Day 20 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/19/13
Another wonderful day out on the ocean and another 160 nautical miles under our belt. We have 200 nautical miles to go but the wind is dropping off to 8 knots and the ocean is very lumpy. Dragonsbane is slowly crawling to the finish line well she sways back and fourth. I guess I will get very little sleep tonight as I roll around my cabin. But the good news is we are almost there. Thank god, because we have nothing exciting to eat and only meat and can goods period.
Current Position: 8deg 43min South, 136deg 15min West
Beer, Beer, BEEEEEEEEEEER, beer!
Thanks,
Jacques
Day 19 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands .5/18/13
We only have 360 nautical miles to go and hopefully if the wind stays strong we should be on dry land in 3 days, maybe. To day we are flying the spinnaker and averaging 8 knots per hour. The weather is nice and sky is clear. I am surprised because there is a cyclone below us and hurricane above us. The only issue we had to day was one of our spinnaker sheets chafed through and we had to fix that. Other then that, just looking forward to land.
Current Position: 8deg 33.74min South, 133deg 38.01min West
So, three guys in a boat are drinking BEER! Yup
Thanks,
Jacques
Day 18 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/17/13
Wow, over two weeks have passed by and I am still sailing on the Pacific Ocean. I won’t lie to you and say that this easy. In my mind before this trip I did not put to much thought into the duration of this ocean crossing from Galapagos to Marquesas even after I looked at the charts and saw the distance on paper. But now the peace of the ocean that stretches for thousands of miles in all direction I am beginning to long for the noises of others. The daily motion of the ocean and noise of sails slapping or rigging clanging is all that breaks the silence. I have read many books now and practiced my French. I have cooked all that can be cooked with the ingredients that I have onboard and now I am limited to meat, pasta, and canned vegetables. I cannot run out to the market and get some black pepper, comfort food, or turn on the TV. I am now on my island that seems to shrink a little everyday. I am glad that I am learning what it means to truly be cut off from the world other then this blog, which I can only write and not receive any comment. It’s a one way window and you get to look through it from both sides. You are all so lucky!
Current Position: 8deg 00.1min South, 130deg 42.8min West
It’s not luck, its time and place that matter.
Thanks,
Jacques
Day 17 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/16/13
The waves are not as big this evening as this morning 12 footers. The sun is dropping below the ocean and casting a bright red glow and smell of simmering sweet curry chicken fills the air. The flying fish are enjoying the tall waves and soaring 20, 30 feet before crashing back into the ocean. The wind is cool and the sun is warm but my mind is elsewhere thinking of home, you, and where I plan to be next year. It’s strange as you sail your mind wonders off to other parts of the world and you guess what everybody is up to. But some moments of thinking are snapped shut when the wind blows hard and sails dip deep to the starboard. You have to concentrate for long periods of time to maneuver over and through the waves. You check your bearing, then the sail, sheets, and wind direction to maintain your 7 knots of speed. Then after you watch your crew down below get tossed around the cabin you smile because you could have told them you where going over a 20 foot wave but it was more fun to watch there food shoot across the cabin followed by them and there rants of anger. Yup I call that good fashion entertainment followed by a 2 minute late yell of BIG WAVE and the crew below say KNOW SHIT! Yes, good time on the big blue Pacific Ocean!
Current Position: 7deg 51min South, 128deg 25.9min West
Pacific Ocean sailboat decks are just like salted Margarita rims!
Thanks,
Jacques
Day 16 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/15/13
I received good news from our friend Don on the southern Cyclone aka Hurricane. The cyclone is located below the 40 degree latitude but it covers most of the lower southern Pacific from New Zealand to South America. The only bad thing is it will be spinning off waves 12 to 20 feet from the south west for the next 2 to 3 days, should make one hell of a washing machine effect. We currently have waves around 6 to 12 feet but most of them are from our stern which makes it a nice ride. Other then that, not to much to report and only 875 nautical miles to go.
Current position: 7deg 20.0min South, 125deg 59.83min west
Salt water is wetter then freshwater, FACT!
Thanks,
Jacques
Day 15 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/14/13
HI!!!!! Last night was packed full of squalls, rain storms, crazy waves, 35 knot gust and I now know what it feels like to live in a working washing machine. My last watch 24:00 of the night I noticed the wind drop off and the air get really warm. Then I started to get waves bashing into the side of Dragonsbane which tossing us around pretty violently. I turned on the radio and a squall 12 mile in radios was 4 miles behind me. I yelled to Adam to get on deck and put in a reef. I pulled in the roller furling and then the squall hit but the wind only got up to 28knots. Lots of rain and a washing machine effect of waves from 2 to 3 meters. After an hour it was Adams shift and he did a good job working through the squalls that passed by all night until about 3am when my dad helped him out. I was trying to sleep but kept getting thrown around my bunk all night and had some crazy dreams about my old job. Anyway the weather for tonight looks a little crazy again, so I cooked up a good dinner. I cooked pan seared chicken with a dry vermouth sauce and serviced it over wheat noodles with olive oil. It was hard hanging onto the hand holds with one hand and cook dinner with the other but I gotter done. The good thing about cooking well sailing is you really dont have to mix anything; the boat does it for you.
I should add that I chatted with 12 other sailors about 100 or so miles around us and weather was issued from the Chile Government about a cyclone south of our position but is stable and fixed in its current position. FYI a cyclone is what the southern hemisphere calls a hurricane. So that next few days should be a lot of fun!
Current position: 6deg 59.86min south, 123deg 23.55min West
I am out of cookies! SHIT!!!
Jacques
Day 14 Galapagos to Marquesas Island 5/13/13
Hope everybody had a great Mothers Day and weekend. I am still out in the middle of Pacific Ocean with about 1130 nautical miles to go. We sailed through the night with the Spinnaker up and most of today with an average speed of 8 knots. But we took down the spinnaker for tonight because the wind is up to 20 knots already and the sky is full of squall clouds which I am guessing should make for a fun night. Nothing like sailing through a storm when you can’t see it! On a good note I did see a pod of 50 or more Dolphins swimming and jumping all around Dragonsbane. I was a little nervous sailing through the pod but they seem to enjoy the company. I also baked a loaf of fresh bread and gambled on adding 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, it worked out well. The hardest thing was getting the dough to rise when the boat was moving all over the place. But it tasted great with our chicken and canned yams.
Current location: 7deg 10.4min South, 121deg 27.6min West
It takes a Rocket Scientist to piss into the wind correctly, Proven by Adam!
Jacques
Day 13 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/12/13 8pm
I realized that I used todays date for yesterdays blog post, OOPS. So yeah, its day 13 and we have lost the wind again. I am not sure why because talking on the SSB radio there are few folks with 15 knots of wind behind us at 95deg west/3deg south. But regardless we are running our spinnaker and making 4.7 knot of speed with 8.5 knots of wind. We had a productive day and we did not even get any poo on us! We made 30 gallons of water and charged up our battery bank for the evening. I also chucked 20 flying fish back in the sea and wish they would stop jumping into the boat. They keep stinking up the place! Anyway Happy Mothers Day to all those Mother out there!
Current Location: 6deg 48.30min South, 118deg 39.95min West
Flying fish dont make good cocktails, FYI!
Jacques
PS. 1,250 nautical miles remaining!
Day 12 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/12/13
Well another exciting day at sea! The wind is up to 25 knots and the waves are starting to get 10 feet high. I had a great day of being bounced around Dragonsbane as we went up the wave and down the wave at sometimes 20 degrees or 30 weeeeeeee! But I guess the one thing that I noticed more then anything was the great deal we got on purple and yellow onions. We bought them at the Galapagos fresh market at a very cheap price so we bought a lot. Now after being out in the open ocean for 12 days I am beginning to be overwhelmed by our hanging basket of onions. There is nothing better the smell of old onions swing around in our main cabin. Last, most of our bread has a great freezer taste and the only way I can eat the bread is by toasting it on the stove. I have burnt my hands twice now, but it makes my SPAM sandwiches taste much better. O yeah, to day Adam was baptized by the Pacific Ocean when a big wave came over the stern and soaked him. All I heard was DAM IT, and I looked up laughing. Welcome to the club Adam!
Current Location: 6deg 17.31min South, 116deg 27.52min West
FYI don’t buy a lot of onions when crossing an ocean! Buy MORE BEEEEER!
Jacques
Day 11 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/10/13
Today was pretty crappy day in a literal and figurative way! It began like most of our normal mornings at sea but there was a odd smell in the air that gave me the feeling that today was going to be interesting. After my change of watch with Adam my dad had discovered that the toilet was not working and I had notice issues earlier in the morning but hoped that it would fixes itself. The toilet plumbing was plugged somewhere and crap was at the brim of over flowing the toilet. My dad took apart his cabin to gain access to the holding tank and macerator pump. We realized that the holding tank was not being discharged via the macerator pump and the plug had to be down stream of the pump. So as my dad took apart the plumbing I watch as a stream of tropical warm shit spread across his cabin and on him. I laughed and choked at the smell. I opened his deck hatch but Adam at the helm made a quick recover turn and caught a wave which broke over the deck into the hatch where I was soaked with sea water. My dad only looked at me and said you should not have opened the hatch, well know shit but it smells like shit in here. He then proceed to trouble shoot the problem with ideas of why the plug had occurred and where it may be. I suggest the anti siphon lock and my dad agreed. I went back to help Adam tune some sails and put the staysail up so we could gain a little more speed. After I returned my dad had taken apart most of the bathroom cabinet that contained the anti siphon locks and removed them from the holding tank hose to find no issues. He then took apart the macerator pump found a rubber o ring out of place and thought that it was the problem. Then he forgot how to put it back together. We some how got the pump, and hose reconnected, turn on the pump. It worked and discharged the holding tank contents. I had enough of the holding tank and told my dad I was going to re plumb the toilet so when you pumped the toilet it went right over board. But first I would flush the holding tank with sea water and finish it off one last time with some holding tank treatment fluid that made poo smell like mint.
After filling the tank with ocean water I turnned the macerator pump on and nothing happened, it didn’t work. So my dad thought that now the flapper valves on the pump were hung up but I disagreed. He took the hose off the pump and a rush of poo came out into the bottom of the boat. Now we where both mad and puzzled. We put the hose back on and turned the pump on and it worked. I said ok, I will put the mint treatment in and that’s the last time we will have to use the macerator pump. After assembling the toilet hoses and reinstalling the toilet hand pump I tried the new discharge arrangements I had made. It worked great but I notice that the pressure would build up in the hand pump fast, to the point that I could not move the handle and then it would move freely. I realized that when the boat heeled to 20 degrees starboard it would put a hydraulic head pressure in the hose and the pump was not strong enough to discharges the poo. I realized that when we ran the macerator pump the same problem occurred. But regardless I kept the new setup and thought that we could at least save power by not using the electric macerator pump anymore. As a last cleanup of our new system my dad told me he would like to empty the old unused plumbing pipes by pumping air through them. I agreed and he rigged up a foot pump to blow air through the old plumbing. Some how I ended up on the discharge end of the pipe holding a bucket to catch any poo water that was blown out. My dad asked if I was ready? I said yes! Just then the boat lift up and dropped down 20 degrees where I was standing. The pipe I had in my hand was not pointed at the bucket anymore and I fell to my butt. I yelled! Hold on one minute! But it was to late, a stream of minty fresh poo water blasted into my lap. I kept yelling for my dad to stop, but his hearing is not the best these days and I got blasted one last time. When they say that you can pump 20 gallons per minute through those pipes they are not bullshitting. I stood up and my dad asked what happen, I said you covered me in poo that’s what happened. Dad said, well you should have told me to stop. I just shook my head and turned back to may work and finished up everything.
That evening after I had a shower I cooked dinner and looked forward to my one ration of beer or wine we each got for dinner. I made nothing fancy for dinner as I was tired from working all day on the poo situation. We sat at the cockpit dinner table or I should say coffee table and Adam poured us a beer from the last can we had. As I sat and started to eat my hotdog with mac & cheese a big wave picked up Dragonsbane and dropped her on the side beam. The last of all the beer was now in my lap and I was so pissed off covered in beer. My dad said without thinking “you should have put it in the cup holders” well know SHIT! So I went rinsed off my only beer and I had to laugh finally at the days situations. But the good news is that my dad found two warm beers! Two of the cheapest beers I have ever bought or tasted PANAMA Beer INC. I drank my beer to the last drop and it was the best beer I have had in a long time.
Current location: 5deg 53.84min South, 113deg 55.34min West
Yup! I got the POO on me!
Jacques
Day 10 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/9/13
Today the wind changed by a few degrees so it was right behind us and made things very dicey. We have been sailing under two jibs and a mainsail which has produced some of our best mileage to date. We made 140 nautical miles in 24 hours under that sail configuration and I hoping to continue the good speed but all must come to an end. We are now on a easy tack heading 255 degrees west at 7 knots. As I am writing this it is dark out and for the first time I can see a huge ship off in the distance that is lighting up the ocean like a big outdoor sports arena. So I will have to keep a watchful eye on him and enjoy the cool evening breeze with a sky full of big bright stars. Looking back on today I saw a pack of maybe 30 dolphins swimming along Dragonsbane. But the sad news is that I also hooked a fish and it took out most of my line because I forgot to set my clicker to make noise. Unfortunately the line was cut, leaving me about 150 feet of 500. O well I will have to rig up something new and stronger with the materials I have onboard.
Current Position: 5deg 38.19min South, 111deg 15.86min West
Yup! It does smell!
Jacques
Day 9 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/8/13
The water feels warm but looks so cold and dark today. The sky is overcast and the shapes of clouds project a dark shadow over the oceans surface in strange shapes. One seagull and a ton of flying fish are the only things that are keeping us company today. We put up a lot of sail to day so we can maintain 6 knots but the wind has been low and we have only been able to average 5.5 knots. The waves are small but still make Dragonsbane sway back and fourth all day. 1820 Nautical Miles to go.
Current Location: 5deg 53.62min South, 108deg 44.3min West.
Tomorrow, the Sun Will Rise and I Will Watch!
Jacques
Day 8 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/7/13
I over slept this morning and missed the SSB radio net and did not get a weather report of the 6 sailboats 100 miles around us. O well, the weather was warm, sunny, and had a few rain storms. We sailed the spinnaker for 12 hours today averaging 6.8 knots and I am happy to say that we have only 1,984 nautical miles to go. That’s right 1/3 of the way there and we have not lost our minds yet. I am looking forward to the next 15 days and hope that they go by just as quick as the last 8.
Current location: 5deg 32.67min South, 106deg 37.44min West
The Ocean water here is not so Salty! Interesting!
Thanks,
Jacques
Day 7 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/6/13
Yup, pretty dang exciting today! We had the wind die off to about 8 knots so we change sails and put up a Spinnaker. We went from 4 knots to 8 knots and it felt pretty good to be sailing so fast. It made me think that we will be in the Marquises in no time flat. Thats right only 16 more days and I will get to have lots of beer or rum or something with alcohol, at this point I am not to picky. That and a long hot shower instead of my daily salt bath with a fresh water rinse. But thats the future and right now I am happy just being out in the world living the dream!
Current Location: 5deg 4.01min South, 104deg 24.21 min West
Dream Big! Then Live the Dream!
Jacques
Day 6 Galapagos To Marquesas Islands 5/5/13
Good news caught 2 mahi mahi and cooked them up with a mayo, dill, mustard sauce. Then crushed Ritz crackers over the fish and backed it for 15 minutes at 450 degrees or at least tried to keep 450 in my tin box oven. Turned out real well and got request for seconds. I will have to try for more fish tomorrow. The weather today was sunny, windy, and the swells were very small only around 3 to 5 feet. We did have a few issues last night and again this morning. Two days ago we used our little generator to charge up our batteries and make water which overwhelmed our charger. We discovered this morning when I tried to charge my labtop that the inverter stopped working. So after a few hours of tracing wires, reading manuals we found a melted contact and fixed it. Now it works and we can charge our batteries again. It seems that everyday we find or create new problems and spend time solving them. It is tough to be 100% off the grid and even harder when you can see land.
Current Location: 4deg 40.66min South, 101deg 59.18min West
Enjoy Your Evening,
Jacques
Day 5 Galapagos to Marquesas Island 5/4/13
The ocean is an amazing place when you are miles from the nearest shore. I sleep sometimes wondering, when I get back to the mainland if the world will have changed a great deal. For the last few days I have been looking out in to the ocean as far as you can see and see nothing but open space and blue water. I am stranded on my little Island called Dragonsbane. Here in the ocean time stand still and the dates of time have no real meaning anymore. For the first time in my life I can truly say I/we are alone and our fate lies in our hands truly. One mistake can orchestrate a domino affect that could have deadly results but I walk the razors edge with a smile. Here now in the ocean that is so blue like bright frozen ice which we sail across it like butter in a hot frying pan. I don’t care about money, work, technology, TV programs, sports, or what people’s opinions may be of me. I have found peace in the world and I had to sail 1500 miles out into nothingness to find it. I wish I could transfer the feeling of what I am experiencing but I think it would be different for each person. It’s so hard to experience days of zero stimulation from the world I was surrounded by back in the USA. All stimulation cell phone, radios, TV commercials, texts, internet, traffic, dumb people, and so on are not possible here. Its everything that I thought it could be and it is a priceless commodity to hold. If you think about it, you may realize that you may never find a place like it on the mainland where home is. Today we live in a world with no boundaries, connected to each wireless dreading that something may be missed. I just wish that we could have one day a year where everybody just turns off the power to everything for one hour and listen to nothing but silence. I think it could add days to everybody’s life. I, for now have learned to turn it off and not feel a sense of panic.
Current location: 4deg 14.9min South, 99deg 15.9min West
Yup! Life is a Hell of a Thing,
Jacques
Day 4 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/3/13
I only had a few hits on the fishing rod today but the last one is one to remember. I was working on sharpening my knifes down in the galley when Adam screamed for everybody to get up on deck. Not sure what could be so important as Dragonsbane was sailing normal and we didn’t hit anything in the ocean. I rushed up on deck and looked in the direction of his pointing finger and saw a big pod of whales swimming by. Then my fishing reel took off like a bat out hell and was screaming. I rushed to it and increased the drag. I looked behind the boat and I had caught a whale, not a little whale but a very big and blue whale. I was surprised and for once hoped that my hook would pop off. I pulled really hard and it did pop off. I thought that I would never catch a whale until today. I think that could have been my chance but I am trying not to catch things bigger then my boat. Although I could have said “you should have seen this fish I caught, it was so big you couldn’t even fit into the boat”! So that was the real excitement for the day and we all started our French Lessons today. Nothing like being in a new country and not understanding anything that is coming out of there mouth. All I really need to know “is where is the bathroom”, and “I want a huge BEER, please”. Other then knowing that you are just trying to show off!
Current Location: 3deg 39.1min South, 96deg 37.0min West
Good Luck and Goodnight,
Jacques
Day 3 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/2/13
Fishing?
I woke this morning a little sad that I lost my favorite clone lure to some big fish yesterday. I had a 150lbs test leader that passed through the lure to the hook and some big fish bit right through the line. So in retaliation I have changed all my mono leaders to stainless steel wire 500 lbs test. I hope that this will be last of these kinds of problems! O wait, one minute! After I awoke and dropped my line off the back of Dragonsbane trolling around 7 knots I hooked into a real nice TUNA! Reeled it in and filleted it up ending in 8 lbs of raw meat. After cleaning up my mess I grabbed my rod again to deploy the lure back out behind Dragonsbane, BANG!!!!!!!! “SON OF!!!!!!!!!!!” I hit the rod tip into the wind generator and it cut my line which had my other favorite lure and bent the rod tip. I was so mad I just about through the whole works in to ocean and gave the Fish Gods the middle finger. Told the fishing gods I was going to through hand grenades into the ocean if this keeps up, but I would more then likely put a whole in Dragonsbane and I have to fix that to. But after I calmed down I got another clone that has not been very successful and tossed it out into the ocean. About a hour later I had a really big hit and the line was peeling off the real which is my second most favorite sound in the whole world. I was alone in the cockpit and yelled for someone to get on deck and take in the jib! I set the hook and tighten the drag on the reel. No one was on deck yet so I grabbed the jib and pulled in the sail. My dad made it on deck at this point, I gave him the helm and reached for my rode. I started grinding in on the huge fish behind our tossing and turning wake and just as the Tuna broke the surface my line popped off. “SON OF! STUPID, DUMBASS!” Why do I fish I hate this stupid sport, dam, dam, dam, But did you see the size of that thing! Ok put the lure back in the ocean. Spent the rest of the day making Sushi, and had fresh pan fried pepper tuna with corn. Yup Life is good even if I am loosing my mind fishing!
Good Luck Fishing,
Current Location: not where the fish are but, 3deg 3.99min South, 93deg 46.84min West.
Jacques
Day 2 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 5/1/13
Ok, so I read my fishing guide book again and purchased varies fishing gear from many different stores on Galapagos Island. I had to buy some lures in one store, then walk across town to buy more fishing line in another, and then put together bits of old fishing gear to make new lures. I did purchase one manufactured Lure and it was the only one that got some action. I didn’t see the hit but a fish of some kind put a big gash in the side of my new lure and I have nothing to show for it “DAM IT!” Anyway I have engineered 3 handlines and my ocean master fish rode/reel set up so I can have 4 lures trolling behind Dragonsbane at once. It should be pretty interesting if I hook anything big with all that gear in the water but I don’t care. I want a really big TUNA!
The rest of the day was spent trying to harness the wind which was only around 4 knots all day. We did get a few small squalls with buckets of fresh rain which was nice. I took a rain shower and as soon as I had enough shampoo in my hair it stopped raining. But it rained enough to get my fishing guide book water logged again. We are slowly getting back into our routine and only have 2,812 nautical miles to go!
Current Location: 2deg 42.72min South, 92deg 17.58min West.
Love Fish, just don’t try and catch them! They are smart!
Jacques
Day 1 Galapagos to Marquesas Islands 4/30/13
We left Santa Cruz, Galapagos Island at 12pm today. We are happy to find 10 knots of wind and making a average speed of 5 knots. We have 3,011 nautical miles to go and a whole lot of time to fish, read, and think. But as a whole my experience in the Galapagos was good. I saw lots of sea turtles, sharks, hammerhead sharks, sea lions, iguanas, penguins, really big tortoises, blue footed boobies, and a million other kinds of birds. The climate was warm about 80 degrees everyday and in the afternoon when all the shops closed from 12 to 3pm for nap time, it got up to 90. At night the cool breeze from the Southern Pacific Ocean was like air conditioning and cooled us all down to about 75 degrees, “good beer drinking weather”. The skies were cloudy most of the time but bright and the sun would shine through to turn the harbor water ocean green and light blue. The Islands were covered with short shrubs and big bushes that grew tall with vines that choked out anything around them. The growth on the island was so thick that no one could really walk anywhere with out chopping your way through. There where some cactuses covered in bright yellow and blue flowers that showed how hot and dry it gets here. The really nice thing about the Galapagos is that other then the sharks there is not a lot of thing that can kill you. But I really thought that the area would be really untouched from man but a lot of the islands shows signs of man abusing it. I only hope that the Ecuador Government does not continue to exploit the Galapagos more then they already have. I feel that they should only issue a few permits each year for people to visit and that’s it, but time will tell.
Take Easy!
Jacques
Off to the Marquesas Islands 3000 Nautical Miles
Tomorrow we will begin our 25 day voyage to the Marquesas Islands which is 3000 nautical miles away. I hope to have good wind and weather. We have provisioned Dragonsbane with food, water and fuel. I am sad to leave the Galapagos Island because there are so many great people and travelers here to talk too. Everybody has a great story and the Island is so safe and the local people are wonderful. I wish I could have let you all see the things I have seen here. I am really starting to understand the world and all who live in it. I only hope that after I make it around the world I continue home. The world is big, dangerous, beautiful, peaceful, and lovable, but to travel through all of it is indescribable. Be grateful for the life we live in the USA, and the thing we have because the majority of the world tries to duplicate it but falls far short of ever being like the USA. I wish all my family friends the best. As always I will post via SSB radio everyday with my position, emotions, and thoughts. Wish us all Dale, Adam, Dragonsbane, and “The Dude” luck.
Enjoy life and Travel More!
Jacques
Pictures From Galapagos Islands
In our last voyage from Panama to Galapagos this was the 2 fisher men in the middle of the crossing 400 plus miles from land
Folding sails underway as we sailed
Taxi ramp where you had to take a water taxi for Sixty cents one way from your boat to the port city. The Taxis are in Yellow.
Boarding from water taxis into the ferry boat.
All the crack in our ferry boat as we traveled from San Cruz Island to Isabella Island. This was a result of the Ecuador Navy pilot boat hitting us before we left. A few people got hurt but we left anyway.
On our way to Isabella Island on the same Ferry with lots of cracks in the front hull.
Picture of a Pink Flamingo in the Flamingo Lagoon
Really big tortoise , saw lots of these guys
Iguana on San Curz Island. this one of last few of this kind left
This sea lion had no free as most animals here don’t free man.
A few local fishermen cleaning and selling fish. The Sea Lions and Pelicans are taking table scraps
The blue foot Boobies! I love boobies!
The Sea lions sleeping on the boats! Oops
The swimming Iguana’s
I circled the wiring in our hotel room for our hot water in the shower. Every tiem I touched the shower head I got shocked! I realize now why South Americans are so short!
We rode in this little truck with a homemade benches bolted to the frame.
Horses on the trial to the Volcano. We hiked up the 10 mile round trip.
Looking out over Isabella Island, Galapagos
Dale and Adam walking i the lava fields
Lava rock
Walking through the Volcano
Volcano
Lava Fields
great view of Isabella Island, Galapagos
The Volcano on Isabella Island, Galapagos
Adam and Dale walking in the lava fields
Looking out in to ocean from the top of the live volcano
Standing next to the creator of the last volcano eruption in 2005
We will be heading out to the Marquis Islands on Sunday 4/29/13. It is 3000 miles west of the Galapagos Islands. It hopefully will take less then 25 days. It should be good sailing and fishing, but we will see.
Take it easy!
Jacques
Diving With Sharks Galapagos Island Gordon Rock 4/23/12
So far this was one of the most challenging dives I have completed. I was told that there were strong currents and that the experience was a must. So having 12 dives under my belt I jumped in full ass! We started our adventure at 6am, we were picked up by the dive boat off Dragonsbane and found out it was only me, Adam, and a nice guy named Bob from Canada who had 389 dives. As we zipped along the coast of San Cruz Island for about 45 minutes to Gordon Rock dive site, we were thrown forward and the engines stalled out! We hit a Manta Ray that was 20 feet long and it stopped us cold. Our dive master and us were very sad to have hit such a beautiful ray. I felt so bad because I felt like I just added to the problem of negative human interaction that you hear about in Galapagos. The dive master said it will more then likely die of its wounds.
After a sad start we made it to the site and geared up all at once. We sat on the gun whale of dive boat together and the dive master counted 3, 2, 1, we all dropped in at once. The current is so strong there that it will sweep you away if you took time jumping in one at a time. We circled up and were given the signal to dive. Submerging to 35 feet we saw a hammerhead shark right below circling. Then, the current took us for a slow ride but pulled us down to about 65 feet. We saw Eagle Rays, turtles, millions of little fish, and a school of Wahoo that had to be in the thousands as we swam through them. After 40 minutes of diving we surfaced and had the challenge of getting back into the dive boat that was going up and down in 4 foot swells and surf.
On our second dive we went to where the current really ripped hard. We all splashed in and went down quick to a rock wall where the current was pulling on you hard enough that you had to hold onto the rock. We dove for about 20 minutes but didn’t see too much and then we got to an underwater gap between two rock formations which made up Gordon Rock. The gap we passed through was about 18 feet wide and 45 feet deep as we held on to the rock bottom. As we crawled across the rock bottom and looked over a big rock bolter there was a school of 9 white tipped reef sharks 8 or 9 feet long swimming in circles 2 feet in front of us. I held onto to the top of the rock boulder as hard as I could. The current was so strong that it blew past as if my whole body was out the side of a car window going down the highway at 60 mph. The hoses from my scuba tank chattered like a flag in the wind. Then it stopped. changed direction 180 degrees and was now was pushing me into the school of sharks that where only inches from my face now. This went on for about 10 minutes. Next, the dive master Hugo, who was giving Adam his secondary air due to Adam running low on his own air tank, let go of the rock wall and shot right through the sharks. The sharks closed right around behind them and now it was my turn. I took a big breath waited for the current to spit me out through the sharks and out the gap. I let go and made it 15 feet but 1 foot short of the next wall. The current dragged me across the rock a few feet but I was able to get a grip and hold on. The second current pushed me out and I was low on air. I could not believe how fast I spent my air gong through those currents. It was a great time and I can’t wait to go again.
Doing Things Whole Assed Works Out Better Than Doing Them Half Assed! Jacques
Busy In The Galapagos Islands
But first I would like to share a few pictures with you. If you have read the last 10 days of voyage post you should understand the frozen moments of time via photos below. Enjoy!
Jacques
The Fishermen 400 plus miles off shore in a little boat trying to self me a fish. Crazy SOB’s!
Adam Cooking
Just crossed the Equator!
Picture of us as we crossed the Equator with a shot of RUM! I almost made it behind the helm before the camera went off!
Our view off the back of Dragonsbane First day Of Landfall Galapagos Islands
dragonsbanevoyage 