Day 181, Year 1: Easter Sunday
Date: Sunday, April 16, 2006
Weather: Still Cooler with Clear Blue Skies
Location: Academy Bay, Puerto Ayoro, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos

What better way to start a beautiful Easter Sunday morning than to get up at 0615 to clean the teak deck. Although we had cleaned the deck with New Dawn a couple of days ago, we weren’t satisfied with the results. So we used the last of the West Marine non-acid teak cleaner we have with us. You have to apply the crystals to a wet deck and keep the area wet for five minutes. Then you scrub with a brush and wash down. We used salt water for the wash down and it seemed to work just fine. In order to keep the crystals wet while you wait five minutes, you have to do one small section at a time. Even with the wait time, by 0930 we had cleaned the deck, and then we started on the cockpit floor and we washed down the deck with fresh water. About that time, Margaret and Patrick called on the VHF and invited us to lunch. After lunch, they were going to a concert we had seen advertised and we said we would love to go along. One thing led to another, and all of a sudden in was 1300 and time to head to town.

We had lunch at Patrick’s favorite local restaurant and then headed to the Coliseum for the concert. The signs advertising the concert were in Spanish so none of us were really sure what we were going to see. Randy and Sherri from Procyon were also there, but they had no more information that we did. From what we had read, we thought it was going to be a Salsa orchestra and that the starting time was 1400, but four hours after we arrived for a 1400 concert the equivalent of a Spanish rock concert began. Talk about island time! We couldn’t believe how long we had to wait. The audience waited unbelievably patiently, and once in while the organizer would take the microphone and explain something in Spanish that we couldn’t understand. People would cheer and then we would go back to waiting. When the “orchestra” arrived, it was 14 musicians playing electric everything and a lead singer that was obviously someone very popular with the younger crowd. We didn’t stay long since it was now after dark and the music was so very loud. We were most definitely the oldest people in the coliseum and we showed our age by leaving early.

On the way back to the boat, Mark and I stopped at one of the local international telephone calling centers. We called Heather and Justin to wish them a happy Easter, and I called my sister Patsy. I was going to call my brother Dickie to wish him a happy birthday, but when I went to dial his phone number, I realized that he has moved and that don’t have a new number. So . . . Happy Birthday, Dickel!

Before heading back to Windbird, we said our goodbyes to Patrick and Margaret. Their Galapagos permit expires tomorrow and they must leave. They plan to make a stop at another close-by island tomorrow night and go back to Isabella for a couple of days. They are going to try and stay around as long as they can so that we will be making our crossing to the Marquesas at about the same time. We are hoping that tomorrow will bring good news about the arrival of the needed parts for repair, but we just have to wait and see.

I’ll be posting more of our tour logs tomorrow and will attempt to send some pictures. The internet connection here can be very, very slow and pictures are almost impossible to send. I will at least try to send our “top ten” favorites from here. My friend Linda from Concord, New Hampshire, e-mailed today to wish us a happy Easter. She also wanted us to choose our one favorite plant and animal from here. Not sure that is possible, but we will work on getting our “top ten” favorites to you.

060416 Day 181 Galapagos Santa Cruz–Easter Sunday Salsa Concert