We arrived San Cristobel and had our anchor down at 0730, an hour after first light which was EXACTLY the same time we up anchored at Isla Contradora, Las Perlas, Panama to set forth.
Sea birds started visiting us, looking to see if any fish were jumping from our bow.
Our big excitement was crossing the equator. For Ann and Terry it was their first time. We had a little ceremony for Neptune then we swam along the equator, with a line out for security! We were in 2.5 km of water and the cobalt blue of the water was sensational and so clear! There was no wind!
Not a lot of wind once again, (good for our card game)although it did remain consistent angle from the SE. Once in the lee of San Cristobel, we sailed quietly from 0100 until dawn, in the absence of any swells. We had to wait until daylight to enter the harbour at Wreck Bay (aptly named we are sure). It was quite humid as the all too familiar ITCZ had re-formed around us. Thunderheads were small and any rain there was went around us. The wind in the cells were no more than 10 knots. The stars generated enough light to see the horizon in the absence of a moon.
We reflected that at one stage we were unsure if we had enough fuel, yet we arrived with the 80L still on the deck and one tank half full..approximately 150L. Most of our motoring was done around 1500-1800 rpm to conserve fuel. We motored for 129 hours over a total of 7 days, with total distance of 908 nm. I think there is an extra 45 miles in there somewhere for wandering off the rhumb line earlier.
As we were so busy looking at the manta rays on our entry, and being tired, it took Peter and I to realise there was a considerable set coming into the bay. Our 2011 max sea charts were accurate. Once the anchor was down, there were many sea lion pups coming to check us out and feeding under the boat. Its been a long time since we anchored and could see the grains of sand on the bottom.
A chap came by in a panga and asked if we had an agent, informed us of how to call a water taxi and called Bolivar for us (our agent) who promptly arrived by 0930. Checking in was easy; but we paid handsomely for this service. We had a few visitors in uniform, a lovely girl who spoke beautiful english who was their quarantine agent, then went off with Bolivar to immigration. By 1100 hours we were all done and enjoyed the cool rain we had to walk in!!
Now we are 1/4 of the`way to the Marquesas and will be on our own for our 21 day passage. In the mean time, we have around 40 days to enjoy here. Di and Gorbar fly in the same day as Ann and Terry fly out.
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