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.
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| 060412 Day 177 Galapagos Santa Cruz–Resident Noddy Keeps Us Company |
