Feb. 7 Passage to Galapagos
The rally started with many of the boats flying their spinnakers providing a very colourful spectacle. We put up our asymmetrical sail after we were out a ways and sailed nicely downwind.

A colourful start to Leg 2 of the WARC

We always troll when under sail and were pleased to land a large dorado (mahi mahi) the head, guts and tail were removed and thrown overboard and the remaining large body sections were sent down below for further processing; one of the guest offered to fillet it and unfortunately before any of us had realized what was going on, he had reduced this magnificent creature to a mere seven meal sized portions throwing the rest overboard (I’m still sickened by this shameful, maybe even sinful waste of fish).

Our prize catch

We were making good progress when Em received a call on the satellite phone, her father had taken seriously ill and had been rushed to the hospital intensive care unit. Quickly we turned around and headed for Contadoro Islandso she could take a flight back to England. Our leisurely downwind sail turned into an upwind beat as we sailed into the swells.
Feb. 8
We arrived back at Contadoro in the late morning; the yellow shirt team had already arranged for her ferry ticket back to the mainland where she would catch her flight. The yellow shirts were also traveling to Panama for their flights to the Galapagos so they were able to accompany her which was nice considering the stressfulness of the situation. We hauled anchor and resumed our passage to the Galapagos Islands. While sailing out of the Las Perlas we hooked a couple more Cerro Mackerel, at the same location Richard and I had success while on the local fishing boat.

A Cerro Mackerel in hand

Feb 9
We continued making way in the fluky breeze, our treat for the day was seeing a group of dolphins chasing a school of fish; we couldn’t tell what type they were, possibly tuna or dorado. The winds continued to plague us, falling off and requiring the occasional spats of motoring.

Wiggo relfects onthe beauty of the sunset on the calm waters around us

Feb. 10
We continued to motor into the light and changing headwinds, it always amazes me how calm the open ocean can be at times. Sleeping is always easier when motoring, but we would make better time under sail. Wiggo and I were on the late watch after the moon had gone down and the clouds obscured the starlight, so on we went into the dark abyss.

The Pacific lives up to the origin of its name, the pacified sea-Pacifica
At one point I smelled something fishy followed by the sound of wriggling, experience told me a flying fish had made it’s way onto the boat. Anyone who has been at sea knows these are smelly little buggers, but traveling in the Caribbean has also taught me they make a delicious breakfast. Without haste I grabbed Lightning, our trusty new boat knife, and soon the little fellow was beheaded and gutted ready for the fridge.
Feb. 11
We continued motoring and sailing when the wind would allow us; at 2140 (9:40 pm) we spotted a light ahead of us, a quick check of the AIS confirmed we had caught up with Merlyn of Poole, the furthest boat back in the fleet. This brought new hope to the crew and made our long awaited landfall in Galapagos more of a reality.