Latitude: 00°10’1N
Longitude: 089°11.2’W
Tuesday, 25th of March, 00°10’1N 089°11.2’W, 08:05 Local Time, 13:05 UTC
Excuse us for the little radio silence. We had a few busy, but definitely amazing days! Not only did we cross the equator, but we arrived in the beautiful Galapagos archipelago as well!
At around 10 a.m. local time and 15:00 UTC on the 25th, we crossed the equator! While congratulations were happening, a lot more was going on. Besides King Neptune making his way to NORDIC FALKEN, hundreds of seabirds had their breakfast all along our starboard. Neptune had the pleasure of making sure the seven of us (including me!) who hadn’t crossed the equator before were worthy of becoming shellbacks. The ceremony was perfectly arranged by Jim and was filled with a lot of giggles. It was a very special moment for everyone.
Yesterday we arrived at Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz! After having a bit of a struggle to find a nice place to anchor (it was quite busy), about ten or more immigration people checked everything onboard. Luckily, we got cleared without a problem. Even the “forbidden” lunch meat that Mary and I (as the 2/3 vegetarians on the boat) had been trying so hard to get people to eat wasn’t a problem.
Right after we were allowed to get in a watertaxi to step on land, it started raining as if a waterpipe had exploded up above, and this carried on the whole day. The crew went ashore for some walking around, and Alex, Mary, and I made sure the whole boat was fresh and clean again. We ended the day with a nice Ecuadorian dinner on Santa Cruz.
Today (the 27th) we went for a day tour on the island. The day started with a visit to some very impressive craters and walking and crawling through a lava tunnel. After these exciting views, it was time to see the giant tortoises (while getting bitten by a trillion fire ants). We ended the trip with a very hot, but very amusing bike ride back to the city center. Some of us thought two hours downhill wasn’t adventurous enough and we started with a 30-minute workout uphill—which was definitely an amazing idea in the middle of the day just below the equator! ;)
- Laura Blaauw | FALKEN Apprentice
PS. If you are reading this blog, please write some comments in the section below and we’ll send it over to the crew to read. I am sure they will love it :) - Mia & Andy (shore support on Leg 5, Panama to Galapagos)
FALKENCrew
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Seasickness
But maybe, I thought, with some drugs I could stay ahead of it. The first 48 hours I felt horrible. But luckily with 3 health care professionals on board and in a very encouraging environment, my body found its way. Anyway, someone offered me a patch (unavailable in Canada) and someone else gave me some pills for nausea and now I feel much, much better.
Dolphins and Bioluminescence
We had a good run with the sails but weather has changed and we are once again chasing the wind. Everyone is getting a chance to practice helming in big swell; starting to get a feel of the wind and water and how it pushes and pulls the hull. A pod of dolphins came to visit at night, splashing in the bioluminescent water, and again in the day, dancing in the bow wake. For now enjoying the calmer sea state and falling asleep to the rumble of the engine and the gentle whooshing of the water on the hull.
Greetings from Lala Lemonshark
The brave crew is toughing it out and staying cheerful despite being tossed around. The engine is off and we are true sailing-main and jib. In the first 12 hours we saw two pods of Orca and four humpback whales, two of which were 20 yards off the starboard beam!