A Quick Update

Due to lack of wifi connections, I have just uploaded four blog posts at the same time: A Glimpse of Life on Sila about our time in Panama with Amanda Good; A fishfull Passage, which Porter wrote about the crossing from Panama to the Galapagos; San Cristobal Tour, in which the Rabbit describes an eventful day on our first island in the Galapagos, and this one, a Quick Update.

We are having a fantastic time exploring the Galapagos Islands. We arrived at San Cristobal Island on Saturday, July 5^th.

Sunday the 6^th was inspection day! We had eight people on board for two hours. One person was there from immigration to check our passports, stamp them, and take copies of paperwork. Two people were there from the national park to inspect certain parts of the boat to make sure that we have adequate systems for separating trash into trash, paper trash, organic trash, and recyclables, that we have acceptable cleaning products for things like dishes, and some engine things. A third person from the national park swam under the boat with a video camera to inspect the hull to be sure that it was adequately cleaned and that there were no barnacles or other organic passengers. The next person was an insect inspector. I am not sure what to call him but I can tell you that with gloves and a headlamp, he opened almost every single hatch down below and looked for bugs. He looked under every single floorboard and into most of the food, shaking containers of rice and flour more than any other item, examining even the unopened rice packages carefully for signs of infestation. Another guy was the Port Capitan who completed the paperwork that allowed us to be anchored at San Cristobal. He also checked that we have certain systems and items on board: fire extinguishers, life jackets, type of engine, how much fuel and water we carry and will need to buy here, and an inventory of electronics. And the last two people were Carmela and her brother. Carmela works for our agent, who arranged all of the inspections and permission to visit in the first place. Her brother came along to help translate, which was great because I had the chance to practice my Spanish and also confirm that I understood the important points.

We then spent a few days exploring San Cristobal. You can read about the first big tour we did in Jack Rabbit's blog, San Cristobal Tour.

On Thursday, July 10, we left San Cristobal at 5 in the evening. It was an 80 mile sail from there to Isla Isabela- too many miles to do in 12 hours of daylight. So we sailed overnight so we could arrive at Isabela on the 11^th in the morning. Since being here, we have enjoyed snorkeling, hiking, and walking in town and dinghy adventures. The wildlife in the Galapagos have been the highlight so far. Stay tuned for a blog from Porter about the various animals we have enjoyed seeing including sea lions, penguins, blue footed boobies, flamingos, stilts, marine and land iguanas, frigate birds, sharks, tortoises and turtles, and more!

On Friday the 18^th, we will leave Isabela and head for Isla Santa Cruz where we will spend about five days. During that time, we will explore the island, restock the boat, pick up our new crew member (Pete James, an HMI alumnus who is joining us for the next six weeks), and wait for the right weather window to leave the Galapagos, bound for Easter Island and then Puerto Montt, Chile.

Finding good wifi connections has been difficult, so we are behind on our blog posting. And we have wanted to spend our daylight hours exploring this extraordinary place instead of sitting in cafes with slow wifi connections. All is well– Molly