En route to the Galapagos (5 days, 950 miles) we saw a large pod of pilot whales and lines of dolphins flipping joyously out of the sea. We also had a booby bird hitchhike a ride on our bow- she was there for at least 2 days and got quite indignant when Russ inconvenienced her by encroaching on her perch on the foredeck to change sails.
We were amazed to see birds flying around Tika’s mast 600 miles out to sea! We also had a deluge of driftwood and debris sweep past us for many hours. A huge tree log clunked into our centreboards and branches and clumps of leaves flooded past. One twiggy mass swept along the starboard hull and we saw a crab clinging onto it for dear life
There is a tradition amongst sailors to perform a ritual when crossing the equator. Shellbacks (people who have crossed the equator by sea before) get to play nasty tricks on the uninitiated Pollywogs (people who haven’t)
When I was 6yrs old, my family travelled from South Africa to the UK by ship (we had been living in Zambia for 4 years) and I crossed the equator amongst much fanfare at the King Neptune’s kids club. It is still etched in my memory. Russ crossed on Pipedream between Bali and Singapore in 1995.
So, as honorable representatives of all shellbacks we thought it only proper to initiate our young crew- the pollywogs.
We considered some plank walking folly but opted instead to simply tie them to the mast. They took it in good humour at first and then got a tad grumpy….but we were worshipping King Neptune and couldn’t possibly stop before the ritual was complete (plus we were having a ball!)
We also made a couple of offers to the Man in the Sea (aka Mr .K. Neptune…)…We reasoned that he already had a small piece of each of our souls in the shape of a fabulous, orange dinghy…but just to ensure a super smooth passage we threw in a generous serve of chocolate for good measure.. Only then did we release the children…
Land Ahoy! San Cristobel looms…At first just a bank of clouds converging in one spot on the horizon- eventually the contours of an island materialised and we knew we were close to landfall. We’d made it to the legendary Galapagos Islands!
Next post: A long-winded check-in process, sea-lions, marine iguanas and a tsunami warning in San Cristóbal…
This entry was posted in The Sail.
Jayia if you do read this then please reply.
I have heard that you are going around another two years. Are coming back to Perth for a while? I have hardily any time time hear. Don’t know if you heard I was moving to Queensland end of the year 2016. Please come back soon even for a bit I miss you a lot.
from Juliana Morgan
I love your chenanaguns!!!!!! So much fun? I am so going to tie kids to mast or something similar! Then throwing beloved chocolate into the sea- what fun for you and Russ he he.
Do you follow la vagabond ? The oz sailing couple on you tube? They have been given an Outremer!!!!!! Farout how awesome for them! It made me think I wish we got an outremer too ( it was out first choice), but our Catana will do us just fine and at the time there were no outremers that were ok. We have 13 sleeps to go till we leave.???
I loved reading this… reminded me of Christmas Island… so great to read after seeing you all xxx miss you guys xxx