Hej, it is 5 am and the new day is beginning. Puerto Ayora is slowly awakening. As I sit here on the deck entertainment is abundant. A finch is doing battle with our starboard winch, and our dinghy is once again free of “Ms. Piggy” the sea lion, who has demonstrated great affection for our bosun Bertram. There are about 40 boats in the area, ranging from cabin cruisers to cruising yachts. The water taxis actually signal the beginning of the work day. They begin their numerous trips from each boat to shore. Transferring between the taxi to the floating dock or your boat deck can be quite tricky, especially if you are a wee bit stiff in the joints. It is a good meter to cover between moving surfaces. So far no mishaps, as we are becoming a most helpful team. Each of my new boat mates are team players. They step up to each challenge and task with a positive attitude.

There is a lot of prep work to be accomplished before we sail this week. Oceans of Hope's permanent crew are in constant motion. Kristian can be found up the main mast or hunkered down with Mr. Perkins our engine. Bertram is everywhere but never far from techy equipment. Dr. Morten has organized our medical supplies under some rather difficult circumstances. It is very important to be ready at a moment’s notice if there is an emergency, as time is of the essence. He interviewed each of us for our medical history and allergies, as without this knowledge a bad situation can become even more complicated. I am finding it most interesting to learn other pharmaceuticals. As always it is interesting to listen to my crewmates sharing their personal journeys with MS and their treatment courses. 

On Monday Egon, Rob and myself counted all of the present provisions. On Tuesday Egon, Bernd, Rob, Bertram, Kristian and myself took over the local supermarket. We commandeered several buggies and hand trolleys and after hours left with a thousand dollars worth of booty. While we transferred the provisions to the water taxi and Oceans of Hope, Kristian and Bertram shopped for two very important products that the supermarket could not provide - meat and toilet paper! I leave you with these final thoughts and there will be more to follow!

Report from Bosun Bertram:

The Pacific Crossing is nearing and we have much to do. Latest we took care of most of the provisions with great team effort from our new crew, who are not so new anymore. Bernd, Sandy, Egon, Frederik and Robert have already settled pretty well on board, while working their way into the daily routines. Today we are looking forward to welcoming Peter Thagaard our final crew member for the voyage to French Polynesia.

The other day we had our trusted divers change our fixed propeller to our folding one, which hopefully should gain us at least half a knot all the way over. Combined with the recent cleaning of the hull and our new spinnaker you can picture Oceans of Hope practically flying across the Pacific Ocean!

Local time on board is 09:40 and our current position is 0,44.92S , 90,18.55W.