Woke at 2345 (boat time as we’ve moved time zones) for my shift. I went up on deck to sea an incredible star-filled night. I took over from Jim who explained the current situation, the main had been flogging in the light wind and rolling seas, So Brady dropped the main as I came on and went on deck to tie it neatly. Brady left with the true skipper’s admonishment to wake him for anything at all. Knowing I would was the only way he could get any sleep.
My watch was uneventful, unintelligible chatter on the VHF, and nothing to do but periodically check the horizon, charts and radar at different levels of zoom. This meant I could listen to a podcast in one ear, the noise from the engine in the other. All the time alternating between scanning the horizon and at the glorious stars.
After 2hrs Elpie came up to do her shift and I handed over to her and I took the chance to go to bed for a few hours - with both earbuds in, that engine is loud.
Back up at 0700, made a coffee and sat with Dewey enjoying the warmth of the morning sun and the view of our destination. 8.3nm to go, about 1.5hrs or so.
Elpie got up and made us yogurt and granola which hit the spot. Then Brady followed by Jim got up too.
Anchored @ 0953 21°50.562’N • 105°52.922’W
The island is home to thousands of frigates and the odd pelican. The smell is quite something.
Peace again on the boat as the engine is turned off and anchor alarm set. All we can hear now is the waves crashing on the shore and the bird calls.
Off to land in the tender (Tika) and a wonderful walk up to the top of Isabella passing iguanas, nesting magnificent frigate birds (that’s really the name) and blue-footed boobies with pelicans on the shoreline.
It’s incredible to have sailed to this remote island and have near limitless time to explore. Impossible to get here any other way than a day trip and a couple of hours to spare. Sailing truly is a magical way to travel at human speed.
It was my turn to cook lunch, quesadilla were the ‘easy’ option. Making use of the still fresh tortillas from day 1, and the rocket, tomatoes and of course cheese, with a sprinkling of salt, pepper and chili flakes. The first one came out perfectly. The second stuck in the pan a little, and the third was tricky too. All good though.
After lunch we reviewed some of the topics we were interested in, with Brady fielding questions on medical kits, spares to have on board, and myriad other things. He’s a wealth of knowledge as you’d expect.
Then it was time for a swim, the temperature was perfect (not everyone agreed but they were wrong) and it was great to be surrounded by the birds and the crash of the waves hitting the rocks, turning the blue water into white. A warm deck shower later and it was time to retire to the deck with beers. The sun was beating down but the beer was cold and again the graceful swoop of the frigate birds, the diving pelicans and radiant white ‘red-billed tropicbirds’ (thanks Merlin!) was just perfect.
Dewey decided it was time to see if we could score some more fish and took Tika over to a fisherman moored next to us in the bay. 200 pesos got us a fairly large red snapper and another 100pesos got it filleted for us. More super fresh fish for far less than it’d be at home. A happy local and a good story. The fisherman’s skills were sharper than his knife though so the fillets were a bit industrial.
Still on food duty I cooked lentil and pasta, a simple Mahdur Jaffrey recipe I’ve cooked for years that can be adapted. No weighing scales on board so it was a bit of a guessing game on quantities but it worked out fine in the end. Everyone ate it so that was good :)
More chat later over cocktails and then time for bed.