Algarrobo, Chile to the Galapagos - Week 1

As conditions on board Sea Rover for the last week have left a bit to be desired, Gary has asked that I write a few posts about their progress to date. He and I have been talking daily, thanks to Starlink, which is switched on once or twice a day when they are running the engine to charge the batteries. It has been nice to communicate by means other than just emails sent through the satellite phone. It is so different from our last ocean passage in 2018!!

I think all on board would agree that the first week was a hard one. Algarrobo is not a protected port, and so once you are out of the shelter of the marina breakwater, you are in the full ocean swell. To make it worse, wind conditions were light, but the sea state was significant (over 7 feet with a 7 second period - perfect barfing conditions). Gary and Crew Brian and Allan all succumbed to the mal de mar fairly quickly. In an effort to get off the coast and find some wind, they motored a fair amount the first few days. Even though Starlink was running a lot of the time, we didn't hear much from the Crew. After a few days of this, they decided they needed to conserve fuel and so the boat went dark while they bobbed in the waves and all privately hoped to die. Here are some snippets from some of Gary's emails: "The first week was as expected, brutal. 2-3 m seas with no wind.  What wind we did get was luckily not as forecasted and came from the bow otherwise our progress out of that zone would have been even slower. We had a few things break on the engine and a couple of sailing blocks explode which kept us all busy fixing things when we weren't barfing.  None of us ate anything but dry crackers for the first 3 days."

South Pacific dive at 30S76W

But then things started to look up. The promised wind started to fill in and their stomachs started to settle. By Sunday the boat was moving, food started to be consumed and spirits started to look up. Then the first 'issue' happened. Our MaxProp refused to feather, and after repeated attempts to get it to lock in place, Gary thought 'oh oh' and looked out the back of the boat. Yup, they'd caught a line. Here is the story in Gary's words: "Yesterday we finally made it into some good consistent breeze and had the potential for our first 100NM day. That was thwarted by a blob of poly rope snagged on the prop causing the prop to rotate and heat up the gear. We had no choice but to dive the boat in 2 m seas and no way to slow it down below 1.5 knots. After an exhausting 3 hours in the water I managed to clear it without drifting away from the boat much to the relief of the boys tirelessly managing the many lines attaching me to the boat." 

Happy New Year from Sea Rover!

"Today (December 31st) we finally seem to be getting in a rhythm. We haven't had to change the sails since this morning and there is talk of raiding the snack cupboard for a post dinner snack. We are doing 2 hours on, 4 hours off which seems to be working for everyone on board. The boys have stepped up their game in the kitchen so we won't starve."

Thanks to Starlink, I was able to ring in the New Year with Gary on a WhatsApp call. He was able to talk to a small group of us for a few minutes before the clock struck midnight. I think the Crew were able to connect with their families as well, so it was a special moment for all.    

The wind continues to blow (apparently things are 'sporty' on board at the moment) but they are making reasonable time and distance north. From the tracker it looks like they are about a third of the way there. Fair winds and following seas.