9 a.m. CST Tuesday 12/19/06 03 17.2S 088 42.3W Everything is OK on board. We are running at 1200 rpm (slow speed) directly upwind, up current, up seas for Arica, Chile. The slow engine speed minimizes pounding and conserves fuel. Winds have been 12 to 18 knots, so sea conditions are pretty good and about what we expected. The Humbolt current is about .5 to .7 knots. Water temperature is 78 degrees, down 10 from just north of the Galapagos. In these conditions, we are making about 7.5 knots, which is fine. Our course is on a great circle, presently 137 degrees true. Monday 12/18/06 We were organized and departed Villamil before 7 a.m., as stipulated in our Zarpe or exit papers. We are beginning 1,600 nm of what sounds like the Baja Bash all over again. Maybe we can scrape off and sell the sea salt or trade for diesel. But, think how nice it will be coming back the other way. Villamil is a great anchorage and has beaches to die for. A French family sailing on their catamaran was the only other cruiser here, sharing the bay with maybe 25 fishing skiffs. The town has not been slimed by the cruise boats (bay is too shallow). Not a T-shirt for sale, anywhere. Sunday 12/17/06 Puerto Villamil, Isla Isabela, Islas Galapagos, Equador 00-57.9S 090-57.8W This morning, our guest from Houston left Puerto Villamil on a speedboat for Puerto Ayora, then to Quito and home by airplane. We had a fabulous 12 days in the islands, but it is time to tear ourselves away and continue our voyage first thing Monday morning. Today, we will clean, put everything away and tie down loose items. Thursday 12/14/06 00-57.9S 090-57.8W Ice Dancer II was fueled Wednesday, stern to stern, from a fueling ship anchored in the channel between Isla Santa Cruz and Isla Baltra. It was an exciting maneuver, but accomplished the goal of topping off all tanks with diesel. After fueling, we cast off and cruised overnight to Isla Isabela. Unfortunately, that put us near the complicated entrance to Puerto Villamil at 3:30 a.m. We anchored outside, rather than chance using our poor charts of the harbor. At 7:30, we were pulling anchor to move inside when we were greeted by the Capitania de Puerto. He wanted to know what this foreign vessel was up to. Before leaving Puerto Ayora, we had our agent arrange for our stop at Villamil, which normally isn't allowed for foreign cruisers. We plan to remain anchored in the harbor until Monday morning, then begin our crossing to Chile. Tuesday 12/12/06 Puerto Ayora It is no wonder that Darwin and other naturalists were attracted by the Galapagos ecosystems. Even among closely spaced islets, fauna and flora adaptation to different environments is striking. So far, we have taken two chartered boat trips to offshore islets and toured the Charles Darwin Station, the local research facility. All were guided by naturalists. Today, we will travel to the highlands to view large tortoises in the wild. We may be the only cruising vessel in the archipelago. Sailboats heading to the Marquesas Islands will not be here until February or March. Visits are limited to 20 days and most cruisers do not want to enter the South Pacific until the end of its hurricane season, in March. The government scheme welcomes cruisers, but within circumscribed conditions. Your dinghy is best left on board, because a cadre of water taxis expect the business. And if you want to see nearby locations, they want you to hire boats chartered for that purpose. Rates charged, however, are very reasonable. Unless you have acquired special permits, months in advance, use of your own vessel to tour the islands is prohibited. Our anchorage at Puerto Ayora is filled with commercial tour boats, 60 to 120 feet length. These vessels service tourists arriving by aircraft from Quito. Two thirds are taking visitors to shore destinations for wildlife viewing. The balance are equipped for scuba diving trips. We utilized smaller boats departing from the northeast side of Isla Santa Cruz Small freighters arrive and discharge cargo by crane into small lightering barges, powered by outboard skiffs tied alongside. It is very labor intensive. We were the only private cruising boat in the harbor. On Wednesday, we will backtrack to nearby Isla Baltra. We contacted a ship's agent before arrival to help us with clearance, tours and fueling. After fueling, we will travel overnight to Puerto Villamil, on Isla Isabela. On Monday, we expect to begin the passage to Arica, Chile. Thursday 12/7/06 00-44.9S 090-18.6W At 10 a.m. this morning, we anchored at Puerto Ayora, Isla Santa Cruz, Islas Galapagos, Equador. We will spend the day removing salt, changing oil, doing boat maintenance and resting. By the time our anchor was down, a water taxi with the Capatania de Puerto, an Agriculture Officer and our agent, Ricardo Arenas were on board. Ricardo attended to all of the entry issues, arranged field trips to small islands and the highlands for wildlife viewing, and the Darwin Research Center. He also provided diesel fueling service for Ice Dancer II. Tomorrow, we will start looking around. Midday, a friend from Houston will join us and stay on board. He had planned to make the trip from Mexico, but was unable to make it happen. We have covered 4,600 nm since leaving Cordova, in September, putting us over half way to Cape Horn. 2 p.m. Wednesday 12/06/06 00-36.3N 91-33.1W This morning, we passed the first of the outlying Islas Galapagos. Like many volcanic archipelagoes, this one stretches across a considerable distance. We expect to anchor at Puerto Ayora, Thursday morning. With respect to range, when full we carry 2,000 gallons of diesel. Our average over 11,800nm on this boat is 1.5 nm/gal or a run-dry total of 3,000 range, not counting generator fuel use. That burn rate is at our cruise speed of about 8.7 knots, but is made up of days as low as 6.5 and as high as 10 knots at the same throttle setting. Current direction and speed are the big factors as are winds and waves, which generally go in the same direction. Reducing engine RPM increases range. For example, it is 2950nm to Nuka Hiva, Marquesas from the Galapagos. But, the current drift is 10 to 20 nm/day directly for them. So, the effective distance is about 2800 nm, and if you slowed boat speed, 3500 nm would be achievable, giving a 700 mile or 400 gallon reserve. Still, I would have to bring my worry beads. At about sundown we will cross the equator near the north end of Isla Isabela. Monday 12/4/06 4 p.m. CST 05-54.9N 094-30.7W Conditions in the ITCZ would fit nicely into a Twilight Zone script. The sky is highly overcast. Convective cells form thunderheads and squalls; seventeen within ten miles showing on the radar, right now. Each squall seems to produce its own chop and wind, confusing the surface. Fortunately, the ITCZ wind doesn't carry the harsh seas and spray of the gales out of the Tehuantepec or Papagaya Gulfs, and the showers are helpful for washing salt off the boat. Currents, and to a lesser extent seas, slowed us considerably the past two days, throwing askew our planned arrival in the Islas Galapagos and Puerto Ayora. Our scheme was to spend a day cruising among the islands and anchor at the offical port just before sundown. Now it looks like cruising among the islands may be in the dark with arrival on Thursday morning. We will reevaluate when closer. Sunday 12/3/06 6:30 p.m. CST 08-14.4N 095-47.5W I think that we are entering the ITCZ. Seas today were better behaved, but this evening this wind is piping up, again, about 20 to 25 knots on port beam. Swell is lighter, but too much spray to think about barbecuing, tonight. All this water and no room in the freezers for fish. 6 p.m. Saturday 12/2/06 10-32.4N 097-05.0W E-mail messaging through the Winlink system continues to be reliable and efficient. The ham-radio-based system has limited speed, so we use it for text messages, only. Voice communication with other boats is hit or miss, but the big land-based operators with beam antennas are easy to contact. Checking in with the Maritime Mobile Net during the day on 14.300MH works well, for example. The past 24 hours have been windy, salty and bumpy. It feels like we may be working our way out of the Tehauntepec gale. It has been right on our beam. It is probably good for sailing, but just a pain for us. Ports, windows and most doors were closed to keep out the salt spray, which wasn't nearly as nice as open. We had a brown boobie ride with us last night. Guess what he left in return for the favor. No good deed goes unpunished. 12/1/06 6 p.m. CST Friday 13-17.8N 098-48.9W Day two of our Zihuatanejo to Galapagos crossing was great. A group of small porpoises found us, which is fun, but ordinary. But this group had yellow-fin tuna tagging along, and one took a large, skirted lure that we were trolling in our wake. After 45 minutes, the 50 pounder was tired enough to gaff and bring aboard. Tonight's dinner is sashimi with sushi rice. Not long afterward, Gail noticed a large sea turtle that was trapped in net debris. We circled back, grabbed a two-inch hawser included in the mess and Gail cut the turtle loose. We dragged the net on board, to prevent another entanglement. She organized an earlier turtle rescue, in Hawaii. That one was entangled in a gill net stretched from shore. Sea conditions were flat, today. We are expecting a blow this weekend, coming out of the Gulf of Tehuantepec, but don't know how it will affect us at 300 miles offshore. Last night the porpoise trails in the water were highlighted with luminescent critters. It was interesting to see against the star-filled sky. 11/30/06 Thursday At sea We left Zihautanejo, Mexico for the Galapagos Islands at 6:30 CST, this morning. Our computer says that we will arrive on the afternoon of 11/06, disregarding weather, currents and stops to exercise fish. Departure procedures included a $40 cab ride to the international airport to clear immigration. The Port Captain's office was friendly and helpful. It is amazing, however, the amount of time wasted on unneeded paperwork. Weather conditions look favorable. Winds in the Sea of Cortez are expected to roar today, but that is far behind us. On Saturday, the Gulf of Tehuantepec is expected to get windy. We expect to be far enough west to miss that effect. We will see. 11/28/06 Tuesday Zihautenejo, Mexico 17-38.16N 101-33.35W We refilled the refrigerator with vegetables and fruits, today. Zihautanejo is a comfortable anchorage with its only drawback being the daily arrival of a different cruise ship. At least it is only one. With it comes the parade of shore boats injecting tourists into the little town and commercial boats of every stripe moving them off to fish, enjoy beaches and sightsee. Three norteamericano sailboats are scattered across the bay. The cruising fleet has not made it this far, yet. It is fortunate that we filled diesel tanks in Manzanillo. The Pemex concession is closed and so is the one in Ixtapa. Pangueros were anxious to fuel us with jerry jugs ferried from the gas station. That would be difficult with our need for over 1,000 gallons. The fuel dock problem seems to be sale prices set by the national oil company that leave too little margin for operation. Our previous fueling in Ensenada was similarly odd. There is not fuel dock in Ensenada Harbor proper; only one the the Coral Marina, about 10 miles north. Free markets work better. Dick and Gail Barnes Aboard Ice Dancer II Nordhavn 57-28