From the Galápagos to Easter Island. Days 1–3
Sent via satellite link.
A good speed is 2 knots. Even one and a half is good too. Because there is no wind.
On 17 April, we left the harbour on Santa Cruz Island and set a course south. Off to the west, near the horizon, three masts are bobbing about—three yachts that also left for the Marquesas that day. The earlier boats are already out of sight J—our neighbour Lucas was right to leave the day before, straight after clearing out; at least there was some wind then.
On the other hand, the group of yachts bound for the Marquesas is keeping us entertained with their messages: our friends have created an email group where the whole flotilla reports on conditions. So we receive their satellite messages too, even though we’re heading for Easter Island first. Now we’re composing a reply to the Turkish sultan as well.
The day before departure, the captain wanted to check on our website what magical method he had used to set up comment notifications. He never figured it out, but the comments seem to have stopped coming. That’s sad—there’ll be less mail, while the passage itself will be longer. Though there is some hope that perhaps no one has simply commented on anything yet, and now it’ll all kiiiick off! 🙂
The first evening and night, we motor a lot: we need to get away from the Galápagos, otherwise the current carries us straight towards Santa María. But at least the engine heats the water for a hot shower—we run a hose out through the heads window and happily wash ourselves on deck.
Nastya takes the first watch, until half past midnight. Then Andrey takes over. As always, I wake up an hour before dawn (at about half past four) and go to relieve the captain.
There are no ships or large animals around. But the birds seem completely unaware that this is the open ocean. Some little black birds with white backsides fly around incessantly)).
On the morning of the second day, a group of albatrosses spent more than an hour floating past us on a log. Or rather, we floated past them. There’s no wind, after all. They found themselves a good log—they’re sitting in a row like hens in a coop.
A whole school of mahi-mahi is frolicking astern. Their dazzling blue fins and yellow tails tease us from the depths, but they won’t be caught. They showed some interest in a pink silicone squid and a blue metal fish, fussed around them for a while, then treacherously dived beneath the boat.
No sooner had I complained that the fish weren’t biting than we hooked a mahi-mahi almost a metre long. While the fish was performing somersaults in the air, our junior crew member ran to fetch some rum to subdue the liveliness of the catch.
Today we’re making our first three jars of canned stewed meat. As a precaution, everyone has been banished from the galley—what if the pressure cooker explodes?
Over the past twenty-four hours, we covered 30 miles :). At this rate, we’ll reach Easter Island by summer at best.
By evening, though, the wind also gradually got down to business, and our speed increased to 4 miles per hour. We set all our sails—we have four of them. We even took the awning off the mizzenmast and stretched it beneath the boom, making ourselves a tent. Why did we suffer through the whole Atlantic without an awning? Look how splendidly it has turned out.
Now we’ll crank up Vizbor, light a little campfire, and the captain has already brought out the guitar.
The hot summer has ended, the skerry is white, all white...
In two and a half days, we have covered 120 miles from the Galápagos. Easter Island is 1,900 miles away (about 3,750 km) on our overall course.
Coordinates: 2.36° S, 90.39° W.
Fair winds to everyone!