Setting sail for a destination is a very exciting time in a sailors life. whilst we all want to know where we are headed for, we always have the excitement of going to places of new and old. We set sail from Panama to Galapagos Islands thinking we could make it in 8 days. Yes 8 days underway and we would be in the Galapagos Islands, where Tourtoise's still roam free, Blue Footed Boobies learking around in trees and beaches, Sea Lions and Penquins are in their normal habitat.
It was a great start and we had some fun sailing and fun times with Alex and Chris aboard, altho we didn't make it to the Galapagos in 8 days it was still a great start to the Galapagos Islands. Any sailor will tell you that plans are not made in stone when sailing the seas. We ended up sailing due South to Salinas Ecuador and due to the time factor, Alex had to depart the vessel before reaching the islands due to her schedule. We pulled into Salinas Ecuador and decided it would be a quick stop to drop Alex off, get fuel and ice and be underway with in 1 day. We were there about 36 hrs total and during that time we also visited the Port Captains office to check in to the country and also check out of the port at the same time as well as take Alex off the crew list. While we were in the Port Cans office trying to get this done, I talked with 5 people explaining we only stopped for fuel, ice and take a crew member off the list and get back underway for the Galapagos Islands. It was too confusing to all five and turned out to be more paperwork than they wanted to deal with. I was advised to get back on my sailboat and head tote Islands as if I had not even stopped there. We did just that, shopped for fresh veggies and fruits, refueled all the tanks and got ice. We also was able to have 2 nice meals on shore for lunch and dinner before leaving the next day.
0600 the following day we were up, Alex off with her bags and after a short visit to the Yacht club where an old friend kept his racing J sailboat, we were underway headed for the Galapagos Islands. We are now sailing West at 02 degrees S and beating the SW winds trying to get 100 miles off shore to catch the S winds and then we are doing well. Yes the first 100 miles we were beating and once we reached 100 miles off shore, the S winds appeared. we are now sailing beam reach making an average of 6.5 knots. THis morning we were sailing along and out of no where, hundreds of Dolphins appeared and swam along with us for miles. Wow , what a sight it was to see Dolphins jumping and doing flips in their natural way of life and not caged up.
I have done a few odd jobs that needed to be done on deck, red light stopped working and the sump pump for the shower stopped working. All is well now and we are looking forward to a nice fish dinner underway. 2 more days until we reach the Islands.
Now is the time to start looking at your schedules and try and plan a trip to join us in our adventures around the world. Next stop after Galapagos is the S Pacific Islands. Hope you can get away and visit sometime aboard Elysium
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