Anzac Day

A beautiful night at sea last night with clear bright moonlight until 0400 and then a magnificent starlight display until the first hint of dawn at 0600. The perfect sailing breeze and angle meant that we were all free to enjoy the celestial display.

The special thing about the night sky as our latitude decreases towards the Equator is that the constellations steadily rise above the southern horizon and disappear below the northern horizon. Our own Southern Cross was just visible in San Diego with the South Celestial Pole below the horizon, but is now some 30 degrees above the horizon with the Pole’s position easily locatable. In fact the beauty of our equatorial position is such that we can see both the North (marked by the Pole Star Polaris) and the South Celestial Poles.

A flock of Masked Boobies with their Phantom like black eye masks stayed with us for much of the night. They were riding the air pressure wave immediately in front of and to windward of our sails at an altitude which seemed just out of our reach. They would communicate softly in a series of rapid clicks like the sound of a ratchet wrench, just audible in the silence of night sailing. They reminded us of the same sort of behaviour that Dolphins exhibit riding the water pressure wave just in front of the bow of the boat.

What made the scene even more surreal later in the night was a very fine mist that accompanied a sudden drop in seawater temperature from 31 to 26 degrees as we approach the currents swirling around the Galapagos Islands.

After we each offered a silent prayer “Lest We Forget “ on our Anzac Day dawn, we enjoyed a special Australian breakfast of Eggs, Bacon and Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce (smuggled into the country in suitcases because, believe it or not, they are not available in the US or Mexico).

The dawn also brought the northernmost Galapagos Isle, Isla Pinta on the horizon to Starboard. The traditional Anzac Rum and Milk will come later, perhaps when we go a little “Troppo” later today when we all “Cross the Line” at sea for the first time.