We've arrived

After 22 days and 12 hours (well 15 actually with time change) we have arrived. Middle of the night but the whole anchorage ws out helping with the boats. Stunning anchorage but 40 m deep. Must zizz - more later.

Progress report 26th April

Well, not much progress, but we've had quite a night. Gradually yesterday the clouds built up and we had a bit of rain, and then squalls. Winds of 20 knots and quite big swells - no problem normally, but Camille was all over the place, nearly overtaking us at times. Then eventually, after dark, the bridle on their boat holding the towing rope broke. Nothing to be done in the dark, so we hove to for the night and waited for dawn.
This morning, with great difficulty we got the tow line in place again and are on our way, slowly and carefully. Geoff says that if he had any hairs left to go gray they would be. The trouble is that the only other option for these people is to abandon their boat which is horribly drastic. Kelsea diverted to stand by too last night, but then their auto helm packed up so they are on their way again hand steering for the last 60 miles. And we had thought we were nearly there!
It is a comfort for us to know that we have an emergency rudder, and also windvane as well as autohelm steering. Just imagine if either of these problems had occurred 1,000 miles away.
Anyway, our position at 17.30 GMT is 10 27 S and 137 45 W and 62 miles to go to the anchorage. We are going slowly, so will probably arrive in daylight tomorrow. Just keep fingers crossed that the weather is on our side and we don't have to spend another night hove to.

Position Friday 25 April

The Flying Horse has become a horse and cart. We were called up by one of the boats nearbye to say that they had lost steering - hydraulics had gone. So we are now towing a 40 foot catamaran the 135 miles to Fatu Hiva. Luckily wind and sea conditions so far have been very benign, and we are under sail and making 4 knots which is pretty good under the circumstances. We keep fingers crossed the weather will last. At this speed we will get in late tomorrow (Sat)
Our position at 16.00 hrs GMT is 10 23 S and 136 24 W

Reporting 24th April

Hi folks,
As of 15:30 GMT today, we are at 10deg 08min S and 134deg 16min W. We have had light winds of about 10 knots but got the "tactics" right this time. We reached with all four sails up in a direction more southerly than the rumb line most of the day - our fastest point of sailing - and then went before the wind when it switched east from SE about midnight. Left the opposition in our wake.
The Pacific is huge but we passed within 200 m of an Italian boat at dusk last night - one of the boats we came through the Panama Canal with. He did not have to - we were clear - but he gave way according to the windward - leeward rule. What are the odds of coming so close to another boat in this vast ocean - particularly one you know. They were as surprised as us. It was not the only boat nearby, we also had a radio conversation with another British boat who had glimpsed our sail. Not one we had been in touch with before. The Italian boat disappeared into the darkening sky with no mast lights on so we kept track of her on the radar until we were sure we weren't going to have another close encounter in the dark.
All well on board, and we are enjoying calmer seas even if progress is slower. About two days and 246 nm to go.

position report tues 22nd april

Pegasus is not just a flying horse but a homing horse at the moment, putting on a spurt of speed for the last five hundred miles. Good to have the wind, but we still have pretty lumpy seas to go with it - not the long organised, well-spaced swell we had been led to expect.
Our position is 09 42 S and 130 13 W
Apart from Kelsea who we have overtaken but who is hot on our heels, we are head of the herd (to continue in a horsey vein). The boat in front of us arrived this morning.
All well on board, still no fish, but we have plenty of stores. Today we gain another hour, now 9 hrs behind GMT

Position monday 21st april

Position at 16.30 GMT on 21st April is 09 26 S and 127 21 W
In the early hours of this morning we were 3/4 of the way to our destination. We're eating up the miles pretty fast these days, averaging 7 knots for the last 24 hours. Not as comfortable as those slow lazy days at the beginning of the trip as the swell is large and confused, and the winds quite gusty.
No fish for the last 4 days, we now have 5 lines out the back of the boat, a couple with flying fish bait on. Have had 3 huge bites that just straightened the hooks, probably sharks. THe 'informal' radio net which we now have twice a day, we've called the Flying Fish Net in honour of the fish that flew into our galley, and another that landed on someone's lap in their cockpit.
We heard yesterday that the waiting time for going through the Panama Canal is up to 3 months, only 9 sailing boats are going through a week. We were lucky.

position sunday 20th april

Yesterday afternoon we were two thirds of the way and have been averaging 7 kts for the last 24 hrs so are making good progress - at this rate we should arrive next weekend. Position at 18.00 GMT 20th April is 09 16 S and 124 42 W
The sea is more confused than we had hoped - swell coming from two directions, probably caused by the various squalls passing through the area. We have been 'poled out' with the genoa on one side and the main on the other with wind behind since yesterday evening, two of the securing lines parted company during the night - they were old and we have replacements. Continuous sailing like this causes a lot of wear and tear(to equipment I mean, but no doubt to us too!)
With stocks of fresh produce getting low I wasn't happy this morning when our newly squeezed orange juice went flying - only let it go for a moment. What a mess.
Have had an email from the boat that has arrived in Fatu Hiva, and it sounds lovely. Only one tiny store, nothing else, and fruit available by barter.

Galapogos to Marquesas, 2nd week

On Wed 16th April we were half way to The Marquesas, with 1453nm to go. At this point we were furthest from land - about 1450 nm, or about 1600 statute miles or about 2600km. The sea depth is 3400m.
Last week I said that we were in the trade winds, imagining that from then on we would sit back and just keep going. How wrong we were. In the last seven days we have had winds from 5 knots to 30 knots in direction varying from N through E to SSE. We have had smooth calm seas, and 4 m high waves coming from various directions and quite close together. We have had blue blue skies with hardly a cloud in sight, and squalls and rain. What has been interesting is that the other boats we keep in touch with morning and evening often have quite different conditions, but the good and bad comes to us all in the end.
The first and fastest boat, a 50 ft catamaran, arrived in Fatu Hiva yesterday (21 days) and we are looking forward to getting some feedback. Just heard that 'it is more beautiful than the pictures', but after 3 weeks at sea a bit of green must be particularly welcome. Geoff has a spreadsheet of boat positions and our own progress, and knowing that we are closing (or not) on other boats is good incentive for yet another sail change. As I write we have our 650 sq.ft orange pink and red ballooner up, winged out with the (603 sq ft) genoa. A pretty sight.
The moon is nearly full so we have moonlit nights, but the fish go down deep with the full moon and we haven't caught anything for a couple of days. The last fish we caught we salted, and now have hanging in pieces along the rails drying in the sun. Flying fish are everywhere, we often disturb a whole cloud of them (hardly a 'shoal' when they are winging through the air). During the night they land on the deck, and one even made it right down the companionway and was found flapping on the kitchen floor. They make very good bait - a bit on a hook inside a lurid plastic squid 'skirt' will attract mahi mahi if there are any around.
No shipping seen for a week, but we were called up by a Japanese tuna-fishing ship who had us on his radar but was out of sight. He was very friendly and asked if we had enough food as they had lots on board. It was quite a surprise to hear a voice on the VHF radio which we keep switched on but which had been silent since we got out of sight of land.
PS Suddenly a few minutes ago our beautiful ballooner ripped from side to side. The winds aren't strong at the moment so it must have had a weak point somewhere. It's quite frayed so will need a new panel putting in and we don't have the fabric aboard so probably will have to wait until we get to Tahiti.

Position, April 18

Position today at 16.00 GMT is 08 44 S and 119 34 W We have just been having our usual morning chat to 'our' group of boats on the radio, and are the only ones with ENE winds, everyone else is SE. Anyway we have the ballooner and genoa winged out which looks good on a sunny morning, and are doing 5 - 6 knots.
The first boat in the group, a large catamaran, arrived in Fatu Hiva yesterday after 21 days at sea. We'll be longer than that, but the end is beginning to be in sight. We plot the positions of other boats - and of course try to narrow the gap between us. The last few days have been Catch 'Kelsea' days, and today at last we have gained on him - 43 to 23 miles! But it's been hard work with lots of sail changes.
Full moon, no fish on the line. Bully beef last night. Still the salted fish is drying well.

Pegasus half way there - Wednesday 16 April

Well, we are half way to The Marquesas, with 1453nM to go. This means that we are furthest from land - about 1450 nM, or about 1600 statute miles or about 2600km. The sea depth is 3400m. Position 7deg 59min S and 114deg 04min W at 14:30 GMT.
After days of no wind, a weather front has just passed bringing squally rain showers and 20 - 25 knot winds. We are romping along, but with increasing seas there will be no more rest for the wicked.
Unfortunately our attempt to dry fish has taken a turn for the worse with this damp and humid air.
But, the sun is now shining through the clouds, the morning cuppa is hot .....

position report tuesday 15th april

At last we got a bit more wind last night so covered a good few miles in the hours of darkness. With dawn we slowed down again but 15 - 20 is forecast (though the forecasts haven't been very accurate so far).
Our position at 15.30 GMT is 07 41 S and 111 25 W We are trying to go west rather than south at the moment as there seems to be more wind in that direction according to reports from other boats.
Another mahi mahi caught yesterday so we are experimenting with salting it. At the moment have it covered with salt and dripping into a box. Will then hang the pieces up in the rigging. Don't have any instructions on board so if anyone has time to delve into the internet it would be appreciated! Today we're trawling with a home made lure - a 'squid' made from the plastic/tinfoil covering from a couple of muesli bars.

Position on C's Birthday

A late report today as we have very poor radio propagation. At 3.45GMT our position was 07 43 S and 109 20 N We had a slow day yesterday, but at least with flat seas, then at dusk got 8 - 10 knots and glided (glid?) our way through the night with ballooner and genoa both poled out. The first time ever that we have felt happy with the ballooner up after dark. The windvane was working beautifully, and is completely silent - quite apart from the fact that it uses no power.
And here's a fishy tale. Geoff was on watch during the night and heard a strange flapping sound from down below. In the kitchen he found a large flying fish which must have flown higher than usual, and gone straight down the companionway. At dawn he put a chunk of it on the fishing line, and it was barely in the water before a mahi mahi took a bite. So we have fish for the next 3 days.

Pegasus position Sunday 13 at 13:30 GMT

What trade winds? - no wind. Again drifting along with the current and having to motor for 1.5 hrs to charge batteries - horrors. Position 7 deg 37min S, 107deg 39W. But it is sunny and the seas are calm. And luckily for the Captain's peace of mind the other boats in the group are in the same position. Some motor along, but really not much point for such a long journey.
On Geoff's watch last night he had about 20 dolphins around the boat for an hour and a half with lots of phosphorescence - couldn't ask for better entertainment in the wee small hours. And yesterday a Japanese tuna-fishing boat called us up for a chat in fairly basic English - were we OK, and did we need any food as they had lots on board? Evidently the Japanese boats are much more friendly than the Taiwanese who tend to come close to have a look, but won't answer radio calls.
Time to make (yet more) banana bread before we chuck the blackening stem overboard.

We were going well yesterday with a 167 nm day but last night the wind died. Further south there should be more wind as it is deeper in the trades but today the reverse is true. North of us they have wind. We are in the middle of the pack with only a little.

Galapagos to the Marquesas, the first week.

After seven days and nights at sea time begins to pass in a blur, and without our careful log keeping we wouldn't know which day it was. As we are heading mainly westwards we are noticing later dawns and sunsets and tomorrow our clocks go back an hour when we reach 105 degrees west, and every 15 degrees (600 miles) after that. The first week of nights has been pretty dark, though very starry skies when there are no clouds. Now though we have a lovely little moon at least for the first few hours of darkness.
With just the two of us on board we do 3 hour watches during the night. We've seen very little shipping, but it's important to be vigilant. Only this morning we were commenting that we hadn't seen any ships for 4 days, then looked out and saw a huge container ship only a mile away - passing astern of us, but we were concerned that we hadn't noticed it coming. We keep a better lookout at night than during the day when we are often busy down below. A lesson learned. To a big ship we are a tiny blip on their radar which very likely will go unnoticed.
Now that we are in the trade winds we have very comfortable and consistent sailing. 10 - 15 knots of wind on the beam and quite calm seas. Very little adjustment of sails is required. We cover about 6 -7 nautical miles in an hour, and at this speed our prop generator keeps the batteries completely charged so no worries about running the frig, the watermaker, navigation lights in the dark, and the autohelm.
The nearest land is about 800 miles away, but unlike intrepid sailors in the past, we don't feel alone on the ocean. Every morning we check in with a short wave radio 'net' along with about 20 other boats doing the same passage. As there are also French, German and Italian language nets, and quite a lot of people who don't check in at all or don't have an SSB radio, there are plenty of sailing boats on this huge bit of ocean. Our nearest sailing boat (to our knowledge) is about 60 miles away. In the evening we get in touch with a group of boats that left the Galapagos within a few days of each other, and keep tally of everyone's position and weather. This is a nice informal session, and as we are all within 1000 miles of each other we can usually hear each other pretty well. We get warning of any bad weather ahead, info today that 2 fishing boats stayed half a mile behind one of the boats for quite a long time last night (always a bit worrying, and fishing boats are notoriously bad at responding to radio calls) Also a query from someone who had seen 2 very bright searchlights just above the horizon. Evidently helicopters with spotlights are sometimes used to attract fish for fishing boats. And we get an hour of BBC world service news to keep us up to date.
A typical day involves minor (hopefully) maintenance and checking of systems, making bread or cake or yoghurt, fishing, a bit of laundry, Geoff keeps up spreadsheets of our progress (and he checks to see if we are advancing on the nearest boats!), emailing, napping (we only get 6 hrs in bed at night, so need to do a bit of catching up during the day), and preparing meals. Everything takes longer than it would on land, particularly food preparation, as nothing can be put on table or work surface without being secured or it will spill or land up on the floor. We use non-slip mats, the gymballed cooker, the sink, and even wedge things with 5 litre water bottles on the floor. Washing up has to be dried and put away immediately.
We were well stocked up with fresh food when we left, and at the moment are still enjoying fresh salads and fruit. However this time next week we will have to start using tins. With fresh fish of course. At the moment we have mahi mahi in the frig. At dawn we usually find flying fish and squid stranded on deck, no good for eating, rather slimy, but very good used as bait on the fishing line.
So far sightings of wild life have been rather limited, no dolphins at all. One whale glimpsed blowing and surfacing at a distance, and lots of flying fish. A few petrels flying low over the waves, but haven't yet seen an albatross. Well, with more than 2000 miles to go there is plenty of time yet.

Position Friday 11th April

Hello,
At midday today we will have been 7 days at sea, and Geoff has been busy doing spreadsheets of our progress (and of other boats) 2113 miles to go, so in the next 24 hrs we should be below 2,000.
Position at 15.00 GMT 06 54 S and 103 17 W
The winds have been pretty constant for the last couple of days, lovely sailing conditions.

Position Thurs 10 April

We are in the trade winds at last. Position at 2.30GMT 06 40 S and 100 28 W No motoring in the last 24 hrs, and we have SE winds of 10 - 15 kts so are sailing well with genoa, main, staysail and mizzen up. Our best 'point' of sailing. Average speed about 6 kts, and we have closed a bit on a couple of other boats in the area.

Caught a nice little mahi mahi yesterday, enough for 2 meals. Also dawn brought a collection of flying fish and squid that have landed on the boat overnight - not good eating but very good bait.

We had a slow morning yesterday, disapointing when we heard that other boats had good wind. It reached us by mid afternoon and we've been averaging about 6 kts ever since. The 5 boats that we keep in contact with twice a day get amazingly different weather - squalls, currents, wind strength and even seas. It's luck of the draw whether one is in the right place at the right time.

Position Tues April 8

We've had a very slow night, but this morning the winds picked up to 15 knots from the SSE, and at the moment we are sailing along very nicely at 6.5knots. Other boats 'with' us - but actually hundreds of miles apart - have had squalls overnight, but we've just had a bit of rain and dark clouds in the distance.

So we're having a busy morning - the bread is rising, and Geoff is chopping onions to casserole our last piece of land meat. We think it's leg of calf as it is very pale, had some fried as steak but not much flavour. Always difficult to choose the right bit when presented with a big chunk of animal in a little butcher's shop.

Monday's report 1500 GMT

Pegasus is rolling along at about 5 knots in lumpy seas with a patch of squall ahead.  We are closing on some boats that left a few days ahead of us, but others have better wind and are pulling away fast - one a 50' cat which is super fast.  Our position is 4deg 31min S, 94deg 37min W.

Pegasus position report Sunday

Mixed bag of wind and currents but we have been heading S to try and pick up the SE Trades which start at about 5-6deg south. Currently we have 12-15 kts of wind from the north so we are poled out and going nicely. Position 03deg 09min S, 92deg 44min West. 2744 nmiles to go.
Otherwise not much to report. There is a group of 6 boats (of which we were the last to leave the Galapagos) who keep in touch by radio each evening, and as we are behind we get very good info about weather and currents ahead. Of course Geoff is doing his best to catch up a little, and once again yesterday we had staysail up and down, poled out/poles in, and balloner up and down. How's a girl supposed to get time to read her book? Our new stem of green bananas swings gently with the swell, and is showing a tinge of yellow. We experimented with some sugared and dried banana slices a few weeks ago and they are keeping well in the frig, so will try again when we have an oversupply of ripe ones.
The nights are wonderfully starry, no moon at the moment. Big blobs of fluorescence in our wake too. Still not using the wind vane though it's set up and ready to go - it doesn't like the combination of light winds and current.

Pacific here we come

We're on our way. We set off Friday 4 April at 1600h gmt into strong -25kt- headwinds followed by dying wind and a 2 knot current against. Should hav SE winds and current with! Now e have 1kt current against and a wind of 6kts from the n which is ok. Current position 01deg 42S, 91deg 51W. 2844 nM to go.

Had a great farewell to the Galapagos at breakfast time yesterday. A bump on the hull sent us to the cockpit to see a couple of sea lions hunting for their breakfast - a reddish patch on the back of one looked suspiciously like our anti-fouling paint. The reason for the close encounter was that a huge school of little fish were all around the boat - we were in the middle of a bowl of fish soup. Soon the penguins arrived too. Whereas the sea lions move slowly, gracefully and purposefully, the penguins are more like energetic puppies, darting here and there. Actually they too have their method, they round up a small group of fish just like a sheep dog, then dart in to catch their prey. Boobies were doing their vertical dives too, they must get up quite a speed as they fold their wings and hit the water. It all added up to an unforgettable bowl of cornflakes.

More Galapagos

As I write there is a feeding frenzy near the boat.  Must be a school of small fish because the pelicans are diving with a big splash. The blue-footed boobies also dive vertically, but make a small thud as they disappear under water.  There are frigate birds wheeling around - they just hassle the other birds until they drop their catch.  There are three penguins heading for the melee, and only the sea lions are too lazy at this time of day to do anything but raise their heads from their rocky resting places.
  Yesterday we took a panga trip down the coast to an area of collapsed lava tunnels which has made a sheltered area of deep channels of water with lava arches and bridges.  The pilots are masters of the art as the entrance is through rocks with surf and surge and to be done safely has to be done at high speed.  Then they carefully steered through some of the channels and we saw lots of turtles, eagle rays, and small sharks.  We swam with them later which was fun.  Very chilly water, no wonder the penguins live happily around here.
  The day before we had been for a long bike ride along the sandy coast road.  Stopped at little beaches and watched the marine iguanas sunning themselves and blowing out salt spray - particularly if you get close.  Quite a lot of new turtle tracks, some crossing the road to the soft sand at the other side.   After a couple of miles we were off the sand and onto a black powdered lava track - a bit like carborundum powder, we felt it grinding away at all the moving parts of our bikes.  There was a spectacular lava tunnel on one beach, large enough to walk into at one end, and running several hundred yards into the sea. 
  We are planning to set off on the big trip on Friday - our passports have been promised for this afternoon.....Today we've been trying to get the wind vane steering ready to go - it will be the ideal passage to use it as the wind, once we get into the trades, is pretty constant.  It uses no power, and is more or less silent.  Never having really used it before though, we have had to pour over the instruction book.  There is no wind at all around here at the moment, and by all accounts we have to get to at least six degrees south to pick up the hoped for 15 kts.  There should be current in our favour though, so there may be a few days of drifting along before we really start to cover the miles.  

More on Isla Isabella

Apart from the fact that visiting the Galapagos is an expensive business however you come,(but we did know that before we came,) it is still a fascinating place.  A few hassles as they insisted in sending our passports off with our papers, and we are still waiting for them to be returned.  Also a lot of the charges are based on tonnage, and although they have all our boat details (10 tons), they managed to charge us for 18, then wanted proof that it wasn't so.
 The day before yesterday we went on a trip to one of the still-active volcanoes that dot this island.  This one, Sierra Negra, has the second largest crater in the world (the largest being Ngorogoro, sorry about the spelling), 6 miles in diameter.  The first part of the trip was by truck, with Geoff and our guide in the back, quite a bone shaker on the pot-holed road.  Then we went by horseback for the next hour or so - good placid horses that refused to trot.  Our guide spent a huge amount of energy whistling and shouting and waving a piece of rope around, a wonderful show, but to very little effect.  The rough  track led through thick shrubby groves of guavas which having been introduced are taking over.  As we climbed we had good views, though fairly hazy at this hot dry time of year.  When we reached the crater it was very impressive, a vast amphitheatre filled with black lava.  The last eruption was in 2004, so parts are still warm, and all surrounding trees died from the heat so the white skeletons stick up above the new green undergrowth.
 After following the rim of the crater for a while, we left the horses, and walked for about an hour on a very rough lava trail through various lava formations - tunnels, 'waterfalls', smooth sheets and solidified bubbles.  Some quite new and other parts hundreds of years old.  Very little vegetation apart from occasional candelabra cacti, and a few indigenous shrubs.  There were fumaroles, and sulphuric areas, and lava of many different colours.  By the time we returned to a picnic spot under a huge tree near the horses we were extremely hungry - the grapevine of info had mentioned water, but not the need for a muesli bar, and we knew that our guide was supplying lunch.
 A small aside here, there's great shortage of wheat flour in Ecuador, presumably because of the zooming world price of flour.  Consequently both bakeries in town are closed, though it seems that hotels and tour groups are still being supplied.  Still, we have enough flour on board to bake bread for the next 3 months, just need to be on board to do it!
 When we arrived back at our truck for the return trip we needed help to dismount.  We were last on horseback in 1985 or so. However, the rattling trip back to town obviously massaged the stiffness and the after-affects have been minimal.  Our other companions were a youngish English woman travelling alone, and a couple of lads that we met in Panama and who were thinking of being our line handlers.  One of them told us that it was his 30th birthday the next day, he's a Canadian biologist, and has been teaching, so it all goes to show that anything is possible if you really want to do it.  He has a nice 38 foot boat.  We first spoke to them because their boat is registered in Halifax, but it was only bought there, they are not locals.