The Enchanted Islands part 4 - Moving On...

 As our time in the Galapagos is coming to an end, we’ve been madly crossing off all the boat jobs that needed to be completed before the next passage, including:

• -        Fixing the MOB pole (minor job)
• -        Shortening the backstay (MAJOR job)
• -        De-torquing the rigging and re-tensioning it (major job)
• -        Fixing the lazyjacks (again – F@$##*& lazyjacks…)
• -        Fixing the watermaker (MAJOR job)
• -        Sealing two of the starboard ports (major job)
• -        Checking the rig (minor job)
• -        Fixing a leaking deck fill (minor job)
• -        Hooking up the HF radio to our new copper plate (minor job)
• -        Fixing the flag (very minor job)
• -        Re-attaching the steering (major job)
• -        Cleaning the bottom (several times – the algae growth is crazy here – thanks Nadine- she is down there as I write this)
• -        Fixing the broken piece on the dodger (minor job)
• -        Installing the swim ladder (thank you Tanya for making Gary do it)
• -        Fixing the vang ( a new problem…hopefully we’ve fixed it??)
• -        Installing the 3^rd reef (minor job)
• -        Taking on diesel (major job)
• -        Fixing the rip in the main sail (new issue… and a MAJOR job to fix)
• -        Getting more propane
• -        Provisioning with food
• -        Trying to install new slides on our spinnaker poles (didn’t fit)
• -        Etc etc…
• 
  

While installing the third reef yesterday Nadine noticed a six inch tear in our mainsail!  Not good.  We figure it got ripped when the F@$##*& lazyjacks blew apart on our passage to Isla Isabela a few weeks ago but we didn’t notice it.  It was probably a very small tear then, but after two long night sails, the rip has grown. Thankfully we found it while still in port – it was quite a job for Nadine and Gary to patch and sew it back together and I can’t imagine doing it on passage.  The patch is good and strong though and the sail seems to be no worse for wear. 

Thank god we aren't doing this offshore....

Successful mainsail repair

We’ve also had adventures in provisioning. Although we re-fueled in San Cristobal through our agent, we wanted to top up our jerry cans here before we left. This involved an illicit trip to the gas station, where Gary and I weren’t allowed out of the taxi (non-Ecuadorians are not allowed to get fuel without a permit). Our cab driver took care of it for us, for a price. All very clandestine. Finding propane was just as entertaining. We went to the address given to us by our agent to discover it was a marine store and repair shop, not a propane depot, as expected. After much hand-waving, we were told to pick up the tank at 6pm (we think). We went back to the shop at 6 only to find it was closed! But all was well, as the guy from the shop was working just down the road and was looking out for us. It was the most expensive propane we’ve ever bought, but we can’t complain.

Provisioning for food has also been an adventure. On Saturday we got up at 5am and went to the much-touted local Saturday market with some of the crew from the catamaran

Saturday market at 5:30 am

Elcie. It was incredible! By 5:30 am the place was packed. The number of vegetable stalls and the quality of the produce was stunning. Gary stationed himself in a corner and guarded all our purchases while I ran around from stall to stall buying tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots, potatoes, peppers, oranges, grapefruits, bananas, sweet potatoes, basil (huge amounts for $1!), limes, avocadoes, pineapple, etc etc. By the time we were done Gary was having to shew people away who kept trying to look through our box of food as they thought we were one of the vendors! We could barely carry it all from the taxi to the dinghy. I don’t think we’ll go hungry on passage…

Successful repair of the Backstay

While we’d love to stay here forever, a good weather window is opening for us to begin our passage to Easter Island. We met with Immigration yesterday afternoon and got our exit zarpe for the country so it is officially time to go. The last 4 weeks on the boat have gone by very quickly and have been a lot of fun.  It will be with heavy hearts when we sail out of the harbour a few hours from now. 

You can follow us on our Delorme tracker - the link is on the "Where are we" page.  Supposedly the link will now work on a tablet (Gary complained to the company and they fixed it last week ).  Stay tuned for our semi-daily updates about life offshore for the next 2-3 weeks.  No photos until we get to the next place with cell phone coverage.  

Galapagos map showing the strong currents the Leg 1 crew of Sea Rover experienced when arriving from Mexico