Part 2 covers from Cocos Island to the Galapagos - Click here: 

Part 3 - below recounts their journey between Galapagos and Easter Island, and their experiment in tradional navigation methods,  
22 - 28th Feb:

22nd Feb -  Galapagos islands -
VC are back, exhausted but delighted with their arranged four day tour of the Galapagos. Amazing stories are filtering through about swimming with seal lions and air conditioned cabins!!

24th Feb
We weighed anchor at 0900 and departed Puerto Ayora for Porto Villamil.

Villamil is a township on the SE coast of Isabella - the largest island in the Galapagos. The passage is approx. 30nm to the west. Nice to be sailing again. Our Easterly wind abates and the ME is started at 1500.

We anchor off Villamil at 1800. Nice evening, and hands lay aloft to furl the topsails before dinner.

25th Feb
VC ashore to explore and Rob(deckie) with newly shaved head - joins half a dozen VC on a hike up to the Sierra Negra Volcano - approx 1500M

Turtle Bay - Peurto Villamil, was used by pirates and more fabulous stories of hidden treasure emerge. In fact some was discovered in 1974. Beautiful sandy beaches ashore and lagoons behind the township with many flamingo.

All aboard, weighing anchor and underway by 1800. Heading on a NE course for Baltra, a small island to the north of Santa Cruz. The airport is situated at Baltra and for us bunkering diesel and filling up our freshwater tanks before our passage to Easter Island.

The airport was built by the Americans during WW2 as well as an army base - intended to defend the Panama Canal against the Japanese air raids which never happened.

During the American presence the land iguanas were eradicated, but after a 40 year absence were re-introduced. In 1991 35 iguanas were freed on Baltra with a successful survival rate.

I must mention the giant tortoises now in more detail. These guys are amazing. They are big (up to 250kg) Their faces remind you of ET! Apparently ETīs face was based on the giant Galapagos tortoise! and their feet are like elephants. Their population was known to be about 250,000 - but this rapidly dimished to close to extinction during the 18th and 19th centuries when man reached the islands in the time of pirates and the tortoise meat was a main source of food. Now introduced species are the biggest danger for these chaps. In 1980 only 15,000 tortoises remained. Zoologists had numbered 14 races or subspecies but now only 11 survive - in fact soon 10, Lonesome George, living at the Darwin Station, is the only survivor from Pinta Island. Even a $10,000(us) reward offered to who ever could provide a female of the same species brought no results - so George will remain an old bachelor.

We motored overnight with light airs and anchored off Baltra at 0800.

Various frustrating delays postponed our departure to 1630 - with refreshed tanks (the fresh water supply came from the air force base via a fire truck) Setting sail followed for our departure. Wind ENE, force 2 - all squares, main and working sail - broad reach.

Unfortunately wind fell away and the Alpha came to life around 2000 (one of our VC is Kirsten Bowditch. Kirsten is the great, great, great, great, great granddaughter of Nathaniel Bowditch - a brilliant mathematician and successful ships master, born in Massachusetts 1772 who wrote the American Practical Navigator - first published in 1802 which still is a leading Navigational Test. The relevance here is at 2120 we were abeam of Pt Bowditch, named after Nathaniel, on the Western Coast of Santa Cruz. And on this momentous occasion we were lucky enough to get Kirsten to sign the ship's copy of "Bowditch" and to cap it all today is also Kirstenīs Birthday!!

Our Captain Jim Cottier has decided to make this leg of the voyage to Easter Island as traditional as possible. We will navigate using the heavenly bodies alone and the GPS has been covered up. Between sights of the stars and planets - which will produce observed positions (hopefully within a few miles!) we will navigate by Dead Reckoning or D.R.

This is obtained by applying courses and distances through the water from the last known observed position. The origin of the term DR is obscure but may have originated from seaman referring to unknown seas as "dead seas". We will also make due allowance for leeway and currents - namely the South Equatorial Current, flowing West, which will be minimal south of 10 degrees latitude south. and of course out come the speed logs for measuring speed through the water. We will use a Chip Log and a Dutchman's Log.

The Chip Log consists of a wooden board attached to a log line. The log line is marked with knots (hence the name "knot") uniformly at a distance proportionally to a nautical mile. The log-line is hove off the stern and the length of line run out, in a specified time - proportional to an hour, will indicate the speed. In the 15th Century the nautical mile was introduced as being 50000 feet.

So 5,000 feet = 1 hour or 60 minutes

2,500 feet = 30 minutes

83.3 feet = 1 minute

41.7 feet = 30 seconds.

The log glass of that time was 30 seconds and 6 feet is 1 fathom (1 fathom being taken as the span of a mans arm) so the spacing was 7 fathoms.

But as the length of a nautical mile is 6050 feet the above system was amended to 8 fathoms & 28 seconds or 4 fathoms and 14 seconds for smaller vessels such as ourselves.

And the stop watch comes in awfully handy. Fathoms being kept for convenience.

The Dutchman's Log: -
Here you measure the time during which an object - say a chip of wood, dropped into the sea at the bow would take to travel between 2 marks cut on the gunwale aboard. In our case - stem to stern is 100 feet and the banana peel worked well! Known as a Dutchman's log as this method was favoured by Dutch Mariners in the 17th & 18th Century.

Jim is also holding daily navigation classes for all those interested. The voyage to Easter Island is approx. 2000nm and the Rhumb Line course is 215 degrees T. We have decide to try and visit Isla Sala y Gomez, on the way. This uninhabited island lies approx. 210 nm to the East of Easter Island and is part of Chile.

27th Feb
A light wind filled in from the NE and the ME is stopped at 0930. Started again at 1500.

28th Feb
Still light winds - but a rare treat today with the sighting of a whale shark. ME stopped mid afternoon in anticipation of King Neptune's visit. Neptune's policemen herded the polly wogs to the foredeck as the Kings Court was prepared Midships. Then each pollywog was brought before the King and Queen to have their crimes read out and their sentences handed down.

Overall - an outrageous affair which of course ended with an almighty green slime cum water fight. YUK!

Ships Company gathers on deck for sunset drinks. Gentle ENE wind for the night - veers overnight to SE.

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  More will follow of Galapagos and the the passage to Easter Island shortly.

NEW Voyage Crew Memory Module:
Paul Huisking reflects on his
Auckland -Panama
Ocean Passage last year.

Voyage Crew Memories
Ian Marshall's Atlantic Crossing
Voy 142, Dec 2000

See pictures of the Curacao - Panama voyage at Voyage Crew Bob Lewis' own webpage at http://www.nythfa.freeserve.co.uk/soren/sorenlarsen.html

See pics from John Homes and Alan Murphy of the Grenada-Curacao leg:
here

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