Galapagos

On the 9th of April we finally leave Panama...
Our next big city will be Papeete, within more than 4500 miles. Between these two cities : 900 miles of ocean until the Galapagos, and then 3000 miles until Marquises, and then still further West the Tuamotou. This will give us plenty of time to forget civilisation and to enjoy nature.
The crossing towards the Galapagos is a little big confusing since we have to cross the black hole : a zone with confused winds and where the sky gives you occasionnal skwals and then no wind suddenly. Once out of this zone, we have the wind comming front in front of us which makes our progression difficult, but how can we complain since we have cursed for several days after the lack of winds ? The pleasure of healing, of not maintaining our direction, and of tacking without end... In these conditions it is difficult to keep the honez on the bread, the coffee in the mug and the plates filled with sauce. When going upwind we only eat solid food and we trz not to open the cupboards.
On the 18th of April we cross the equater at noon. For Céphée it is the fith time, Thomas the third and Helene the first. It is worth a good bottle of Champagne and some foie gras !
We feel the Humboldt current, first because it pushes us north and then because the water and the air have lost several degrees.
On arriving to the Galapagos, nature gives us an unbelievable show : Rays jumping out of the water in loops (hard to believe but true !), quantity of tunas, killer whales and the first whiskers of seals, without mentionning the birds: fregatas, blue footed boobies and a lot more that we probably can't see.
We first stop on the island of Santa Cruz where we meet again with Endelig, Blaatur, Ca va, … and where we discover a new life with seals everywhere (see : film). The marine iguanas are there as well.
Unfortunatly ailboats are not free to sail where they want aroud the islands. Either you pay an expensive fee to stay at the achorage for 20 days, or you can pay a very expensive fee to be able to go to planned achorages given by the autorities. Santa Cruzgives us the impression of a big touristic complex. We leave this racket place by mooving to Isla Isabela, more wild and where the authorities are much mre cool. We will staz one week in this wonderful island where we will discover the giant turtles, small pinguins, the blue footed boobies (see : film), sharks,… The little seals, tricky and curious, come whipe their whiskers on our diving masks under the watchful eye of the mother.
South of the Island, there is the Sierra Negra volcano, second biggest crater in the world by its width. It will give us a unique walk to its heart, where the sulfure comes out.
What a marvellous show has the nature given us in the Galapagos ! We only have seen a small part, maybe enough so that we keep the illusion that maybe there are still places in this world where man lives and nature still has the last word. Man shuts up and watches...
We are very happy to meet again with Bernick at the anchorage, opne day before leaving.
The 28th of April, pushed by the call of the Marquises, we leave our friends and the Galapagos. We couldn't stop Josy from preparing galettes from Brittany for our crossing! We will meet again over there after 3000 miles of West and a little of South...