10 March 2024

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> We have been sailing for one week now, covering 1,136nm. We are over 1/3 of the way to the Marquisis Islands. >
> Yesterday afternoon we saw a pod of 60 striped dolphins. They were beautiful and very energetic. Shortly after I caught a blue Marlin, and let it go…. i think we are sailing too fast for Tuna or Mahi Mahi. >
> This morning the wind became very unsettled and a large squall came over us bringing rain, and taking all the wind away with it, leaving us dripping and bobbling in the middle of the ocean with no wind. When the wind returned it came from the East, and then from the south, settling on SSE, so we are now sailing on a true wind angle of 120 to maintain our course of 262* >
> Another pod of striped dolphins this morning. Waiting for some blue sky, so I have been teaching Issy to play guitar and writing music about dolphins and unicorns. >

9 March 2024

Yes the real day 6,… Yesterday I was a day ahead of myself!

Day 6 and we are now 1/3 of the way to the Marquesas sailing well at 7kts, with yesterday’s run of 181nm. Conditions have abated and settled since yesterday, the sky is blue, and we are cruising along nicely with our large genoa, staysail, mainsail and missen in 16kts of wind. We must look a beautiful sight in the middle of the ocean with all our wings spread! Amazing to think the closest human to us is orbiting the earth in a space station, then nearest land is over 1000nm away and we have not seen another vessel since departing Galapagos!

Yesterday I made a few improvements to the HF antenna and managed to get a good enough signal with TI08CR in Costa Rica and managed to download a grid file all the way to the Marquesas and a large MSLP picture. Still no luck listening to ARC (Fleet following) sked on 4149khz, but I think they are over 600nm behind us. Using the HAM radio certainly provides good entertainment and I have learnt a lot about antennas, radio waves and RF, with constant improvements every day. Next time we re fit the boat, and re rig the mast in Australia I will hopefully have the system perfected.

With the settled weather the fishing line is back out in hope to attract some Mahi Mahi. We hooked a beautiful blue marlin and it was good sport getting it alongside the boat only to be released in to the deep blue sea! I think we are sailing too fast for Mahi! Days have been spent passage planning for Marquesas and Tuamotu’s islands and re-reading all the books and articles I have downloaded on my computer, taking notes and plotting notes onto the chart. Kids are entertained playing vets with toys, reading, helping me with passage planning maths, designing their ultimate bedroom (pets included), and listening to music. Em is not feeling the best today so is having a rest day and chilling with the kids.

Sunday Island is sailing along beautifully, she is really enjoying the Pacific Ocean and her crew are loving it too!

8 March 2024

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> Sunday Island is moving along beautifully. We have 24 kts of wind from the SE (TWA 140) and we are sailing along at 7 kts, surfing down waves at 9kts. We are experiencing the occasional squall and shower of rain which is good for washing the Boobie poo from the deck and giving us a good wash down. >
> Yesterday a Boobie bird perched on the top of the mast and we scared it away with the air horn. Last night the Boobie perched back on the mast head and would not move. As the sun went down I turned on the tri-colour navigation light and we could see the boobie lit up in red and green. When I woke up for my watch at midnight the tri colour light had vanished, broken away by the Boobie! I presume the entire upper housing of the nav light was knocked off, (an expensive contribution from the Boobie) but I presume the anchor light bulb remains as we can still see this light up the top of the mast.. Thankfully the wind instruments on top of the mast are still in tact and the boobie seems to have departed us. >
> Sunday Island is an amazingly seaworthy little ship. It can be squalling to 30kts on deck, with rain and waves crashing, then you go below and it feels like you are at anchor. Quiet and calm. Despite feeling calm below the boat is still rolling about a bit too much for school, so we watch documentaries in between visits to the cockpit to scan the horizon for wildlife. >
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8 March 2024

> Finally we have reached the tip of the trade winds. Our Latitude now at 6*15S, we can begin a rhumb line of 260*T towards Marquisis. >
> Yesterday afternoon I set up our biggest sail the Code 0 to give us more power. The sail worked but when the wind died off last night we furled it away while we motored for two hours and then replaced it with the Genoa. Early this morning I played around with some configurations to use the spinnaker pole to get the Code 0 further forward, and be able to pull it aft away from the furled Genoa. This allows us to run deeper with the code 0, but also gives us the ease of being able to furl the sail quickly in a squall or if we catch a fish. >
> I also got the spinnaker up on deck and ready to go, only to be faced with squalls on the horizon, and decided to stick with the Code 0 for a bit longer. The Trade winds come with a small price to pay of afternoon thunderstorms causing havoc with the wind direction, gusts and lulls. Thankfully the wind only reduced to 8kts in the lulls, and then came back again, and the gusts were not too extreme. We also got some nice rain to wash away the bird droppings on deck & on our solar panels! We are now sailing at 6-7kts towards our destination! >
> We have an unwelcome guest onboard.. a stowaway…. from Galapagos… a Red Footed Boobie now sits at the top of our mast… on the wind instruments! We managed to scare him away this morning with the air horn, and he would take off, fly around the boat, empty his bladder in an attack that would be prized in the RAAF, and fly away. But by the afternoon he learnt the airhorn would not hurt him… and he is now quite settled perching on my $1500 wind wand and spraying white poo all over the deck, sails and solar panels from above as well! >
> Today we caught our first Mahi for the trip. Max was keen to trawl with his rod and lure too, and was ready to go at 0700 this morning. The Mahi was a breeze to pull in compared to the Marlin yesterday.. my thumb is still red raw from using the reel on the Marlin! >
> Sunday Island is performing well… everything is working and we are having a lovely sail. The signal from the HAM radio has not been too crash hot despite my new modified 16m antenna and we have been unable to download new GRIB weather files. I do hope this email gets out today. I do not expect to be able to get out daily emails for the rest of the trip unless I can find another station with better reception – perhaps Hawai will provide results when we are a bit closer

6 March 2024
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> We have spent the last three days motor sailing SE to the latitude of the trades 5*S. Unfortunatly the trade winds are not settled and a localised weather system is playing havoc with our wind. This morning at sunrise we hoisted our largest and lightest Code-O sail, and set the autopilot to helm Sunday Island according to the True Wind Angle (TWA) of 100* off the wind. The engine is off and with 7kts of wind from the S to SE we are ghosting along to the Westn at speeds of 3-4kts, our course changing depending on the light variable wind direction. We do hope to make more ground to the south to dip into the stronger and more reliable trade winds, so occasionally when the wind tends to the East we leave the course set to TWA 100, and head south. I post a midday posiiton and t can be viewed at: http://cms.winlink.org:444/maps/positionreports.aspx?callsign=vk7hew >
> I have a blister on my thumb from hooking and hauling in a “sail fish” yesterday. It must have been 70 or so KG! too heavy to haul on deck, and way too heavy for my rod! I fought the fish for over 45 minutes and got it close enough to the boat to reaslise it was the size of a fully grown man. When it lept from the water it was an incredible sight. To bring the fish onboard I would havd needed to attach a halyard to its tail. There is no way I could lift it without mechanical assistance. So when the lure some how made its way along the line, Emilie grabbed it and cut away the hook, allowing the huge Marlin sail fish to swim free. Today I made up a new lure but no bights as yet. >
> We have a swallow tailed gull who has taken residence on our solar panel. It is so tame you could reach out and grab it, allowing Max and Issy to study this big bird at close range. Unfortunatly birds poop, and the poop is on my solar panels and driping onto Emilies cushions the bird must go, but despite shoowing it away every 5 minutes, it is determined to remain. >
> Kids activity’s are becoming adventurous, including spelling treasure hunts, bird drawing, and building a vet shop for sick penguins, birds and owls. The facility also treats hammer head sharks, Narhwals, and Orcas. >
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> 5 March 2022

> Sunday Island continues to motor SE towards the trades. The GRIB files shows the trades getting further and further away! Soon we will turn west towards French Polynesia. >
> We have been keeping well onboard. The kids normally sleep in the aft (our) cabin during passages, but because the sea is like glass, in fact calmer than when we were at anchor, Issy & Max remain in their cabin. In all respective purposes we are living a normal day doing school, playing, maintenance, and creeping forward at 6kts towards our destination. >
> Yesterday afternoon we studied science, talking about the water cycle, weather, tides and currents. We also touched on the basics of navigation, sun and moon orbits etc. >
> During my night watch I cleaned and serviced the watermaker which was only producing 16LPH. The flow is better now 18 LPH but not the optimal 20 LPH. We cleaned all the components inside the boat this morning. After cleaning we did a Man Overboard Drill, and I jumped in to clean the water intake. The sea was perfect, limitless, blue, deep, and 29*C. The man overboard drill went well, and everybody made sure all scenarios were performed. Our “man” was recovered safely. (Mum says “just as well”!) >
> I have modified our HF antenna to give us better signal. The antenna is now 16m long from deck to the top of main mast.

> Yesterday afternoon we had great signal from Costa Rica. >
> Hopefully this evening the wind changes from the NE to the SE and we can set our sails.

(Edit : As Sunday Island is somewhere in the Pacific & there is very limited internet, therefore I am not getting photo bombed daily, I am attaching a photo of Sunday Island taken in 2022 in the Med.). (Lyn, Mum)

We cleared out of Santa Cruz before lunch and made final preparations to sail. After a nice lunch we hauled up the anchor and set sail towards Marquisis.

On our way out of Porto Ayora we said our goodbyes to a few other yachts. I also asked about HF Frequencies for the Arc Skeds so I could listen in. The Arc fleet depart Porto Ayora on Wednesday and the 30 yachts in the rally will follow us across the Pacific. I hope to keep in touch with a few of them via HF SSB radio on our passage.

We had a full set of sails as we departed and a lovely 12 kt breeze just aft of the beam. We were reaching at 7.5kts and Sunday Island was loving the sail. The wind gradually eased off throughout the afternoon and by the evening we had the engine on as we glided our way through mirror seas. As we sailed along I was conducting a compass check and was horrified to see our compass was 100* off the true magnetic. After futher observation of the chart we observed that magnetic anomolies were recorded in the area… but it is rare to find them so high. Captain Fitzroy from the Beagle must have been very confused as he sailed through the islands, even with this anomaly he somehow managed to chart the area! Thankfully now we are clear of the islands we only have a 30* error, which is far from acceptable but due to the magnetic field of the high powered alternator and proximity to the magnetic compass. I guess Fitzroy did not have such issues on a wooden ship!

We are sailing our way through the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, ITCZ where all the air rises. Fatu Hiva is on a true bearing of 259T @ 2955nm from Galapagos. We are sailing a course of 235T to make our way further south into the trade winds, where we can start sailing west towards French Polynesia. The alteration the rhumb line course adds about 40nm to our overall passage length but will result in better wind and good sailing, reducing the overall time of the passage substantially. I expect by tomorrow afternoon we should hopefully start seeing a little more breeze, and tomorrow evening we will be in the trades. Since departure we have a 2kt current in our favour, and averaging 7.5kts.. Our days run over the past 24 hours is 170nm.

Everybody has settled in onboard. Emilie and I are settling into our watch routine, and the kids have recommenced “school”. This mornings class has had the kids writing about San Cristobal in their scrap books and learning about eagle rays and collective nouns – “A creep of Tortoise, a Bay of Turtles“. This afternoon we study science with Dad – Weather and the ITCZ

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> Today we set sail for our 2995nm passage to Fatu Hiva in the Marquisis French Polynesia from Porto Aurora, Santa Cruz, Galapagos! >
> Our Galapagos experiance has been phenominal and worth every bit of effort and cost. We learnt so much about the animals and fauna that live in this island paradise, and also how it IS POSSIBLE for humans to live with, and even profit from nature. The rest of the world could learn a lot from Equador and their management of the Galapagos national park. >
> Our last blog was sent from the island of Cristobal which was so facinating we decided to extend our stay a few extra days. The swell rolled in over our final days and we were watching the points at the entrance to Wreck Bay produce world class 10ft surf. With my level of surf fitness being poor I was too scared to attempt the big waves, but finally I couldn’t just sit and watch these awesome waves, and I hitched a ride out to the point on the western entrance to the bay. I paddeled out to the outside takeoff, nervous of the size of the waves and the reef it was crashing into. A smaller wave came, peaking perfectly for my take off position, so I paddled and took off, landing a beautiful 6ft wave all the way to the edge of the point. I now had my confidence back, and for the next three days I was surfing the perfect 6-8ft reef break, with the waves roaring well over my head behind me as I surfed along the face. Despite my arms feeling like they were about to fall off I went out to the Eastern break that afternoon which held a fatter and even bigger wave. I continued surfing for two sessions a day until our departure…. Epic. >
> In between surfing sessions we would pack up our snorkling gear and get a $4 taxi to Loberia (sea lion) – our new favourite beach – to swim with Sea Lions, huge green turtles, marine iguana’s and thousands of fish species that in low tide are trapped in a large rock pool that was about the same size as an olympic swimming pool. I would often meet the family at Loberia after my morning surf. Loberia is a turtle nesting area and in the morning we cold see the turtle tracks where they had made their way up the beach through the night to nest. There were hungreds or rock pools and Max enjoyed searching for crabs in between the lazy sea lions. There is a fresh water lagoon behind the beach, so Issy and Max built a small swimming pool on the beach, and were occasionally interupted by a sea lion pup wanting to join in the fun. >
> By the 26th February the swell had died off, and we were exhausted from our busy schedule of snorkling with sea lions, tropical fish, turtles and iguanas, and walking with tortoise, iguana’s and a thousands of other endemic species. We hauled up our anchor and completed our anti-clockwise tour of the Galapagos Islands, returning to Porto Ayora Santa Cruz. >
> To enjoy the best diving on Galapagos you would need to book onboard a live aboard dive boat. I definitely plan to do this in the future, but for now decided to enjoy the best diving Santa Cruz had to offer, and hooked up with a local dive company to dive Seymore Island, Mosquera, and Gordon Rocks with rays and huge schools of Hammer Head Sharks. Dive companies offer two dives per day at each location and I had some awesome dives with great people. >
> While I was diving Emilie would take the kids on local adventures, and snorkle at a local beach. After diving we would explore the town. We returned to the Darwin Research centre numerous times to further explore and learn. There is so much educational material for all ages on many topics from animals to economics – Did you know one living shark generates Galapagos $5.2 million in tourism, while a dead shark fished for its fin would generate less than $200 dollars only! >
> We made some new friends who live and work on Santa Cruz and they invited us to go out on their tourist boat to Seymore Island to see the red breasted friggate birds and their crazy mating ritual. We had a blast on the tour and enjoyed the company of a number of American tourists who inspired us with stories of their recent cruise to Patagonia and Chili – that will be another cruise for us later! On Seymore Island we saw the huge Land Iguana’s with their gold chests, and the amazing Red Breasted Friggate bird. The male friggates puff out an inflatable sack on their chest to attract the females. These birds are known as Pirates of the air, and are quite ruthless with each other to attract a mate despite breading all year round! >
> After our walk around the island we enjoyed some snorkeling around the southern shallow edge of Seymore Island. I had dived the deep side in the previous days and it was great to see the comparison and share the underwater area with the family. We saw garden eels, many species of tropical fish, sea lions, and Emilie saw a “Huge” Galapagos shark. This was the biggest shark Emilie has swum with and I was impressed with the thrill she got from swimming with this curious creature who swum towards Emilie and circled her a few times before being chased away by a sea lion! There will be many more reef sharks in French Polynesia for Emilie to enjoy in the near future! >
> In the evenings we enjoyed walking along the local streets of Porto Ayora. We even lashed out on some local artwork and carvings to take home as momento’s of this amazing place. Everybody we met on our adventures were so interesting and had so many stories to tell which inspire us to keep exploring… there is just so much to discover on this amazing earth! >
> While shopping for provisions Emilie met a wonderful lady in a shop who offered to go to the 5am local market for us to get our fresh produce. This was amazing and the produce looks fantastic. With our last provision shopping done we bid our friends farewell and made preparations for our departure from Galapagos, and today 3rd March 2024 we cleared out and set sail for our 2995nm passage to Fatu Hiva in the Marquisis, French Polynesia. >
> Over the next three weeks at sea, we have so many lessons to unpack from Galapagos. There is just so much to take in we must now try to remember all we have seen and done. Issy and Max are writing scrap books for everything we have seen, and I plan to write a report on what I have seen in the islands and the impressive way they are managed by the local people and Equador goverment. >
> Thank you Galapagos for an amazing adventure. Thank you.. Thank you.. Thank you. Thank you. Thank …………………………………………

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On 14 February we departed Port Vamil in Isabella and sailed to the island of Floriana. We enjoyed a beautiful sail with wind just aft of the beam and a full set of sails reaching us through the beautiful Galapagos waters. We sailed over some underwater pinicals that rise up from the 3000m sea floor to 20m. It was very tempting to stop for a dive but the law does not allow this.

We were planning a three day adventure on the island of Floriana, but the anchorage was folly with poor holding. Our first anchorage close to shore was a rolla coaster and so we picked up anchor and moved 200m into deeper water. Once we were comfortable the boat was holding and our local agent “Max” gave us permission to proceed ashore we hailed a cab… Max returned. Turns out Max wears a few hats on the island of Floriana.

There is only one Main Street and no roads on Floriana, so interesting things to do on Floriana such as going to the famous post box involved a 5 hour walk. In 30+’C this is not possible with the kids so On the way ashore Emilie and I agreed that given the state of the anchorage and inaccessibility of the island we would achieve what we could through the remaining afternoon then sail to Cristobal in the morning.

After a rolly night we woke early and enjoyed a fantastic sail to Cristobal, dropping anchor in an empty Wreck bay at 1800. Finding poor holding we moved 20m towards the fishing boats and re set our anchor.

Our morning at Cristobal we took it easy onboard waiting for our agent and doing some school. In the afternoon we went ashore and walked amongst the hundreds of sea lions who have moved into the town.

The next day I dived Kicker Rocks with Hammer Head sharks and the biggest shoals of fish I have ever seen! The following day Em and the kids joined me at Kicker rocks for a snorkel. It was great for everybody to see the hammer heads, galapagos sharks, white tips, manta rays, spotted rays and fish and we were very lucky to have such fantastic visibility.

On Monday we were waiting for fuel man who did not turn up, but we enjoyed a “home day” as it was with a bit of school and snorkeling off the boat. Max and I had a great Sup out of the bay and along the coast, with some very close seal interaction. At 8am on Tuesday a new fuel supplier arrived and we topped up our tanks ready for our pending crossing. We then walked to a magic cove and snorkeled.

At Cerro Tijeretas cove the seals were extremely inquisitive and playful and they swam right next to us and played a few games like blowing bubbles and hiding under rocks, the likeness to a playful dog is uncanny. We also spotted a number of blue footed boobies, frigates, and finches in the cove.

Wednesday morning we hired a cab to take us to Puerto Chino in the north of the island, to a tortoise reserve and breeding center where they breed the giant Cristobal tortoise,

and to El Junco a fresh water lake in the top of a volcano.

Today we have been enjoying a morning of the beach with some very inquisitive sea lions and awesome rock pools. It’s amazing looking in the rock pools and seeing at lease 10 different species in only a puddle of water. In the adjacent cove of La Loberia snorkeling we found hundreds of different species in only a couple of meters of water. Just amazing.

The wildlife is so accessible in Cristobal we have decided to stay a few more days.

We sailed to the Galapagos island Isabella on the 7th February 2024 and thanks to a 2kt current arrived at in Port Villamil 2pm in the afternoon.

Our agent came aboard with a army representative and we conducted the necessary paperwork including a safety inspection where they asked us if our life jackets, flares, liferaft and fire extinguishers were in date. There were only two other cruising yachts in the anchorage and we enjoyed an afternoon snorkle off the boat. We saw penguins, rays, green turtles and a Galapagos shark. I was impressed when the kids saw the 2+ meter shark and did not get scared, rather they took off after it to get a closer look. It sure does help growing up not watching Jaws movies and understanding sharks are just another animal to be understood and not feared.

The next morning Emilie went ashore for a run and on her return had organised a tour of one of the nearby. The tour took us into a rocky Tintoreras island which is a breeding ground for marine iguanas, blue footed boobies, penguins and sea lions. We were not disappointed and saw all the animals as close as we could without disturbing them. We also saw sleeping Galapagos sharks resting in the volcanic gullies.

The next morning we left the anchorage and mounted horses to ride up Sierra Negra volcano with our amazing and whacky guide Cilvia.

Sierra Negra last erupted in 2018 and Cilvia explained the different types of lava and ash, as well as explaining the indemic and introduced flora and fauna.

The next morning I explored to the end of the large beach, and in the afternoon took max for a snorkle around the rocks. Within twenty minutes we had swum with penguins, sea lions, turtles, iguanas, rays, and seen blue footed boobies up close on the rocks. Just incredible and possibly one of the best snorkels of my life!

That we were lucky enough to tie our stay in with the local carnival and we went ashore to partake in the festivities. After embarrassing the kids with my dancing we sat down for some street food. Two plates of chicken, rice and beans, and two Bollerons de pescado full of flavor with a total bill of $14. We then embarrassed Issy and max with more dancing, but the music was very loud bad techno so we returned to the boat (am I getting old or was the techno really really bad?)

The next morning everybody was a bit tired from the past few days of touring and a late night so we took it easy and did some snorkeling around Conch e Perla rocks. We found a large pool that became enclosed with the outgoing tide and swam with turtles, iguanas, rays and many tropical fish followed by another local $14 lunch. That afternoon while the family relaxed I went for another snorkle amongst the rocks and got close and a bit too personal with a large bull sea lion.

The following day we hired mountain bikes and set off for the wall of tears. A shocking reminder of Isabella’s tough convict heritage from 1946 that rivaled the cruelty of Tasmania’s convicts a February earlier. While I adventured further on the mountain bike Emilie and the kids found a beautiful sanctuary amongst the mangroves where the could swim all the way to the beach.

The day was too hot to explore further so we returned to the boat after another local lunch of empanadas and huge juices. That afternoon I was reading in the cockpit when a seal jumped clear out of the water and almost on the side deck!

Today we are sailing East towards Santa Maria otherwise known as Floriana.