by Judy Handley | Apr 15, 2006 | Galapagos, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Days 179 and 180, Year 1: The Waiting Game
Date: Friday, April 14 and Saturday, April 15, 2006
Weather: Cooler, Breezy, Clear Blue Skies
Daytime Temperature: 80 degrees F (down from 82 degrees F)
Nighttime Temperature: 74 degrees F (down from 80 degrees F)
Location: Academy Bay, Puerto Ayoro, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
The weather here is changing. We don’t know if this is temporary or if we are beginning to feel the change from hot and wet season to cooler and dry season. It has been dry since we have been here, so we have only experienced hot. The cooler temperatures are a welcome relief, but the evenings actually feel cool. But I guess I shouldn’t complain. Seventy-four is not that cool!
We are still waiting to hear about the Fed Ex shipment. Late Wednesday the Fed Ex online tracking system told us the package was in Panama City, and on the computer it has remained there. There is nothing we can do until Monday morning, but it does seem strange that the computer has still not been updated or that the package really hasn’t left Panama City. This one is trying my patience. Since there is no way for us to know if there are further problems until the parts arrive and are installed, it is really difficult to think about what we can do. Let’s just hope the parts arrive early in the week and once installed, everything is back to normal. If not, I might become a basket case. Until then we are busying ourselves with boat maintenance. We have been cleaning the teak deck, stripping the varnish from the wooden rub rail in order to refinish it, completing the cockpit sunshades, and on and on and on. The waters here are nutrient rich, and I mean really nutrient rich, and our waterline and boat bottom are growing colonies of algae. Right now the waterline looks like it needs its flowing green “hair” needs to be cut. We have arranged to have someone work with us to do this on Wednesday as cleaning the entire bottom is quite a job. Heather and Jed helped us clean the waterline while they were here, but everything has grown back. Heather assures us that once we leave here and get further into the South Pacific, things will settle down again. We sure hope so because the constant cleaning is a full time job.
Easter weekend here is taken seriously. Most people who live here are Catholics and many things were shut down yesterday for Good Friday and will not open until Monday. But some that were closed yesterday opened their doors today. We were actually surprised at how many shops were open both yesterday and today. When your economy is totally based on tourism, I guess you can’t close the doors during peak tourist season. We went to the Saturday market today and bought many of the vegetables that we will need for the trip to the Marquesas. I guess that is being a bit optimistic, but we do want to be ready to take off as soon as the transmission problems are solved.
Yesterday we visited with Betty Lee and Tom Walker on Quantum Leap. They are from Mobile, Alabama. We first meet them in Panama and this is the first time we have been in the same port with them since sometime in February. It was good to visit and catch up on their plans for the next part of the transit. I get very sad when I listen to the Pacific Net in the mornings. Thirty-four boats, most of whom we know, are currently in transit from here to the Marquesas. We had hoped to be number thirty-five, but that just didn’t happen. We hope to catch up with everyone at some point along the way, but our delay here means that we will have to skip some of the places we had hoped to visit. Aqua Magic is leaving on Monday and that leaves just Procyon and ourselves. I know there are more boats on their way here, but we do not know them. I guess we will need to make new friends.
by Judy Handley | Apr 13, 2006 | Galapagos, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 178, Year 1: Busy Day
Date: Thursday, April 13, 2006
Weather: Cloudy Early Morning, Sunny Day, A Little Cooler and Windy
Location: Academy Bay, Puerto Ayoro, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
When we got up this morning, I think we thought we were going to have a relaxed day-but that didn’t happen. First thing, I checked the e-mail to see if Heather and Jed arrived home safely. They did, so that was a great relief. We were then supposed to have a diesel fuel delivery between 10 and 11, and then a water delivery later in the day. Instead, we had a water delivery at about 9:30. There wasn’t quite enough water, so the water taxi had to go back to shore and bring more water out to us. Since the same taxi was going to deliver fuel to us and to Procyon, everything else got delayed by our water delivery. By 11:30 the fuel still hadn’t arrived, so we decided to go in for lunch and ask for the fuel delivery around 2:00 PM. We had made plans to have lunch with Randy and Sherri from Procyon and Margaret and Patrick from Aqua Magic. We had lunch and then got back to the boat to wait for the fuel delivery.
In the meantime, I checked the Fed Ex tracking of the parts we need for the transmission repair. Jack Law at Mack Boring in New Jersey had worked hard on Monday to make sure the shipment went out as soon as possible. The tracking shows that the 14 pound package was shipped from New Jersey to the Fed Ex center in the US, and then on to Bogota, Columbia, and Panama City, Panama. Our agent here tells us that once things arrive in Panama, they usually arrive here 24 hours later. But tomorrow is Good Friday and this is Easter weekend, so we might not get the shipment until early next week. In any case, we truly appreciate the fact that Jack Law personally made sure the parts were sent out to us as soon as possible. We know people here with Yamaha engine problems that are having to wait two weeks for things to be shipped. Thankfully our Yanmar dealer seems to be able to get things moving quickly and we really appreciate that. Thank you, Jack Law.
Later in the afternoon the fuel arrived. It had to be siphoned from jerry cans into the tanks, and that took a while. We then decided to scrub the teak deck, and that took a while. And by this time is was almost dark. We headed into town for dinner and ended up eating at a local spot with our agent, Johnny Romero. He has been dealing with some mega yachts this week and having some difficulties, so we ate and brainstormed ways for him to deal with difficult customers. We ended up on the same water taxi home as Margaret and Patrick from Aqua Magic, so we stopped by their boat to visit. Busy, busy day.
In the meantime, we are beginning to feel like “Galapagos endemic species”. It seems like everything else here is endemic, meaning that this is the only place in the world where the species is found. And since this is the only place in the world where we can be found, we are therefore endemic. Good logic, wrong conclusions. But I like feeling “endemic” and we continue to enjoy our time here.
Maybe tomorrow will be the quiet, lazy day we have been looking forward to since Panama. We shall see.
by Judy Handley | Apr 12, 2006 | Galapagos, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 177, Year 1: Back to Just the Two of Us
Date: Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Weather: No Change—Still Beautiful
Location: Academy Bay, Puerto Ayoro, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
The weather is still beautiful here. The mornings start out cloudy, but well before noon the skies are deep blue and the sun is shining. We got up this morning and it was very lonely without Heather and Jed. We decided to have a very lazy day aboard Windbird to help us adjust to our life aboard without children, but that lasted only a short while. Aqua Magic called on the VHF and wanted to come over to help us check out our transmission problems. It was great to have them aboard. We had coffee and checked out the engine room. Patrick’s assessment was the same as Mark’s. It looks as if the transmission is fine, but we really won’t know until the parts arrive from the US and we can put everything back together again. Let’s just hope that Mark, and now Patrick, are correct and that all is well with the transmission. Parts should arrive early next week and hopefully we will know by this time next week whether we can be on our way or whether further repairs will be necessary.
After Patrick and Margaret left, Mark and I read for awhile and then we delved into computer issues. Now that our Sony Vaio is once again working, we wanted to back up all the files on our new hard drive. We did that and then proceeded to back up all of the files that we have created on my IBM since the failure of the Sony. For now, the Sony is working great, but obviously we can’t depend on it. We will just constantly back up all files and be ready to switch to the new computer that Heather and Jed delivered if necessary. Aqua Magic, as well as a number of other boats here have had recent computer failures. We feel blessed that our failure happened in time for us to have Heather and Jed bring us a new computer. Many boats are very dependent on computer charts for navigation purposes, so having at least two working computers is almost a necessity. We use paper charts, but we are very dependent on our computers for our communication and are glad that we now have a back-up for the back-up.
We have now been here in the Galapagos for four weeks-28 days to be exact. We arrived a day after the full moon in March and tomorrow night is the full moon in April. We are still hoping to be in or near the Marquesas for the full moon in May, but that is still to be determined. In the meantime, we will just continue to enjoy this very special time in the Galapagos.
Mark and I headed into town in the afternoon to pick up laundry and connect to the internet to update financial data on Quicken. Going to shore here now feels like home, and for now, that is a great feeling. If you have to be stuck somewhere, it is good that it feels like home. And new boats are coming into the anchorage, some that we know from previous ports. Quantum Leap arrived late yesterday with Tom and Betty Lee Walker from the US aboard. We look forward to seeing them once again.
So it looks like life will continue as usual while we wait for the parts to repair our problems. We will visit with other cruisers and enjoy Puerto Ayoro as our home away from home.
by Judy Handley | Apr 11, 2006 | Galapagos, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 176, Year 1: Heather and Jed Leave the Galapagos
Date: Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Weather: No Change—Still Beautiful
Location: Academy Bay, Puerto Ayoro, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
I truly believe that when a child is born, a part of the mother’s inner being is transferred to the child she has been carrying . . . and that part of the mother’s inner being provides a very strong tie between mother and child. Of course, as fallible human beings we can always do something to either strengthen or weaken that bond, but if it remains strong, a mother has a very difficult time with separation from the child. When the child becomes an independent adult, the mother continues to strive to keep the bond intact. Even when hundreds or thousands of miles separate a mother from her child, I believe the mother can sense the happiness or sadness that the child is experiencing. This is what separates humans from many other species. So today when my daughter Heather and her husband Jed left the Galapagos, the sadness of separation overtook me. It was so very wonderful to share a place that I consider the top of my list of special places on earth and it was very hard to let Heather and Jed go. We had an incredible time together here-a time I will always cherish-and I only wish our son Justin could have been here with us. Mark and I said to Heather and Jed that we will have to return here with Justin for another family experience in the Galapagos, so I look forward to the time when we can do that. We also look forward to the time when Justin can join us in the South Pacific. But enough of a mother’s philosophical babbling and on to the happenings of today.
Our day began much earlier than we would have liked. Sometime in the middle of the night, Windbird started rocking and rolling. The anchorage here in Puerto Ayoro is known for this, but we have been lucky until now. Just before we arrived here there were reports of breaking waves in the anchorage, and while we were away on our five-day tour there was another 48-hour period where the swells rolled in and caused boats much anguish. Last night’s rough and tumble calmed with the rising sun, but who knows what tonight will bring. Whatever, we will just have to roll with the punches. Our next rough spot in the day also happened early. Around 7 AM we called our agent, Johnny Romero, to find out what time we should leave for the airport in order to make Heather and Jed’s flight out to the mainland. Johnny replied that Heather and Jed weren’t flying out until tomorrow and asked us to check the tickets. Sure enough, the flight from here to Quito was set for tomorrow, but their flight back to the US from Quito was also tomorrow and there is no way to do both in one day. This mix-up happened because the original departure day from here was April 12, but that had to be changed and evidently there was a confusion in the communication of this. As always Johnny said, “No worries.” And in about 20 minutes he got back to us with the news that there was still room on the mid-day flight to Quito, so all was well. By this time it was only 8:20 AM and we had survived crisis number two for the day.
Thankfully, the rest of the day went smoothly. Heather, Jed, Mark, and I headed to Baltra to the airport. You have to take a taxi or a bus from here north for about 20 miles and then get on a ferry that takes you to the island of Baltra. As we were sitting on the ferry waiting for transit, Mark opened the computer case that held our Sony Vaio that went on the brink a month ago. Heather and Jed had brought us a replacement and this computer was going back to the US with Heather and Jed for repairs. Mark hit the ‘on’ button one more time to try and start the computer that had refused to start since Panama, and miraculously the screen said, “Welcome to Windows”. We have absolutely no idea why, but the Sony is now working again. We turned it off and back on again, and it seemed to be working just fine. We decided to bring it back with us rather than send it on with Heather and Jed. We can at least retrieve the files we have lost and save them on our new hard drive. Miracles never cease. We are fairly certain that this reprieve is temporary, but for now we will have three working computers aboard. That is certainly better than none.
We said our farewells to Heather and returned to Puerto Ayoro. There was a huge emptiness inside both of us as we returned, but we have almost three weeks of wonderful memories. In fact, tomorrow we will have been here for four weeks. Most of the boats that were here when we arrived are gone now, but new ones come in everyday. Tom and Betty Lee Walker of Quantum Leap arrived today. We met them at the Panama Canal Yacht Club and look forward to seeing them once again. Randy and Sherri aboard Procyon are still here and so is Aqua Magic, so we have friends in port. We are so happy that Randy of Procyon is doing so well after being taken to the mainland to have stomach ulcers removed. I haven’t seen him yet, but everyone says he looks great and will be ready to sail on to the Marquesas after the first of May.
We are waiting for the transmission parts to arrive from the US. Until then, we will do some of the much needed maintenance on the boat and hope that the installation of the new transmission parts will get us up and running once again. Until then we will continue to enjoy this incredible place.
by Judy Handley | Apr 10, 2006 | Galapagos, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 175, Year 1: Another Trip to Tortuga Bay
Date: Monday, April 10, 2006
Weather: Another Really Beautiful Day in Paradise
Location: Academy Bay, Puerto Ayoro, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
We are making progress on getting the parts needed for our transmission repair, but we won’t know the extent of the damage until the parts come in and we can put things back together. It is our hope that when we do that, all will be fine, but there is a chance that there is damage in the transmission itself. Let’s hope not. Let’s also hope that the repair parts get here by week’s end or by the beginning of next week. Until then, we will just have to continue to enjoy our time here in Puerto Ayora and continue to get ready for our voyage to the Marquesas.
Once we ordered the needed parts for our transmission we knew there was nothing more we could do today to speed up the process, so we headed off to Tortuga Bay with Heather and Jed. This was their last day here in the Galapagos and they wanted to revisit the beautiful beach. Mark and I had walked to the beach once before, but we had not continued on to visit the nearby lagoon. Heather and Jed had done this and assured us that it was worth the extra walk time. They were certainly right. The lagoon area is a lovely place to laze the day away. We swam, read, and watched Darwin finches “up-close and natural”.
Today was Patrick of Aqua Magic’s birthday, so once evening came we all headed to a restaurant known to be the best in Puerto Ayora. We were not disappointed. The setting was beautiful, the service was good, and the food was fantastic. Heather and Jed leave tomorrow morning and we are going to miss them so much. It has been a wonderful gift to have them here with us. We will just have to look forward to the next time they can join us.
by Judy Handley | Apr 9, 2006 | Galapagos, Sailing Logs Year 1 |
Day 174, Year 1: Transmission Blues with a Little Good News
Date: Sunday, April 9, 2006
Weather: Another Beautiful Day in Paradise
Location: Academy Bay, Puerto Ayoro, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos
Early this morning Heather and Jed left for a dive trip out to the island of Santa Fe. We stayed here waiting to hear from our agent and hopefully from a mechanic. About 9:30 the water taxi dropped off two mechanics and they immediately went to work in the engine room. Unfortunately they spoke no English and we speak no Spanish, but for the next three hours they worked and Mark tried to figure out what was happening. What we know for sure is that they were successful in removing the transmission from the engine and getting the coupling and the mounting plate removed. They took these parts and said, “Mañana.” They said something about welding the cracked mounting plate and ordering a new coupling from the continent. We assume that is South America-Ecuador, hopefully. We will hopefully get a translation of all of this from our agent in the morning, but the REALLY good news is that our engine runs just fine now that the transmission is removed. It purrs like a kitten and it doesn’t sound like there has been any damage to the engine. We also think the transmission looks good, but that is still to be determined. For now, we can once again use our engine to charge our batteries. That is very good news and we are hopeful that we might be able to get parts in and everything repaired in the next couple of weeks. Just yesterday we thought we might have to become permanent residents here, but today looks much more hopeful.
Heather and Jed had a great day diving and we are now headed into town for dinner. Life is good. It is continually full of little surprises, but we have truly learned to roll with the punches out here. And we have had to learn to trust. People we don’t know board our boat, work on our engine, and leave with the parts, and we ask no questions. All will be fine.
