Day 2 - Galapagos Passage

Date: 20th February 2023
Distance Travelled in Last 24 Hours: 23.5 miles

This morning we took out an expensive SatPhone subscription just in case the SSB continues to play up. Gill emptied the entire contents of the fridge that no longer works (refrigerant problem?), started up the freezer that we have never run and reloaded it full of the old fridge stuff. And we continued the awkward dialogue with our Panamanian agent. Gill donned her swimsuit and braved the cold water and strong current to see just how bad the hull was. It turned out to be not as bad as we had feared so we decided to leave.

A shame in some ways as Contadora beach is beautiful. Meanwhile Kevin on Mareki 2 had made a permanent temporary repair to his main furling gear, so off we went at 11.00am.

Motoring to start with and then sailing in gentle breezes alongside Meraki. We sorted out communications with them and generally started to get into the swing of passage making. They caught a nice 8lb Spanish Mackerel and we didn't. Currents were strong and variable as we weaved our way through the islands. The wind then strengthened during the afternoon. We reefed the main then the yankee then furled the yankee as the downwind apparent wind approached 20 knots. 7 knots of boat speed and all was good. Now of course it has dropped and we wonder whether to shake out the reef.

Food of course is important. Sally made lunch at breakfast time. An excellent decision.

Now we are preparing for our first night. Watches have been set, evening meal will soon be prepared. It's 16.30 and time to send this message off.

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