The Adventures of Tintin

Hello, Steve here adding to the blog for the first time. I arrived 2 days ago from home on three flights which all went smoothly until the end. After the 1 1/2 hour flight of the last leg from Guayaquil, the approach seemed a bit lumpy and the pilot then soared away to go round for another go, This happened twice more after which he turned around and went back to the start. Information was scarce, but we gathered in the end that we were refuelling and going back to try again.  All communications were meant to be off during refuelling so apologies for the lack of information to anyone following my progress. Second attempt was fine and I was met by Rob who told me that everywhere had been under water at the time of the first attempts and they had not actually seen the plane at all, just heard the attempts.  Rob and Jo and in fine form and, of course, very welcoming. I find I have a reputation to live up to as a bringer of fair winds that avoid the need for tacking. I have perhaps 4

It is brilliant to have Steve with us on board. His journey from Dalston to Galapagos via Colombia and Ecuador mainland took a few hours longer than planned due to the torrential downpour here on San Cristobal this afternoon. His plane made 3 attempts to land but pulled up each time due to poor visibility ( there are no lights at this airport), turned around and returned to Ecuador. After refuelling there the pilot tried again later in the afternoon, with success. So here he is in the cockpit with a cup of tea...and Rob. We are set.

We had the chance to get up close and personal with the giant tortoises of San Cristobal today. They can live to 170 years old... Swimming off a beach we didn't appear put the blue boobies off their stride. They were diving like gannets for fish right next to us. An insect eating finch showed us his catch for lunch.

San Christobal, Galapagos We dropped anchor in Wreck Bay, San Cristobal, early yesterday morning.  During our final approach, as the shapes of the hills became clearer in the early dawn, we could smell the island. A warm and earthy, almost orangey sweet smell. We picked out the light marking Five finger rock, turned to port and crept into the bay. It was so still and calm. Anchor down and it held firmly first time. Rob said  “Welcome to Galapagos, Jo!” and it was an amazing feeling. Tintin has brought is safely and happily over many thousands of miles to this incredible place on the earth.  Sailing just the 2 of us over the previous 6 days had been a new venture. There were no difficult conditions for us to manage on our maiden 2-up voyage. We divided the night into four 3 hour watches and used the day to catch up with sleep if needed, and usually by the afternoon we would both be up and about. Occasionally we would need to wake each other mid watch to help with sail changes

It's 5:00am and we're motoring down the N side of San Cristobel in the Galapagos. The moon is amazingly bright - almost full - and the sky completely clear. The ecliptic here stretches from east to west diectly overhead. Venus has just risen above the shadow of the horizon, a couple of hours after Jupiter. Kicker Rock, a rocky outcrop about 100m and 200m across and teeming with wildlife is a mile to port. We'll probably arrange a day diving or snorkelling here before we leave. The favourble current has faltered over the last few hours, so we'll probably be anchoring in Wreck Bay as the sun rises. Pretty Cool!

It's sunrise over my left shoulder and the moon is gently coming down to set in front of my right. We have had the most amazing and unexpected last 14 hours of sailing with steady winds of 10-12 knots from just west of south. Tintin is creaming along close hauled in flat waters making 7-8 knots over the ground thanks to the 2 knot westbound current. We will need to alter course if the wind doesn't change - even tack - to make the Galapagos, 140 miles to landfall. Before then we will be crossing the equator! It has been a glorious moonlit night with much friendlier clouds than the night before, and lightening visible in the far distance only. Maybe we are through the ITCZ (Doldrums) now? A red footed booby who had been perched on our mast spreader for several hours has just preened himself and flown off into the dawn.

It is 6:15 am but it is still jet black outside, apart from the occasional flashes of lightening which are lighting up the whole sky. They are coming from a huge thunderstorm cloud to our right which is clearly visible on the radar screen and appears to be a couple of miles wide. Using the radar we have managed to find our way through the squall clouds over the last couple of hours and it is quite reassuring to see the dark blobs on the screen moving behind us as we put more distance between them and us. It is raining and the decks have had a good rinse; the wind freshened a few hours ago and has veered 180 degrees in the last half hour, and Tintin's motion is a bit more rocky than it has been for days in the lumpy seas produced by the squall. Yesterday evening we were treated to a beautiful calm sunset, with two shearwater seabirds flying in perfect formation around us for almost an hour. We saw a couple of anvil topped towering clouds in the distance and wondered

All is very gentle in this part of the Pacific as we slowly make our way towards the Galapagos. After a good sail on Saturday the wind died overnight,and yesterday we had enough wind to help us along for a few hours in the afternoon. This morning when I took over from Rob at 6am there was just enough of a breeze to use the sails again. Turning the throbbing engine off is wonderful. Then you can hear the gentle slap and ripple of the water on the hull. But as the wind drops, then so does the lovely sound of the water slipping by. It is replaced by the snap of idle rigging as Tintin rolls gently in the small swell, and an annoying rattle from within the boom. Rob's head pops up the companionway and he suggests it is time to use the engine again. And our speed in the right direction leaps from 3 to 6 knots.

You can't just rock up in a boat to the Galapagos Islands. The Ecuadorians work very hard to look after this unique archipelago and to protect it as far as possible from the impact of humans, balancing this need with allowing visitors to come and see its wonders. The World ARC team have taken on the administration of our visit to make it as simple as possible for us. But it still feels like preparing for a test! Crew lists have to be submitted months in advance, with 5 paper copies (at least one in colour) of each crew member's passport. The ARC team apply for cruising permits which allow us to visit 3 designated anchorages within the island group. We have been extensively briefed about the rules and regulations that apply to visiting yachts. We have to make sure that the hull of the boat is squeaky clean, and it will be inspected by divers on our arrival to check that nothing is growing there. If it fails inspection we have to turn around immediately and leave G

After the ups and downs of the last couple of weeks, it may disappoint some of our readers if things get somewhat more samey for the next week or so. I'm afraid that I'm rather looking forward to some plain sailing for a few days. We started stage 3 from Las Perlas to the Galapagos islands yesterday. 850NM direct, but we will probably have to do more miles in order to keep the wind for as long as possible. The tactics are to head slightly west of south from the start, using the last breathes of the Atlantic trade winds that make it over the Panama Darien Gap in the Pacific. These will peter out within a couple of hundred miles of the coast and from there on we will be in the doldrums (or the ITCZ as it's proper;y known). This is the area between the NE trades in the north and the SE trades in the southern hemisphere where winds are light. From then on it will be a motor or drift SW to the islands, It's now about 4:00am and we are just about clearing

Richard's recovery programme is starting with a chocolate ice cream! ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Nicki Murray < nickolamurray@gmail.com > Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2019, 11:08 pm Subject: Richard's recovery To: < dorothy.benalla@gmail.com >, Christine Martin < christine.martin@talktalk.net >, Matthew Shaw < matthewzshaw@gmail.com >, < susanhepworth7@gmail.com >, Dave Hepworth Yahoo < d_hepworth63@yahoo.co.uk > Cc: Matthew Welch < stephaniewelch_2005@hotmail.com >, < peter.murray.ca@gmail.com >, Annie Le Pine < napenape@windowslive.com >, Richard Shaw < drichard.shaw@gmail.com >, Rob and Jo Withers < jo@redholme.com > ... starts with chocolate ice cream on a hot afternoon! All being well he should be discharged tomorrow around lunchtime N Sent from my iPad

Prize news The WARC has a number for prizes for each leg including: 1st, 2nd,3rd for each class of boat accurately estimating your finish time a fun prize - this time guessing the total age of all crews crossing the start line We weren’t mentioned in the ETA competition results,which was a shame because we thought we were only 10 mins off and  the winner was over an hour off! We was robbed... but felt it would be churlish to complain so we took the honour quietly ourselves instead. Next, the total age competition. The answer was 5000 and we were runners up with our guess of 4986. Yay! Then after the position results ( you’ve guessed it, no prizes for Tintin there) Hans and Astrid from Zwerver took the floor. They are leaving the ARC as they sail direct to the Marquesas next, and they wanted to thank the yellow shirts and say goodbye. They had also got together with George and Bobby on Cabana to work out a fitting goodbye to the fleet, and to do this they decided to award a perp

Nicki and Richard are now in Christchurch, New Zealand. Richard is due to have urgent surgery at the hospital very soon. Sending him our very best wishes for a straightforward operation and a smooth recovery

We have left Panama City behind us, and are exploring Las Perlas islands in the Gulf of Panama. Treated to a spectacular diving display by hundreds of brown pelicans, we made our way past all the tankers and cargo ships that await their turn going north through the Panama Canal. The sea here is the calmest we have seen yet, and we had a very gentle sail yesterday with the blue cruising chute up for the first time. A kind day for our team of 2 on board. Boats just behind us reported seeing an enormous whale with her calf. The sea here is almost opaque green (plankton?) and there more seabirds than we have ever seen. Last night we were anchored off Isla Mogo Mogo, a small uninhabited island where the reality TV series "Survivor" is filmed. Exploring ashore we found a couple of camps with rudimentary tables made of driftwood, and a water collecting system. It's a beautiful island but we were very happy to choose when to leave! The ARC fleet of 28 boats is now gathered at

From people of a traditional village up the Chagres river and from members of the huge team of 'advisor'/ pilots during our transit of the Panama Canal. N

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Nicki here, Unfortunately our time in Panama came to too abrupt end, nonetheless our key lasting impression of the country was of welcoming and friendly people wherever we went, quick to smile (and very tolerant of my poor Spanish language). This was especially appreciated when in the hospital! Here are some images of the lives of the Gunas people in the San Blas islands; fishermen awaiting their licences and in action on the water, it appeared to us that some of their their homes are almost awash on very low coral atolls. Many of the men and women we met there were adorned with lots of gold jewellery - the area has a lot of alluvial gold in the rivers. N

We are waiting to be cleared out of Panama by customs before we depart. There has been a bit of a delay so we will need to change our plans slightly for today's destination , heading to Tabogo island 7 miles away rather than 35 miles to Las Perlas. The World ARC team do a huge amount to help us through all the required bureaucracy, coordinating with agents to manage customs clearance and the canal transit. I believe this aspect of their work becomes more and more challenging as we head further west. When entering the waters of a country by boat, we have to "clear in" to customs and then " clear out" when we leave. This can only be done in a few designated ports for each country. If you have not done the required paperwork and got your " Zarpe" from the previous country then you may be refused passage in the next, being sent back to the previous Port to sort it out. This is good to avoid, as a passage back to the previous country would likely be upwi

We have seen Panama City's old quarter, in stark contrast to the forest of skyscrapers that makes up the modern city, the old town is a maze of narrow streets lined with churches and old Spanish colonial style buildings. Most have wide eaves sheltering ornate wrought iron balconies, with plenty of potted palms and ferns in hanging baskets. Many tourists in Panama hats! La Playita marina is situated at the end of the Armador causeway south of the city. For any of you who do cycle training on Zwift, Panama City and surroundings is a bit like Watopia complete with causeways and islands. Game fishing is big here, the Hannibal Banks 70 miles away are famed for marlin fishing. Along the pontoon there are several huge games fishing boats. You can imagine that Richard liked the look of them very much! In his absence Tintin Angling Society is depleted but not short of enthusiasm (Jo) and technical support (Rob).

We are thrilled - Rob's brother Steve will being standing in at very short notice to sail with us from the Galápagos to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas. This is the longest leg of the trip at just over 3000 miles and it will be so good to have him on board with us. Thank you Steve!

We waved goodbye to Richard and Nicki yesterday and they are en route to Christchurch via Houston and Auckland. We felt really sad to see them go, but clearly that is the right answer for Richard's right arm. We have spent the time here at La Playita preparing Tintin for the next stage: the Pacific Ocean. This is the last big town (2 million in Panama City) we will see for a while! The usual jobs have been ticked off the list: engine checks, rig check, filling tanks with water and topping up the diesel, filling up with provisions. Here's Rob with the supermarket till receipt!

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