Saturday, 2/16: San Cristobal to Puerto Ayora Santa Cruz:
We had a really good time on the island of San Cristobal – had many first time animal sightings – gigantic tortoises, marine iguanas, blue footed boobies, Galapagos and hammerhead sharks…..whoa!
The anchorage did turn out to be rolly and crowded – we did put out the flopper stopper after the 2nd night and it was much better. It did rain the first 2 days and then again the last day or so!!
We have heard that we will really enjoy the island of Isabella so we wanted to spend 2.5-3 weeks there so it is time to leave San Cristobal. We made arrangements with our agent, Bolivar and on Friday he was to come by and give us our Zarpe. Well, he does come around 2:00 pm and informs us that the authorities will not let us go directly to Isabella (83 nm away) but first must go to Santa Cruz (44 nm away) and then travel to Isabella (another 46 nm) the next day…arghhhhhh…..but their country, their rules so obey we must!!
It was about 43 nm and took us about 5.5 hours. The winds were 2-3 kts variable and the swell started SE and then ended SW, 2-4′ long period….very gentle….so smooth we did not need our stabilizers!!!!
There are a lot of boats in the anchorage but not as many as we thought. Indeed the ones further in the bay are using a stern anchor. A lot of boats maybe half way in are not stern anchored and we anchored amongst them….just in back of Fifi (who we met in San Cristobal), in about 20′, the anchorage has been fairly calm – no flopper!!
We called Irene, our agent here, on the cell and she came in about 30 minutes with the Port Captain. We gave her the papers Bolivar had given us; she kept some and gave the rest to the Port Captain. He took about 10 minutes to fill out his forms. Both were very friendly and wanted to talk about Santa Cruz. Irene returned about 2 hours later with our Zarpe to Isabela.
AND, of course it is raining. We had a beautiful day while on the water but once we got into the bay it started raining and it lasted all afternoon. We decided to stay on the boat so no exploring in town!
Kathy used a net on the swim platform and victory was ours; score: Sea Lions: 7 MM: 1
Sunday 2/17: Santa Cruz to Puerto Villamil Isabela:
It was about 48 nm and took us 6.25 hours. The winds were 6-9 kts E-SE and we had a 3-5′ SW swell, long period…..again very calm…..no need for stabilizers. There was a 0.5 kt adverse current for half of the passage then it turned favorable up to 1.5 kts.
We saw lots of critters along the way….many rays jumping, even stopped and had a manta ray swim by….our very first sighting!!!
The agent here, JC Soto, was very prompt…..called on VHF 66. We took a water taxi in to the dock and gave him the papers Bolivar had given us plus our Zarpe from Santa Cruz and he said that was all we needed to do. He will get back to us with a receipt but thought it would be $30…..it’s a Sunday….normally it is $15.
So far we have not found any internet in the anchorage but JC said several spots in town had wifi. We see many SSID’s, but they are all secured….got password anyone:))) We will use the SAT phone for now!!
Watch out for that JC… of the 3 agents, he was the only one who seemed pretty corrupt. Will gouge you on $ when he can, also will always direct you to activities, restaurants etc in which he owns an interest, will never let you know there are alternatives. Eyes open! Enjoy Isabela!