboard
like a missile and struck him on the side of the neck before landing
on the helmsman's seat and then flipping itself back over the side.
He, as you can imagine, was less than amused: especially as he had
put a clean shirt on only an hour before, which was now horribly
sticky round the collar and reeked of fish!
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| Christoph on watch |
Two nights before
reaching the Marquesas Islands we sighted our first fishing vessel
since the three seen when leaving the Galapagos Islands. Other than
these boats plus one ketch which crossed our path halfway, looking to be en
route from Pitcairn to Mexico and an Australian sailing vessel of
similar size to Kurukulla, on a parallel course to us, encountered
one day out from the Marquesas, we did not see another living soul
in sixteen days! The Pacific is amazingly empty! Having said that, of
the four fishing vessels we have passed, we were on a collision
course with two of them before we altered to avoid; it proves the
value of continuous watch-keeping and the risk to single-handers!
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| Sunrise over Mohotani |
Typically we sighted
the Marquesas Islands at dusk on 23rd of June meaning that
we would not be able to enter harbour until the following morning. To
enter by night, in a strange harbour where most boats are anchored
head and stern, did not seem a good option! As a result we altered
course to port and headed for the small island of Mohotani where we
could find shelter from the swell and space to heave to overnight for
a good night's rest. At 0600 next morning we set off again for Atuona
on the island of Hiva Oa, our port of entry.
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| The final leg... |
By 0930 we were anchored
in the quietest part of the harbour and ready to go ashore and find
the Gendarmerie where we had to report. All went well, no problems at
all. One form to fill in that covers the whole of French Polynesia
and we were then entrusted to take it to the post office and despatch it
to the central authorities! All so simple.
The island is
delightful, the people very welcoming and the chance for a rest very much enjoyed.
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| Atuona harbour, Hiva Oa |
More after we leave Hiva Oa.....
