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26
March 2001 Wreck Bay, San Cristóbal, the Galapagos Islands
I set the alarm clock to 02:00 a.m. and put Trojka to rest for the night, and
went straight to bed. There are many fluorescent "things" in the water, and
behind the boat is a sort(/kind) of tail of fire, which is also behind the fish.
When I was (sitting and) brushing my teeth inside the cockpit in darkness, I saw
the most incredible things in the water. Sharks, dolphins, sea lions and sea
serpents. It was so very pretty that I went(/got) to bed way to late, s when the
alarm (clock) went off shortly afterwards, I set sail(s) and (I must say) that I
was hoping for more wind (than I got), so I could be ashore around 06:00 a.m.
When I was 10 miles from San Cristóbal Island, I called Beacon on the radio, but
were unable to get in touch. Around 9 a.m. shortly before entering the anchorage
at Wreck Bay, Nat called me (up). They had heard me when I called, but their VHF
were unable to reach me.
Big reunion kiss and Nat gave me a big hug, right on the rib, so I almost(/to
the point of nearly) passing out(/fainting). At least I saw several stars.
I hurried in getting the anchor dropped to get over there. I had prepared the
boat on my way in, and the last 30 minutes I had been going by engine and
autopilot, while I was packing sails and washing (my) clothes and cleaning the
boat.
We immediately went for a walk along(/on) the beach (it's just lovely to walk
after many days at sea. On my small boat I can't about) and saw lots of sea
lions. They are not frightened(/afraid), since they don't consider humans a
threat at all(/whatsoever). And you can touch them if you make a
cautious(/gentle) approach. They jump up in the boats(/dinghies) if they get the
chance. And later I had one lying in my dinghy and it would've spent the night
there, had I not dragged the dinghy up aboard Trojka.
When we land the dinghy on the beach there are always sea lions in our way. And
at night there are(/would be) about 100 of them and they all stretch their
necks. They don't like(/care for) getting woken up in the middle of the night,
just because we want the dinghy in the water which means they all would have to
move.
We saw lots of monitor lizards, reptiles and what have you not, and the most
beautiful birds I have ever seen. Afterwards we had salad for lunch at a small
local bar and after that headed for the beach for a little swimming.
We walked around town and Nat who had been here for a week showed me everything,
there aren't a whole lot.
We had a pleasant time on the boat that night. David made (us) tuna steaks.
The next morning all four of us went on an outing(/excursion) in a pickup truck.
First we went to the woods and after that to a mountain. David jumped off 10
kilometres from town and walked back.
Back in town we all (un)loaded our backpacks on Alex, who wanted to go back to
the boat, whereas we would spend the day ashore. Nat and I we're to dine in the
evening with a crowd of New Zealanders and Australians. We were to have lobster
and had ordered it at the small local place, 6 US$ per head.
We found a small café. They had a guitar, which we borrowed and we played and
sang all afternoon.
We walked out on the rocky coast behind the airport to see(/watch) the sunset.
Like the tourists we are, we crossed a couple of runways and had a conversation
with the guards about that that might not be the smartest thing to do.
The sunset was quite(/completely) fantastic(/fabulous) and the colours
unbelievable. We sat there for a long time. Afterwards we went back to the café
and had a couple of beers and talked, which meant we we're an hour and a half
late for dinner, but we did get(/have something) to eat. The lobsters were
incredibly good. I just thought(/think) that they were too small.
We went back to our boats (later, edit) that evening(/night). I went to Trojka,
since I wanted to leave before them when we are to sail to Santa Cruz Island
tomorrow morning. |