March 14-- Darwin Center

Baby turtles (more photos below the fold)

DARWIN CENTER
One of the main attractions in Puerto Ayora is the Darwin Visitor's Center with its turtle and iguana preserves, and a major research station with scientists from around the world who come to study the ecology of the Galapagos. It is a short walk east of downtown which Jan and I took yesterday. The center is just inland from the beach and at mid-day it was extremely HOT on this day when clouds stayed in the highlands.

Much of what we saw was quite repetitive of what we saw earlier in San Cristobol, and actually not as well presented so we didn't linger too long. They did have more young turtles being raised until they are old enough to place in the wild and fend for themselves and they were very cute to watch in their pens. There are two species of large iguanas which are found only in the Galapagos and those are being protected as well. We learned again that the naturally occurring species found here before man arrived were thriving, including hundreds of thousands of giant turtles. But early sailors valued the turtles as food because they could be kept alive in the ship for months before being killed for dinner. And the introduction of cats, dogs, rats, pigs and goats played a major role in the decline of the natural species. So it is wonderful to see the efforts to protect the islands and rid them of human-introduced species.

DIESEL TOPPED OFF
Our trip from Panama to the Galapagos required enough motoring that we burnt 80+ gallons of diesel. With more of the doldrums ahead of us before we reach the SE trade winds on our way to the Marquesas we want to be sure our fuel tank is full upon departure.

Lava Tubes! Tons of pictures.

Looks like a scene from "Lost"

INTERIOR HIGHLANDS

Yesterday we went ashore with our passports and Galapagos park passes ($100 ea) to investigate how to get into the interior highlands to see one of several locations which have land turtle reserves and lava tubes to explore.

After lunch we climbed into a taxi and the driver, who spoke no English, acted as our guide. One needs a local guide to visit any of the Galapagos National Park locations. This is not only beneficial for informational purposes but it also ensures that visitors treat the parks with respect and it provides much employment opportunity to the local population.

Very quickly after leaving Puerto Ayora we were in the lush green countryside with many open areas with widely separated cedar trees.

March 11-- Market Day

Helping himself to a tuna steak

Puerto Ayora, Galapagos

First, let me apologize for mis-spelling the name of this lovely town and port. It is Ayora (aye-ora), not Aroya. So now that we know where we are I'll let you know what (little) we've been doing.

After a very uncomfortable rocky rolly Friday night at anchor things finally settled down a bit Saturday when the wind switched to the SW and faced us into the waves instead of sideways to them. We had invited a young couple who is leaving the rally to come and dine with Joe and us. We had to hold our drinks all night because they would have tipped over from the rolling. But Jan fixed a wonderful dinner with tenderloin and we had a great time before taking Advil PM and trying to sleep.

THE OTHER HALF
Saturday morning is the weekly farmer's market and we were advised to get there early for best selection. On the water taxi trip ashore we met the gal from the largest Oyster, 92' "Lush", who was headed to the market to provision for the 10 people aboard for their 3,000mi sail to the Marquesas. She is one of the paid crew - the "hostess" - a person wearing many hats including cleaning, daily yoga instruction, entertainment and provisioning for the professional cook.

The owner of Lush is a famous Scottish Formula 1 race car driver whose name I forget but our good friend and race car driver Bob Bruce wants us to meet. He flies in to ports to enjoy his boat between races and expects everything to be first-rate while he's aboard.

March 8

CONDITIONS: Continued cooler, big rainstorm overnight, winds E 15-16kts today. Clear skies. Harbor is open to SE-S and is a bit rolly, especially when the wind blows the boat perpendicular to the prevailing SE swells. Putting out a stern anchor to hold us pointed into the waves would cause a problem at night when the wind swings 180 degrees, so we just roll.

MECHANICALS: None!

More info and photos below the fold:

March 7

CONDITIONS: Continued cooler, humid, light winds overnight. Good winds today (wouldn't you know, because we're at anchor).

PROPULSION: None.

MECHANICALS: Replaced two spokes on Mike's bicycle which he loves to ride around the islands we visit.

CREW CONDITION: Enjoying the freedom of going ashore & socializing with the other Oysters arriving every day.

EXCITEMENT: Lizards (with bodies about 1' long, plus tails), seals swimming in the Oyster HQ hotel swimming pool, tons of birds, and an active fishing harbor.

COMMENTS: We are very impressed with Porto Aroya. Like the other places we've visited, there is lots of evidence of recent economic development including the infusion of lots of government money to improve these tourist destinations. This is really the tourist center for the Galapagos with about 30-40 tour boats in the harbor and a very active and cute Main Street along the harbor. Jan and I look forward to the coming week alone on the boat with time to spend ashore in the town and exploring the island.

We'll keep you updated. Right now it's 5:30 and it's happy hour at the Oyster HQ hotel, so we're off!  Lots of pictures below:

March 6, First day in Galapagos

DISTANCE TO GALAPAGOS: 0NM , 45NM made good noon to noon.

CONDITIONS: Continued cooler, but high humidity. Mostly clear skies with clouds over the volcanic peaks. Zero winds while motoring to Santa Cruz Is.

PROPULSION: Motoring, at anchor here for two weeks.

MECHANICALS: Cleaned drain hose and anti-siphon valve from our head which had been emitting occasional odor.

CREW CONDITION: Excellent.

EXCITEMENT: Getting to shore to explore, enjoy some internet to contact friends and family, eat some food and take a San Cristobol Island tour.

COMMENTS: The minute we anchored, we were greeted by sea lions!

Southern Hemisphere!

Quester crossed the equator today, somewhere around 1100 UTC, about 6am eastern!

Crosby Stills and Nash, foreseeing this trip, wrote a little ditty for the occasion.  Perhaps you've heard it?

March 3-- entered southern hemisphere and arrived Galapagos

DISTANCE TO GALAPAGOS: 0 NM , 129NM made good noon to noon

CONDITIONS: Continued cooler air, winds overnight on the nose 9-12, tacking in very confused seas with new swells from the west mixing with wind and waves against current of 1.5 kts. Partly cloudy

PROPULSION: Tacking upwind last night. Motoring straight upwind today. Much calmer seas this afternoon.

MECHANICALS: After running engine many hours the alternator quits charging the batteries for unknown reasons. Solution is to shut down the engine and restart it. Examined considerable sun damage on exposed portion of Quantum staysail and decided it should be repaired in Tahiti.

CREW CONDITION: Bleary after being bounced around all night in the washing machine conditions. Getting naps and showers today. Cheerful to be in the Galapagos

EXCITEMENT: WE CROSSED THE EQUATOR at 0610 this morning but because of the conditions and the hour we decided to celebrate tonight at anchor. LAND HO! We spotted the high peaks of our landfall around noon today and have been motoring up the north side of the island to our anchorage on the western tip. We've eaten very well, have lots of food and snacks and the watermaker allows us the luxury of daily showers. So life is good!

COMMENTS: Under ideal conditions we could do this 900 mi trip in six days at 150 mi per day. It took us seven and a half days because of the combination of calms or light winds and winds on the nose when we had good winds. This was frustrating and required sail changes, tacking and setting course for 100 degrees away from San Cristobol so our VMG (velocity made good toward the target) was always lower than our speed through the water. However, it was fantastic to have following currents the entire way until today which probably gave us 36 FREE miles per day!

We'll await Immigrations and Customs approval, and boat inspection for illegal food, pets or plants before we can go ashore

March 2nd

DISTANCE TO GALAPAGOS: 150NM , 127NM made good noon to noon

CONDITIONS: Continued cooler (85 instead of 90+), dryer air, winds overnight died at 0600. Clear skies.

PROPULSION: Tacking upwind last night. We've been in "noserlies" for most of this passage and thus progress is slow because we can only point 50 degrees from our destination - no closer - because the sails begin acting like flags with no forward pull. Motoring today.

MECHANICALS: Changed watermaker backflush filter. When the generator is used, typically 3 hours per day, we can use the reverse osmosis watermaker to make pure water from sea water. This allows us to use much more water than we were used to on Mystique. We shower every day which is a real luxury!

CREW CONDITION: Joe spending time alone coming to grips with losing his beloved golden retriever, Rain. Rest of us doing great.

EXCITEMENT: Mike is shaving today! We stopped the boat in the dead calm sea and went for a swim. Top 1' of water like a bath tub. 1' down was at least 10 degrees cooler (Humbold current waters?). We have a red-footed booby...

March 1st

DISTANCE TO GALAPAGOS: 277NM , 109NM made good noon to noon

CONDITIONS: Cooler, dryer air, steady SW winds 10-15kts. PC skies.

PROPULSION: Sailing only now for two days - no engine!! Tacking upwind.

MECHANICALS: Tried to fix the toaster which hit the floor during our wild & rainy night. Cleaned raw water intake strainers.

CREW CONDITION: Everyone doing well except we are all very sad that Joe's dog was suffering from cancer and had to be put down today.

EXCITEMENT: Steady winds, smooth sailing, very comfortable.

COMMENTS: It has been such a blessing to have two days of steady 10-15kt winds which move Quester along at a respectable 5-6kt pace. Even though we're tacking 100 degrees away from our first destination, San Cristobol, we're making 5-6 kts VMG in that direction with the help of the considerable current from behind the boat. Spirits up except for above mentioned sadness.