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.

220nm to Wreck Bay

220nm to go to Wreck Bay at the Galapagos Islands and we are starting to get excited. Not only the thought of arriving but also crossing the equator beforehand.

We have had good winds for the last 24 hrs SSW 15-20 so have been able to make up a lot of miles sailing. Darwin Islet will be abeam in a few hours.

We have had brown boobies around us since Acapulco. Often trying to land on the spreaders. Today they not only pooped on Ross whilst he was steering but also decorated our new mainsail. Not happy. For the “twitchers” among you, other birds we have seen include, Albatross (Waved and Wandering), Petrel, Frigate and Sooty Terns. Of course the usual flying fish. Ross and Cyndy now know their way through the bird book.

Heard from our friends Bill and Sue Grunn on Avante (Another J160). They are having a great sail from Galapagos to Marquesas, averaging over 200nm per day.

Time for afternoon drinks. All for now.

PS Cyndy just got boobied also.

Some Breeze at Last

Our current location is 8 deg 34.037N; 94 deg 56.162W. The breeze is 10 knots NE. We are finally having a good sail at last.

It has been really hot and humid with minimal wind. We are so pleased to have all of the opening portholes, hatches, dorades and fans.

The mesh sides and back to the binimi are a real blessing. The sides are extended forward 3 foot to the bottom rail in a triangle from the binimi and the design maximises shade without compromising appearance. The design caused a lot of comment and interest in Puerto Vallarta as did the boom awning made by North Sails.

The coolest part of the boat is definitely under the binimi in the shade and apparent breeze during the day. We take the sides down at night.

Abeam of Costa Rica in the Company of Turtles & Dolphins

We are currently abeam of Costa Rica and motoring at 8 knots in a convergence zone between 2 high pressure systems.

We should have enough wind to sail again tonight according to Clearpoint's prediction. Last night we had a nice sail in light to moderate conditions with misty rain in a local weather system. We have been using Clearpoint (http://clearpointweather.com/) for our weather prediction for the past couple of years. Our Australia to New Caledonia and Vanuatu cruise on our J130 Ragtime last year increased our faith in Clearpoint. We left Brisbane in a westerly using Clearpoint's predictions and had a fantastic downwind sail to Noumea.

There has been no traffic at all. When we left Acapulco we saw 2 huge container ships on the 1st night out but there has been nothing since.

Large numbers of birds, turtles and dolphins are our constant companions. For the past 4 hours we have seen literally hundreds of turtles. Every 100 metres there is at least one turtle and usually 5 or more in close sight. They are not afraid of us at all. They seem to be as curious about us as we are of them. When they are right beside the boat they roll over and have a look at us and give us a lazy wave of the flipper. We are not deviating from our course ... they are coming to us. We have been absolutely fascinated calling 1 o'clock ... 5 o'clock .... 9 o'clock

It is at least 4300 metres deep here. One of those wonderful special days that you will never forget.

Cyndy's brother Clyde is working in the Solomon Islands and traditionally the local fishermen have a symbolic Dolphin and a Turtle on board their vessels for protection. Clyde had a dolphin and a turtle carved out of single shells by local artisans for Salacia to keep her safe and they have pride of place on board in the main cabin.

We are amazed that each time we leave port we are escorted by schools of dolphins. In all of our years of sailing we have never had such constant guard of honor of dolphins and we can only put it down to the "Salacia legend" (http://salacia1.blogspot.com/2010/03/salacia-in-ancient-roman-mythology.html). By total coincidence, when we bought Salacia she had a painting of dolphins in the master cabin.

I have just heard another call of "dolphins" from the deck :-) This time it is a school of large dolphins. Up until now most of the dolphins have been tiny with a pronounced fin. Ross got splashed with the gymnastics.

So on that note I am off again to see how many more turtles I can see before dark. It is 6.25pm but it will be a late dinner tonight. I made a huge salad for late lunch so I will make dinner late tonight when it is cooler.

Departing Acapulco

The photos today are of Ross marking the spreader patch positions on the mainsail before we left the dock at Acapulco Yacht Club.

We left Acapulco at 2.00pm on Sunday afternoon and we had a lovely sail for the first few hours and we certainly chewed up the miles. Since 2am we have been motoring at 7 knots to conserve fuel with some wind assistance. We are carrying enough fuel to motor for 1000 nautical miles in the tanks and we are also carrying additional emergency fuel in jerry cans.

Our first sunset since leaving Acapulco was absolutely stunning:

Last night the generator went out on overload while we were making water so we went into "conserve water at all costs mode". Thankfully we have seen able to fix the problem this morning so we are fully laden with sweet "made water". The problem was that a piece of rubber had come off the bottom of the strainer and it was blocking the valve. Ross has also overhauled the salt water pump which was running slower than usual.

Brisas Las Hadas, Beaches & Cliff Diving

The beaches here are like a children's book depiction with hundreds of families enjoying fairy floss, snow cones, games, massages and instruction. Every type of food imaginable is available from vendors and the range of merchandise is also amazing. Everything from life jackets to sunglasses, beads, carvings and kites is available from vendors with laden trays.

The photo below is of Stephen and Ross preparing to go ashore at the marina at Brisas Las Hadas, a resort whose architecture was inspired by a famous Moorish fairytale. Fantastic spires and arches adorn a nearly vertical maze of white adobe walls and red tiled roofs. The town has good chandleries, provisioning and transportation.

The cliff divers below were absolutely amazing!

Acapulco

We arrived in Acapulco a few days ago and the Acapulco Yacht Club is stunning. Kyle, who was one of our crew for the PV race, arranged an introduction and we are overwhelmed by the welcome we have received.

Ricardo Brockman has given us the use of his pen and his son Ricky came down to say hello after we arrived. Ricky Brockman and his brother Erik are here training for Olympic selection in the 49ers. They have/own 3 boats and they are match racing in Acapulco at the moment. They live in Mexico City and train here. Ricky also organised for a B & G expert to go over our instrumentation and for our hull to be scrubbed and for the topsides to be polished. One day we hope to be able to return the hospitality.

The next photo is of Acapulco Harbour from the Traditional section of Acapulco. The Yacht Club is in the background to the right. The Yacht Club arranged for Immigration to come to us at the Yacht Club and clear us on Friday morning so that we were free to leave Mexico whenever we liked over the weekend or Monday. We can't thank them enough for everything that they organised for us and for their incredible hospitality.

The photo below is of provisioning at the Acapulco markets. We hired a car and driver for the day and had a wonderful time exploring this gorgeous city. If you have a chance to visit don't hesitate!!!!!!!!!!!

The photo below is looking across at the Golden area of Acapulco. At night the lights of Acapulco are like a bowl of diamonds. Incredibly beautiful.