Friday, November 20 0330

315 nm to go to our approach – 345 nm to port

Another great sailing day of 13-15 knots of wind with the spinnaker doing its job. At midnight, the wind fell to 8-10 knots so we are using the “iron genny” aka Volvo Penta 55 hp. Yesterday we stopped and went for an offshore swim as Rita and Sven had never done that. The water was warm and a beautiful translucent turquoise. We have those innate fears that have been ingrained in us from Jaws and Shark III movies that a shark will come and bite our legs out here. I am sure that seeing one laze by the day before had nothing to do with it. After looking around carefully ,we jumped in one-by-one, except for Rita who was pushed off the aft step by Mark. There is also something a little intimidating about how deep the ocean is out here and just how small it makes you feel. We all survived with all our appendages intact ,enjoying the feeling of the salt water on our hair and skin.

While we were stalled for swimming, Sven and I launched the dinghy while Rita and Mark set the spinnaker and sailed towards us. Those photos could possibly show up on someone’’s Christmas card. They sat on the bow with gigantic smiles as aVida slid by us. We did succeed in landing a large clear plastic bag and scooped it in the dinghy. I like to think that we may have saved a dolphin from swallowing that. Always love your Mother Earth.

On deliveries, there are always a few mantras that become part of the vernacular along the way. The one that is most commonly referred to on this and many other trips is “”We have time.”” For instance, we have time to make turks head knotted anklets and rings; we have time to read entire books without dealing with life in general; we have time to do the laundry by hand in a bucket on the aft deck.

Avida looks like a true cruising vessel now with every piece of Sven’’s clothes drying on the clothesline out there. Did I say clothesline? I meant the crossed pieces of spectra line that were strategically placed to keep the KVH antenna from vibrating too much and also to support the bimini that will provide shade in tropical places. Thanks, Alwoplast, for the clothesline. It’’s perfect.

We enjoyed another lunch and dinner with sashimi mahi, this time with grapefruit slices as we have exhausted our supplies of lemon and lime. Tough life! At latitude 6 degrees, the equatorial warmth and humidity are a welcome change to life in Valdivia (fondly referred to as “Valjuvia” – juvia meaning rain). Having to don his sweatshirt and long pants on the plane home from Quito is weighing heavily on Sven’’s mind.

Javier, our agent in Galapagos, emailed today to tell us that, by law, we must first clear into Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, Isla San Cristobal, before proceeding to Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Isla. They are very close together and I am supposing that because aVida is coming to Galapagos on a cruising permit and not an emergency repair stop, we must stop at the first island we approach from the south. No problemo.

We expect to arrive late Saturday evening, in the dark, of course. I am assuming that we will have to go to customs on Sunday morning and then over to Santa Cruz. Taking a walk and stretching sounds pretty good to me, no matter which port it is. I wonder if they have ceviche in Puerto Baquerizo? I hope that Sven has time to see the Darwin Center before we leave on Nov 23 for Quito.

Many days out. I cannot allow myself to dwell too much on home and family, but now that it is within reach, my thoughts are always there.

SV-aVida

Trip Tracker from Google Earth