Galapagos Islands – Preparing to Leave
Monday, April 12th – After a day of boat work, we go to Janet and Tom Schmitts’ cute rental house on the beach for cocktails. Tom will be our next crew mate on the passages to the Marquesas and the Tuomotus. They have just finished a week long tour of the islands on a nice small cruise boat. Listening to their experiences, we are somewhat jealous. No brutal interisland ferry rides! Janet will fly home when we head off into the Pacific.
Many of the guidebooks mention that renting a chalet on one of the islands at the end of a packaged tour is the perfect way to conclude one’s visit to the Galapagos. The Firsts Mate figured that was really just a ploy to get visitors to spend more time and money in the islands, but after seeing this little house and hearing the Schmitt’s comments on their extended stay, she now totally agree with those guidebooks.
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The tours are packed with so much to see, do and absorb about these islands. How nice it would be to spend a few quiet days gently swinging in this hammock! While listening to the waves along the shore one would mull over what was seen and learned on these islands. Then, maybe one would be ready to return to the familiar hustle of home territory. Maybe!
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She has really enjoyed this visit to the Galapagos and does want to return – maybe with our granddaughter, Berlin, if she is interested in a few years. Only next time, she does not want to arrive on our own boat encumbered with all the hassle and responsibilities that entails. Instead she will choose a very small, select tour company, and at the end, we will spend a few days in our own little chalet relaxing and absorbing what we have seen and learned with iguanas, seals, boobies and finches just beyond our doorstep.
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While the gals are off chatting, the guys relax in the cozy dining area of the cottage.
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For dinner this evening, we go to the restaurant at Angermeyer Point. Sitting on a terrace, we have a great view of the harbor. Pelicans are diving. Sallie Lightfoot Crabs are mock dueling on the rocks, and being right off the mangrove swamps, mosquitos are attacking! Our waiter quickly arrives with cans of spray. That done, we settle back to enjoy dinner and the evening.
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The five of us enjoy a very good dinner and a fun time sharing stories of our explorations of these islands. It is our last evening with Crew Mate Jim who leaves for the airport in the morning.
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Thursday, April 15th – Janet leaves to fliy home, and Crew Mate Tom moves on board Avante. He is just in time to help with the fueling. There is no fuel dock in Academy Bay, but since all cruiser’s next and nearest destination on their westward crossing of the Pacific is the Marquesas Islands 3,000nm away, a way has been devised to fuel the boats. A cruiser has to order the amount of fuel he needs from his agent. The agent then arranges fuel delivery.
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Fuel delivery is made via a modified water taxi. It’s quite a show — one of which we would have preferred not to have been part of. The fuel is stored in big plastic jugs, a mess of hoses, runs every which way, and wires are everywhere.
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One spark — that is all that would be needed, and we would have been the talk of the harbor for weeks — but that is how things are done out here.
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Over the next two days, Avante gets a good cleaning top and bottom, a final laundry is sent out and delivered back, the blog gets posted, and bills get paid.
Friday, April 16th – The Captain goes to Johnny Romero’s office to pick up our Zarpe and all the other documents our agent needed to procure. Our bill also has to be paid. As mentioned earlier, we had read a negative article about Johnny’s service so The Captain was on the lookout for any discrepancies. Everything appears as expected, though Johnny’s paperwork is a bit loose. Receipts were handwritten and were not on a business letterhead. When The Captain asks Johnny about this, he explains that such proper business forms are “for the really big boats and are not required for your size boat.” If he were to use them for us, he would have to charge us additional fees and taxes. Be that as it may, we were not charged extra and are quite content with our unofficial looking receipts.
Johnny also returns the $100 per person Park Entrance Fee that every visitor is supposed to pay upon entering the islands. The official who was supposed to collect these fees had never shown up to do so. We feel a bit guilty about not having paid that fee, though we know it is not our fault. Johnny, however, could have just pocketed our $300, issued us another of those receipts with the label “Park Entrance Fees”, and we would not have known the difference. Johnny was a great agent for us. The Captain asked him about this article being circulated about him on the cruisers’ internet site. Johnny said that he did not misrepresent the cruiser, but that he had been asked to circumvent the permit requirements. When he refused to do so, the cruiser got mad and threatened that he would write such an article. Johnny says he knows that he has lost some business because of the article but better that than losing his business license.
Saturday, April 17th – The weekly Feria or Farmers’ Market is today, and it opens up early! The First Mate and Crew Mate Tom are dropped off at the dock at 4:45 am. We knew we would have trouble getting a water taxi at that hour, so we launched the dingbat. The Captain drops us off at the dock and heads back to Avante, for he cannot leave the dinghy tied up at the dock. It is dark, and no one is about. It feels spooky walking through the streets, but we had been told to be at the market by 5:00 to get the best produce. We start walking in the general direction, and eventually a taxi stops for us.
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The market is bustling in the pre-dawn light.
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Farmers from the highlands bring their produce down and set up shop. There are rows upon rows of fresh produce of all kinds. The First Mate had not expected such an abundance. There is so much that it is hard to know where to start, but start she does, for looming ahead is a passage that could be as long as 21 days. We will have fresh food aplenty for it. .
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In no time, Tom is loaded down. He finds a convenient spot to wait while The First Mate hunts down a few last items. She passes up the head of a hog for a kilo of cleaned and frozen fresh shrimp. More limes are added for the ceviche we hope to be making from the fresh fish we will be catching along the passage. More fruit, more veggies, enough — we have enough! A taxi pulls up as we exit the market and back to the boat we go.
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Back by 8:00, The First Mate dives into organizing her hoard of goods. What needs immediate refrigeration? What must be washed first and which is best to leave as is until needed? Where is the best storage place for the various items? One cannot store potatoes with onions, for the potatoes will pick up moisture from the onions and rot in no time. She is totally involved in her project.
The Captain and Crew Mate Tom Schmitt are securing things on deck. The dinghy is hoisted onto the boat and tied down for passage. The sail cover is removed because, of course, we will have wind to sail. When The First Mate goes forward to get more storage containers, she stops aghast by their bed. There’s a puddle of sea water in it! The windows above the bed were open when the dinghy was hoisted onto the deck of Avante, and some of the water that invariably collects in the bottom of a dinghy has dumped through those open windows onto the bed. If you have been following the blogs of recent years, you know that open windows are a big source of contention aboard Avante. (Mexico: The First Mate Hung in Effigy a Second Time) It seems The First Mate, in her never-ending search for ventilation, is always opening windows, and a certain source claims that SHE never shuts them. Another source claims that HE never checks the state of the windows when he is about to commence such tasks as hosing down the decks or lifting a water-logged dinghy onto Avante. Both sources are somewhat right, but neither has a monopoly on the truth.
The First Mate is not at all happy with the current state of affairs. Setting off on a 3-week passage with seawater soaked bedding is not the ideal. Certainly the bedding can be dried, but anything with seawater always feels sticky and slightly damp. A fresh water rinse is in order. She pulls the bedding off and ceremoniously dumps it at The Captain’s feet. The Captain very nearly explodes. Those windows! If The First Mate would stop opening all the windows, things like this would not happen. Now we’re going to have to head back to town and find a laundry. We can’t leave today. We’ve lost a day. (Can’t you just hear him?)
The First Mate, however, is having none of this. First of all, those windows have been open for days. They were not just opened by her. Secondly, she was totally involved in the galley putting away the food. He was the one hoisting the dinghy. Therefore, it was his responsibility to check those windows. (Can’t you just hear her?) Thirdly, the bedding does not need a complete laundry. Just the wet parts need to be rinsed. In this sun, they’ll dry in no time. She returns to her produce sorting below and leaves the rinsing and hanging to The Captain. With the produce all secured, a breakfast of egg and sausage burritos is served, for The First Mate does believe a good meal prior to departure is a necessity.
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As The Captain and Crew Mate Tom sit waiting for their breakfast to be cooked and served by The Galley Slave, note the blue sheet drying in the sun.
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1200 – Produce is stored, and bed is remade with dry sheets. Avante, fueled and cleaned, is chafing at the bit, and those aboard are eager to set sail. We lift anchor at noon and commence the 3,000nm passage to the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia.