We have now been at sea for about 29 hours. We left Baltra immediately after a long and stressful fueling there. The commercial dock had a tremendous amount of surge….our lines were creaking and stressed so much that I actually pulled out emergency lines to be ready in case one should fail. Add to that the ear-splitting non-stop noise of a barge’s engines while unloading next to us, and a high-speed, high pressure fuel pump and the picture is complete. But, we eventually got ‘er done and were on our way a little after 1pm. Whew…..We were all too pooped to poop, but glad to be on our way!
Our time in Santa Cruz was a heady mix of diving and seeing the sights, and preparation for our voyage to the Marquesas. Les and Rose arrived on time, (well, Equador time anyway) and the first few days were spent enjoying their company and seeing the area surrounding Puerto Ayora. Sunday we went on a tour to see the giant tortoises in the wild (very cool and some very old and large tortoises!) and also saw the lava tubes here that were created from past volcanic eruptions. They were amazingly large and long! Monday, John and I did a 2-tank dive at Gordon Rocks with Macarron diving which was stunning…..Schools of hammerhead sharks, fishes everywhere, schools of spotted eagle rays, Galapagos sharks, and more fishes. It was probably the best visibility we had had on any of our dives in the Galapagos. We went with Carol and Jim from Somerset and really had a great time!
Tuesday began our real prep for passage with Rose and I provisioning and John and Les working on the boat. As the week progressed and in spite of our best efforts, things became more and more hectic. By Friday, it got down right chaotic and Saturday was the pleasure of a night passage and the morning fueling. When I tell you now that it feels wonderful to be at sea and somewhat rested with most things crossed off our lists, you can believe it!!
All is well thus far. We have our watches assigned and are working into them. Mystic seems content to be at sea and all critical systems are working well. It’s a little rolly, but calm enough to prepare good meals aboard. The weather is benign, the sun about to set on our second night, not a spec of land in sight, not a single blip on the radar for hours and hours…… LIG…….
Sounds lovely to be at sea after all that. We pray that All aboard Mystic Moon will have a wonderous voyage.