Anchored ...

.. safely in Puerto Villamil, Isla Isabela, Galapagos, Ecuador

For those of you who remember the Google map search, we're anchored at

00.965333S, 090.962750W

We showed up without the official cruising permit and so were given 7 days in port even though we asked for 14 (first offer was 4). They can give as little as 3, we hoped for 7 coming over, so all works out. We might have gotten the 14 except there is another boat here who is way past any sort of welcome (by his own admission) and is not leaving (still, after almost 30 days in the islands) until some crew shows up in a few days. Plus we checked in at the Port Captain's with friends who did have the permit so a long stay for us might not have looked good in comparison. Whatever, we're happy, they're happy. The cruising permit allows a boat to stay for 30 days in any of 5 anchorages (each with towns). While the permit is free if you can find the right office of the Department of Defense in Quito or Guayaquil, agents charge US$50 to US$100 for their efforts to shepherd the process and take 30 days. You still have to pay check-in / check-out & anchoring fees at each port. The downside is that the Ecuadorian computer systems are now talking to each other so you also get to pay the US$100 per person park fee once you arrive here. Everyone who flies in or comes on a cruise ship has this fee tucked in somewhere. Cruising boats have been under the park fee radar in the past but things are tightening up, especially if you have the permit. If you want to go to other anchorages beyond the designated 5, you have to have a certified naturalist on board at a cost of up to US$250 per day.

So we decided just to show up and take our chances. Our 7 days for only $61, a regular check-in / check-out fee. We're happy: we have enough cash left over to take a tour up to one of the volcanoes (truck, horse, walk) or to take a panga over to where we can walk/snorkel in lava tubes and arches, both above and below the water. Besides, while sitting in the cockpit this morning with our tea, it just felt cool to say, "We're actually in the Galapagos!" It would have been good feelings even if we had to leave after a single day and Hope was the only one to have seen a penguin. Big smiles all around.

The delivery ship, Virgen de Monsaratte, was anchored next to us and was unloading supplies. I, personally, was glad to see a few cubic meters of beer being off-loaded into the waiting boats. Propane canisters, one shiny, new motorized scooter, all sorts of food stuffs, construction materials, and lots of stuff we couldn't see to identify in their bins. Unloading went on all day. Our friends (with the permit) said the same boat had just been at one of the other islands where they spent a day unloading as well.

The passage over was 732 nautical miles from the coast (not the straight-line distance, but the sailing distance). We used the engine only 13 hours (out of 6 days or 145 hours and that includes about a half day of drifting hove-to, waiting for the last sunrise), mostly for raising/dropping the anchor, charging the batteries and making water on windless, cloudy days, and the last morning coming into Puerto Villamil when the winds had died.

Since I'm the navigator I'm already thinking about the next passage up to Costa Rica, or Nicaragua, or even Mexico (if the winds are right .. a big if). It will be at least as long as this passage, but will be practically all down wind, a fun point of sail where we get to use the big purple and yellow asymmetrical spinnaker.

Well, enough for now. Project day. I'm sure Hope will have more postings about our stay here. Photos to be uploaded on the mainland.

love from us both,

yang

PS: OK (later in the day), now I've added refrigeration technician to my list of skills. The refrigerator has not been cooling as it should. A friend back in Bahia had the freon 134a and testing equipment but they weren't in such great shape and the can connector leaked. So I got my own set and am refilling/balancing the system. (Still, gotta thank the friend in Bahia ... his efforts did save the unit from getting worse.) Gotta love Central and South America: we could buy 15 pounds of freon 12 (like a small propane cylinder for your bar-b-que) which is illegal in the US. But lots of people would pay a small ransom for such a black market commodity. We just need small cans of freon 134a so we'll stick to that. In the US one even needs a professional certificate to buy any of the stuff. Here, it's off the shelf, come one, come all. In the US, per the documentation with the gauges, what I'm doing is grounds for a $25,000 fine per violation per day ... a violation being anyone with certification doing the work.

Penguin score update: 2nd day of the match, Hope 3, Rich 2, and all tied in seals.

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