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Route Map & Swimming with Sea Lions

 We had an “off day” today, in which we caught up on boat work (scrubbing off the green carpet growing on the bottom of the boat) and internet tasks. I got some great photos of sea lions playing with us after we scrubbed bottom, and I finally managed to get round to making a Google map of our route so far. We were posting to yotreps while we were sailing with Kijro, but now that the plan has shifted, and we’ll be sailing on multiple boats, and in consideration of backpacking in New Zealand, we thought it best to use a tool that isn’t tied to an SSB radio callsign.…

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Daybreak in the Galápagos

 Just before daybreak, we skirted the shores of San Cristobal, Galápagos, slowing the boat as much as possible so we could have a lighted entry as we made our way into Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, also known as “Wreck Bay.” Our welcome committee consisted of a ray doing flips off León Dormido, a huge jagged rock that emerges from the sea on the island’s north shore, shark fins swirling lazily at the surface, several sea lions, Elliot’s storm petrels, frigate birds and blue footed boobies, all making their first morning forays out into the sea. When you pull in, Puerto Baquerizo Moreno looks deceitfully Mediterranean, only the landscape is all wrong.…

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Equator Bound

 We’re now at 1º12′ latitude, moving south at a good clip under sail (finally!), and we expect to cross the equator sometime within the next 24 hours. None of us has ever sailed across before, so that means today is the day to plan our shellback initiations. The good news is we’ll all be giving what we get in terms of hazing, and that’ll likely be an improvement over what some of you Navy guys experienced! Wish us luck, and we’ll write to you next from the other side. CROSSING PHOTOS:

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Long-Distance Communication on the Ocean Blue

 I awoke with a start yesterday realizing that we’d forgotten to message someone back home about a favor we needed done for us with New Zealand Immigration. I left a note next to Jason on the bed and went topside to see what Frank thought we could do. He offered the use of his SSB radio or his SAT phone if we needed it. The story is this: Jason received a message (a week after it arrived in his spam mailbox) on the morning we made our escape for the passage to Galapagos, April 4. It was from NZ Immigration and it said he was required to answer a new…

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Mahi, Marlin and Motoring

 Day 3 of our quest for the Galapagos dawned with our lightest winds so far. Clouds surrounded Tahina with a grey haze, and I spent the morning in the cool breeze on the trampoline reading and dozing. Mid afternoon brought on some squally weather, and with it came enough wind to set sail for a couple of hours. The seas roughened up a bit as well, which led to slamming and banging from the light and variable air causing the boom to bounce and waves impacting the underside of the bridge. The winds eventually subsided enough to where the racket wasn’t worth the hassle, so we gave in and went…

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On Watch

 Looking back at our couple of months at sea, I realize we haven’t said much about being on watch. And seeing as how watch is one of the primary responsibilities that distinguishes blue-water cruising from any other kind of sailing—chartering, one-design racing, day-sailing or what have you, I feel like I should lend some time to it. And when better to do so than while I sit here, in pitch-black darkness, monitoring the horizon for specks of light, on watch? On any boat, watch-keeping is divided into shifts, the scheme of which change according to number of crew, sea conditions and crew condition. On Kijro, considering the 12 hours of…

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Leaving for Galapagos

 After some study of the wind conditions this morning, we have decided to cut short our visit to Las Perlas in favor of seeking favorable winds. Breeze will be getting really slack in a few days, so we’re going to try to chase the weather and get in at least a few days of sailing toward our destination before the wind dies on us in the ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone aka “the doldrums”). The trip to Galapagos is about 1000 miles and should take us about 6-8 days. In the meantime, check out all the new pics we’ve posted on our photo site!

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Shop Panama or Bust!

 We took a day off on Wednesday after making significant progress on the list and went to the mall. We had heard Panama was a Mecca for shopping, and we can now confirm it. I needed a few new pairs of shorts since I have lost a fair amount of weight on this trip. It turns out that climbing around on boats, balancing continually, and working in the hot tropical heat is a pretty good weight-loss program. Bonus! Anyway, back to the mall trip. . . We walked into the Albrook Mall, and it seemed pretty normal, but then after walking around a bit, we started to notice the diversity…

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Boat work, boat work, boat work…

 It turns out that even on a well-prepared boat like Tahina, there’s a lot of work to do before setting off on a multi-thousand mile trip.  There are scores of maintenance and small repair tasks that build up while sailing, and all must be completed before setting off on the next leg. This past week in Panama has been filled with completing a two-page list of these tasks. This should be the last big push before lots of sailing and fun in the sun! One of the biggest tasks on the list was to perform the maintenance on all of Tahina’s winches and the anchor windlass. Winch maintenance is a messy job.…

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