Waiting to start our voyage across the Pacific from the Galapagos to Tahiti is not quite over yet, though we have spent the last couple of days preparing and trimming everywhere. Almost every field on the work list is marked with a “done.”  In other words, we are SO ready for the trip!

We have not left the archipelago because we currently have a bit of illness on board. A single crew member is having issues with fever and the like, and so the skipper has decided to postpone departure until some improvement is seen.

Personally, I have pretty much reached a level of fullness regarding the Galapagos. It has been a fantastic encounter with a completely different nature, a different biodiversity, and let’s not forget the last couple of days have been spent making new friendships and getting to know the boat. When the fullness still occurs, it is probably because the opportunities are limited. If the nature or the animal life is your big hobby, there would probably be stuff to do for weeks or months, but for most (if not all) regular people, we enjoy the surroundings without going into detail. That way you can quickly fulfill your curiosity.

Of course it is interesting to see how the sea lions are around people, as they lie around the benches in the high of the heat. You can watch how the pelicans beg the local fishermen for a little treat, or you can go diving or snorkeling with tropical fish, reef sharks or sea turtles the size of a man. Finally, there is the national bird, the “Bluefooted Boobie,” that only lives here, though in great numbers. Last but not least, it is an experience to see the big manta rays in schools patrolling along the stone reefs and see them do big jumps out of the water.  Everything becomes everyday life, and the local prices taken into consideration, you can't do many of these tours before you've said goodbye to $1000.

There is also another aspect to it: The fact that we are all excited to go to sea and begin what is the actual reason we are here, that is to put behind us the distance between the Galapagos and Tahiti. On the other side there are a lot of advantages to the departure being postponed. The crew gets to know each other, weaknesses and strengths, you get a taste of how it is to live so many people in a limited space. There is no air conditioning on board. The temperature is probably on a daily basis above 30 degrees Celsius, so there is a bit of getting accustomed to.

But, we are ready, the boat is ready, the gear is ready, all the provisions are ready, so we are hoping that maybe within hours we can say the words that we all wish to say:

TAHITI, HERE WE COME.........

Report from Bosun Bertram:

HURRY UP, GET READY! and wait… As often before, we are very busy the last couple of days up to a big departure - many things have to be ready for a long time at sea and everything has to fall into place. Though some things can't be predicted, and a fever with one crew member has put us back one day. You don't start an oceanic crossing with a crew member ill, and so we have postponed departure to Saturday morning for now. If necessary we will postpone again, until we are certain that all of our crew is feeling at their best to start the 3,000 nautical mile voyage to Nuku Hiva and further on to Tahiti.

So today we are simply spending another day in the Pacific paradise of the Galapagos. Some extra fresh bread is brought onboard, an extra filter is changed and so on. We use the time for the better, while excitement is building for the Pacific crossing.

Local time onboard is 11:00 and our current position is 0,44.92S , 90,18.56W.

Danish Translation of Ergon’s Blog Above:

Stadig paa reden I Puerto Aroya

Ventetiden paa at komme igang med sejlturen over Stillehavet fra Galapagos til Tahiti er ikke helt overstaaet endnu, vi har ganske vist brugt de sidste dage paa at klargoere og trimme overalt. Stort set alle felter paa huskesedlen er nu markeret med et “flueben”. Vi er med andre ord SAA klar til turen.

Naar vi alligevel ikke har forladt oegruppen skyldes det at vi I ojeblikket er ramt af sygdom, et enkelt besaetningsmedlem har store problemer med feber og lignende, skipperen har derfor besluttet at udsaette afgangen indtil en bedring af helbredstilstanden har indfundet sig.

Rent personligt har jeg efterhaanden naaet maetningspunktet hvad Galapagos angaar, det har vaeret et fantastisk moede med en helt anderledes natur, et helt anderledes dyreliv, og ikke at forglemme er de sidste dage jo gaaet med at knytte nye venskaber og at laere baaden at kende.

Nar maethedsfornemmelsen alligevel har indfundet sig, skyldes det at mulighederne er begraensede. OK – Havde man haft naturen eller dyrelivet som sin store interesse ville der sikkert have vaeret stof nok til mange uger/maneder, men de fleste (Om ikke alle) af os er almindelige mennesker som nyder de anderledes omgivelser, men ikke gaar I dybden. Derfor kan man hurtigt faa sin nysgerrighed stillet. Det er selvfoeleligt spaendende at se hvordan soloverne faerdes blandt mennesker og smider sig paa en baenk I middagsheden, man kan ogsaa iagttage hvordan Pelikanerne tigger sig til en godbid hos de lokale fiskere, man kan dykke/snorkle  med tropiske fisk, revhajer og havskildpadder i mandsstorrelse, endelig er der jo nationalfuglen “The bluefooted Boobie” som kun findes her, men tilgaeld I stort antal. Sidst men ikke mindst er det ogsaa en oplevelse at se de store Manta rays I flokke patruljere langs kantene af stenrev og se dem lave store spring op af vandet, men altsaa: Alting bliver hverdag, og det lokale prisniveau taget I betragtning, tager man ikke paa mange af den slags ture foer man har vinket farvel til 1000 $

Der er jo ogsaa et andet aspekt I det: Nemlig det faktum at alle jo er spaendte paa at komme til havs og faa taget hul paa det er er den egentlige grund til vores tilstedevaerelse, nemlig at tilbagelaegge straekningen mellem Galapagos og Tahiti. Omvendt er der jo en masse fordele ved at afgangen traekker lidt ud: Besaetningen har laert lidt om hinanden, svagheder og styrker, man har faaet en forsmag paa hvordan det er at leve mange mennesker paa en begraenstet plads. Der er ingen aircondition ombord, temperaturen ligger vel paa dognbasis paa over de 30 grader, saa der er ogsaa lidt akklimatisering der skal falde paa plads.

Men altsaa: Vi er klar, baaden er klar, udstyret er klar alle, forsynunger er klar, saa vi haaber at vi I loebet af maaske blot faa timer kan sige de ord som vi alle oensker:

TAHITI, HERE WE COME......